Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 (No. 94) - Mauritius (Ratification: 1969)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report is essentially a repetition of information already submitted in previous years that confirms the continued failure of the Government to bring the national legislation into conformity with the requirements of the Convention. The Government merely indicates that discussions on the draft employment bill continue at the level of the Labour Advisory Board and that the provisions of the Convention have been duly taken into account in the course of the revision exercise. Recalling that the specific legislation enacted with a view to giving effect to the provisions of the Convention was repealed more than 25 years ago and that the Government has been announcing ever since its intention to amend the Labour Act of 1975 in order to apply again the Convention, the Committee urges the Government to take without further delay all necessary steps to ensure legislative conformity with the terms of the Convention.

In addition, the Committee notes the extract of the tender document for works, which was supplied by the Government and which contains a detailed clause on recruitment, rates of wages and hours and conditions of work in respect of the workers involved in the execution of a public contract. In this connection, the Government reports that measures will be taken by the Central Tenders Board to ensure that all tender documents contain specifications in line with the provisions of the Convention. The Committee is bound to recall, however, that a labour clause has to constitute an integral part of the actual contract signed by the selected contractor and that the insertion of labour clauses in the specifications or general conditions of tender documents, even though required under the terms of Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Convention, does not suffice to give effect to the basic requirement of the Convention as set out in Article 2, paragraph 1. The Committee takes this opportunity to recall that measures to ensure the inclusion of appropriate labour clauses in all the public contracts covered by the Convention do not necessarily call for enactment of legislation, but could also take the form of administrative instructions or circulars.