Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2004, published 93rd ILC session (2005)

Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181) - Panama (Ratification: 1999)

1. The Committee takes note of the information supplied by the Government in its report received in 2004 in response to the previous direct request. It notes that at present 33 private employment agencies have a licence and that 12 of them will go into operation at the end of 2004 or in 2005. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information on the following points.

2. Article 6 of the Convention. The Government indicates that the inspectors of the General Directorate of Employment of the Ministry of Labour and Social Development (MITRADEL) are responsible for monitoring the operation of private employment agencies and compliance with the provisions of the Labour Code and Executive Decree No. 105 of 1995 on fee-charging employment agencies conducted with a view to profit. Please indicate whether other measures have been taken to ensure protection of the personal data of the workers concerned.

3. Article 10. The Government indicates that employees may lodge complaints against employers with the Vocational Guidance Section of the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, which, if it sees fit, will send notice to the employer that it must initiate conciliation with the employee. The Committee recalls that according to Article 10, procedures involving representative organizations must be set up to investigate complaints concerning the activities of private employment agencies. It requests the Government to specify how effect is given to this provision of the Convention.

4. Article 11(j). The Committee takes note of the provisions of Act No. 50 of 1995 on "the protection of breast feeding" and Act No. 18 of 2001 "which amends, deletes from and adds to the Family Code provisions on adoption", and sections 105 and 116 of the Labour Code which address maternity protection and benefits. With regard to parental protection and benefits, the Government indicates that under Act No. 18 of 2001, adoptive fathers may be given at most two weeks’ rest, which will be deducted from their leave upon agreement with the employer. The Committee requests the Government to indicate how adequate protection is as a rule ensured for workers employed by private employment agencies, in respect of parental protection and benefits, in accordance with Article 11(j) of the Convention.

5. Article 12. The Government indicates that workers hired by private employment agencies, like all other workers, are subject to the Labour Code and the labour and social security legislation, the application of which is supervised by the National Directorate of the Labour Inspection Service and the inspectors of the Social Security Fund, and that all discrimination based on the manner in which the worker was hired is prohibited. The Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the manner in which responsibilities are allocated between the private employment agencies and the user enterprises, in each of the areas described in Article 12.

6. Part V of the report form. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the application of the Convention in practice, including extracts of reports of the inspection services and information on the number of workers covered by the Convention, the number and nature of infringements reported and the manner in which they have been resolved.