Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Cameroon (Ratification: 1962)

The Committee notes the Government’s reports and the comments sent by the Federation of Free Trade Unions of Cameroon. It asks the Government to provide additional information on the following points.

Article 3 of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to indicate whether labour inspectors are responsible for drawing the competent authority’s attention to defects or abuses not specifically covered by existing legal provisions, as required by paragraph 1(c), and to explain how it is ensured that the conciliation duties conferred on inspectors by sections 139 and 158 of the Labour Code with a view to settling social conflicts, do not interfere with the authority and impartiality which inspectors need in their relations with employers and workers (paragraph 2).

Article 4. The Committee notes, that according to Decree No. 98/150 of 24 July 1998 to organize the Ministry of Employment, Labour and Social Welfare, in respect of its supervisory functions the Labour Inspectorate reports to several bodies including the Directorate of Labour, the Directorate of Social Insurance, the Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety, the Provincial Labour Inspection and Social Welfare Brigade, and the Departmental Delegation for Employment, Labour and Social Welfare. It would appear from the information supplied by the Government that the General Inspectorate is the central labour inspection authority. The Committee points out, however, that this is not clear from the terms of the abovementioned Decree. It therefore asks the Government to indicate the central authority responsible for the supervision and control of the labour inspectorate and, in accordance with Article 20, for drawing up an annual inspection report. The Government is asked to send a copy of the organizational chart of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance.

Article 7. The Committee notes that CRADAT (African Regional Labour Administration Centre) in Yaoundé is largely responsible for providing continuous training for inspectors. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide detailed information on the areas of training covered and the frequency of courses.

Articles 8 and 10. The Committee notes that the labour inspectorate is made up of 34 departmental services and ten provincial services and has 373 technical staff. The Government is asked to provide information on the distribution of the above staff by job category and sex and to indicate whether any special duties are to be assigned to women inspectors.

Article 12. The Committee notes that, according to section 108 of the Labour Code, the authority of labour inspectors extends only to establishments liable to inspection. Referring to paragraph 165 of its General Survey of 1985 on labour inspection, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the case of undertakings which are not officially or recognizably subject to inspection but which nonetheless employ workers covered by the labour legislation. Emphasizing that labour inspectors must be authorized to enter these premises by day (paragraph 1(b)), it asks the Government to provide information on the manner in which it is ensured that workers employed in these premises are covered by this provision or, if they are not covered, to take measures to that end and report on them to the ILO.

Article 13, paragraph 2(b). With reference to its previous comments and noting with interest that section 95(3) of Act No. 92/007 of 14 August 1992 issuing the Labour Code authorizes the labour inspector or medical labour inspector to order immediately enforceable measures in the event of imminent danger for the health and safety of workers, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide copies of any texts to implement this provision together with information on its effects in practice.

Article 14. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, employers must report within three days to the National Social Security Fund any industrial accidents or cases of occupational disease, a copy of the report being sent to the competent labour inspector who will hold an enquiry if the fund so requests. It also notes that if the employer fails to do so, the worker has three years in which to report. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide copies of any texts on the procedure for reporting industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease.

Article 18. The Committee notes that fines for breaches of the legislation covered by the labour inspectorate are set by section 166 to 168 of the Labour Code. It also notes that fines are also imposed for obstructing labour inspectors or medical labour inspectors in the performance of their duties. Referring in this connection to paragraph 263 of its General Survey of 1985 on labour inspection, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the importance of having a system for reviewing the amounts of fines to ensure that they are sufficiently dissuasive in spite of any monetary fluctuations.

Articles 19, 20 and 21. The Committee notes the difficulties caused by a lack of human and material resources which are preventing the publication of a national general report on the work of the inspection services. The Committee notes that there are plans to send out teams to collect reports from departmental and provincial inspectorates and to request technical assistance from the ILO in order to improve abilities to collect and analyse the statistics needed to produce the reports. The Committee hopes that the request for technical assistance will be favourably received and that the Government will not fail to provide information in its next report on progress made in giving practical effect to the abovementioned Articles of the Convention.