Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Malawi (Ratification: 1965)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous observation on the following points:

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report received in November 2005, and the copy of the TEVET Act, No. 6 of 1999. It also notes the Government’s comments replying to the observations of the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) received by the ILO on 5 April 2005.

Situation of the labour inspection system. The MCTU alleges, contrary to the Government’s statement in its last report that the Labour Inspectorate has been reinforced, that the Inspectorate has done nothing whatsoever about the many breaches of the law by employers. One enterprise allegedly dismissed 280 employees without any consultation of workers’ representatives, and another got rid of a worker two years before he was due to retire. In 2000, more than 50 employees were dismissed after a union was formed in the enterprise where they were employed, and in another enterprise two workers who had received MCTU training were laid off.

The Committee notes that in reply to the MCTU’s allegations, the Government states that it knows nothing of the instances of violation cited, but that if any worker feels that his/her rights have been violated, he or she is free to lodge a complaint at the district labour office, the industrial relations court or any other court.

As to the human resources of the Inspectorate and their qualifications, the Government indicates that six new inspectors have been hired to strengthen the Occupational Safety and Health Directorate. It also states that a five-day workshop was organized in the context of the Improving Labour Systems in Southern Africa (ILSSA) project, with financial assistance from the ILO, and was attended by 23 labour officers, four union members and two employers’ representatives.

As regards material resources, the Committee notes that UNICEF has given the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training 22 motorcycles, which has greatly strengthened the inspections in 11 districts, and that two motor vehicles have been deployed in the southern region and central region. The Committee further notes that seven motorcycles were to be distributed to districts that have none.

With regard to the increase in the number of occupational accidents in recent years, the Government expresses the need for technical assistance from the ILO through capacity-building programmes on occupational safety and health matters.

With reference to the MCTU’s observations and a report on a mission carried out by the Harare Regional Office from 1 to 4 May 2006 as part of the project to strengthen administration systems in the countries of southern Africa, the Committee notes that the MCTU’s views coincide with those of the Employers’ Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM) regarding the weaknesses of the inspection system and their causes: a lack of financial resources, transport facilities and equipment; low morale and high staff turnover of labour officers and inspectors. Both organizations note that the functioning of the system is affected by a lack of dialogue and of consultation between the social partners and regret that the Government has sent them neither a copy of the ILO’s report on the Convention nor the annual inspection report, and that the Labour Advisory Council does not meet regularly enough given the subjects that it could discuss. The Committee further notes that 50 labour inspection posts remain vacant although the Government indicated that 18 of them would shortly be filled by candidates with a university education.

Having examined labour inspection and particularly the coordination mechanisms and system of reporting between central and district offices, the Committee has come to the view that there are no structural obstacles to the setting up of a labour inspection system but that the latter falls short of the Convention in a number of ways:

–      the lack of a labour inspection policy setting relevant guidelines and rules of conduct for inspectors;

–      insufficient coordination between inspection services and between the latter and the central authority, and the lack of contact between the services responsible for occupational safety and health and other inspection services;

–      difficulty of setting up cooperation between social partners because of the current lack of dialogue;

–      the planning of inspections is not systematic and the inspection services fail to react when notified of violations;

–      there is no register of establishments which can guide inspectors as to the inspection needs and the establishments to be targeted;

–      there are no individual files for establishments inspected to facilitate easy follow-up.

The mission concluded that the strengthening of the inspection system should be stepped up with a view to attaining decent work objectives and promoting sound and fair labour market governance, particularly now that there is an opening up to foreign investment. It made the following recommendations:

(1)    the Ministry should involve the social partners in developing the labour inspection system in order to secure their cooperation;

(2)    the Ministry should formulate a labour inspection policy that will provide guidance for inspections;

(3)    there should be more planning of inspections so that the Inspectorate can play its preventive role, particularly in certain branches of activity;

(4)    the office of the chief labour officer needs further strengthening to enable it to play more of a role in the setting of annual targets and monitoring the performance of inspections in the field, both qualitatively and quantitatively;

(5)    there should be closer collaboration between the chief labour officer and the director of safety and health, inter alia, through joint planning, in order to move towards a more integrated inspection system.

The Committee firmly hopes that the Government will take steps to follow up the mission’s recommendations, and will keep the Office informed of any developments in this respect and report to it any difficulties encountered.

The Committee is also addressing a request on a number of points directly to the Government.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.