Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Panama (Ratification: 1958)

The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending 20 June 2001 and the attached documentation. It requests the Government to provide additional information on the following points.

Child labour. With reference to its general observation of 1999, the Committee notes the establishment within the National Directorate of Labour Inspection of the unit entrusted with supervising the working conditions of young persons and pregnant women (Unidad de atención al menor trabajador y a la mujer trabajadora embarazada). This unit is also entrusted, among other duties, with representing young persons in individual conciliation procedures, in the absence of parents or guardians. The Committee notes that in 2000 the Government ratified the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), and that it envisages the establishment in the National Directorate of Labour Inspection of a service entrusted exclusively with the issue of child labour. The Committee hopes that the Government will provide information in its next report on the progress made with this project and that it will provide copies of any text adopted in this respect.

The Committee notes with interest that the National Directorate of Labour Inspection is benefiting from international technical cooperation in the field of child labour in the context of the ILO’s International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), a regional project for the prevention and elimination of the worst forms of child domestic labour and a project of the External Services Foundation for Peace and Democracy (FUNDAPEM) with a view to strengthening national processes for the prevention and elimination of child labour and the protection of young persons at work. The Committee requests the Government to provide full information on the results of the activities undertaken under each of the above projects.

The Committee notes with interest that the technical assistance of the ILO and of FUNDAPEM, with the support of various local bodies, has made it possible for the National Directorate of Labour Inspection to undertake studies on child labour in plantations in various provinces of the country, on domestic child labour in Panama and on the exploitation of street children. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate whether it is envisaged to extend to industrial and commercial establishments the practice currently being followed of visiting plantations with a view to identifying any child workers.

Articles 3, paragraph 2; 10 and 16 of the Convention. With reference to its previous comments under these Articles, and noting the information that labour inspectors discharge their functions according to a programme developed by the various regional directors and involving support in other fields of labour administration, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures which have been taken or are envisaged to overcome the shortage of labour inspectors and to ensure the effective discharge of their functions, particularly through the frequent and thorough inspection of workplaces, in accordance with Article 16.

Article 6. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, Act No. 9 of 20 June 1994 respecting the organization of administrative careers is currently being revised. It requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the progress made in the revision process and to provide a copy of any relevant text, as appropriate.

Article 8. Noting that, according to the Government, special duties requiring feminine sensitivity, such as participation in inspections in agricultural enterprises employing child workers, are entrusted to women inspectors. The Government is requested to indicate whether this specialization is also used in the industrial and commercial workplaces covered by the Convention and, if so, to provide information on the impact of this specialization on the results of inspections.

Article 14. Recalling that under the terms of this provision the labour inspectorate shall be notified of industrial accidents and cases of occupational diseases, and with reference to its previous comments on this matter, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the measures which have been taken to give effect to this provision within the framework of the activities of the Inter-Institutional Committee on Occupational Safety, Hygiene and Health, the establishment of which was announced in an earlier report.

Article 21. Noting the information contained in the report on the work of the inspection services for the period October 1999-September 2000 on the matters enumerated in points (a), (b), (c), (d), (f) and (g) of Article 21, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would also take measures to ensure the inclusion in future annual inspection reports of statistics of violations and penalties imposed (point (e)).