Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181) - Suriname (Ratification: 2006)

1. The Committee notes the Government’s first report on the application of the Convention received in September 2008. The Government indicates that the Ministry of Labour has created several committees to review legislation and, in some cases, to draw up new legislation. The Committee on Employment Agencies is tasked with studying the Convention and the CARICOM legislation and to recommend action to be taken at the national level. The Government indicates in a report received in September 2009 that it is in the process of updating the current legislation and that the Ministry of Justice has presented a draft to the Labour Advisory Board. The Committee asks the Government to report on developments in the context of the ongoing review of labour legislation. The Government is also requested to provide a general appreciation, in its next report, on the manner in which the Convention is applied in the country, including, for example, extracts from inspection reports, information on the number of workers covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention and the number and nature of infringements reported (Part V of the report form). In this regard, the Committee invites the Government to consider and provide further information in respect of the implementation of the following matters under the Convention.

2. Article 7 of the Convention. Fee-charging private employment agencies. The Committee notes that, under section 12 of the Labour Exchange Act (LEA), private employment placement agencies, which charge fees to compensate for their costs, are allowed to operate upon receipt of the permission of the Minister of Labour. The Government also indicates that temporary employment agencies, which are the most common form of employment agencies in Suriname, are not regulated under the Labour Exchange Act. The Government is requested to clarify whether private employment agencies which are permitted to charge a fee to compensate for their costs only provide services to certain categories of workers, or provide specified types of services, which the Government intends to exclude from the provisions of the Convention as provided for under Article 7(2) of the Convention. The Government is also requested to clarify whether temporary employment agencies charge directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, fees or costs to workers (Article 7(1)).

3. Article 6. Processing of personal data of workers. The Government indicates that personal data is protected by regulations of the Penal Code and by the right to privacy as specified by section 17 of the Constitution of Suriname. The Government further indicates that these protections extend to the processing of personal data of workers by private employment agencies. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on how it ensures that the processing of personal data of workers by private employment agencies is limited to matters related to qualifications and professional experience of the workers concerned and any other directly relevant information.

4. Article 10. Machinery and procedures for the investigation of complaints. The Government indicates that, under section 20 of the LEA, abuses and fraudulent practices concerning the activities of private employment agencies are investigated by the labour inspectorate, police or special officials of the Minister of Labour. The Government is requested to provide more detailed information on the machinery and procedures for the investigation of complaints concerning the activities of private employment agencies and how the most representative employers’ and workers’ organizations are involved in this process.

5. Articles 11 and 12. Protection for the workers employed and the responsibilities of the user enterprises. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the means by which protection is provided to workers employed by private employment agencies, in respect of some of the matters set out in Articles 11 and 12. The Government is also requested to clarify how it ensures the protections under the Convention are extended to cover workers employed by temporary employment agencies. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information in its next report as to how it ensures adequate protection for workers, employed by private agencies, with a view to them being made available to a third party, in respect of minimum wages, access to training, maternity protection and benefits, and parental protection and benefits. The Government is also requested to define how responsibilities for the provision of such protection is allocated between the private employment agencies and the user enterprises.

6. Article 13. Cooperation between public employment service and private employment agencies. In providing information on developments in the context of the review of the LEA as requested above, the Government is also requested to provide information on the conditions established to promote cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies, following consultations with the most representative organizations of employers and workers, and such other information requested in the report form in respect of this provision of the Convention.