Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Latvia (Ratification: 1994)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report, which was received on 12 October 2009, and the attached documents.

Articles 3(1), (2) and 10 of the Convention. Principal labour inspection functions and the strengthening of inspection staff. The Committee notes from the Government’s report and the annual labour inspection reports sent to the ILO (covering 2007 and 2008) that there are two distinct structures within the labour inspection system to deal respectively with labour relations and labour protection. The Committee notes that the officials exercising their functions in both structures are all labour inspectors but the number of those assigned to combating illegal employment has been increased while the number of those assigned to supervising conditions of work has been reduced and a number of vacancies remained for the position of inspector and competitions were under way, as of 1 June 2009. The Committee must recall that, according to Articles 2 and 3(1) of the Convention, the labour inspection system should primarily be aimed at ensuring the application of the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work. Consequently, the control of the legality of employment can only be considered as an additional function entrusted to the labour inspection structures. According to Article 3(2) of the Convention, any further duties which may be entrusted to labour inspectors shall not be such as to interfere with the effective discharge of the primary duties defined in paragraph 1 of the same Article or to prejudice in any way the authority and impartiality which are necessary to inspectors in their relations with employers and workers.

However, the Committee notes that, according to the Government and to the information included in the annual reports for 2007 and 2008, the labour inspectorate mainly focuses on illegal employment as an issue becoming even more pressing in the current conditions of high budget deficit and unemployment in the context of the economic crisis. In 2008, 4,554 inspections aimed at combating illegal employment resulted in the identification of 623 cases of illegal employment, the conclusion of 600 written employment contracts between workers in irregular situations and their employers, and the stoppage of labour relations of a number of shadow workers (1,023). No information is provided concerning the protection of the rights of the latter derived from their employment relationship in connection with the period worked. The Committee cannot emphasize enough the importance of ensuring that the same protection should be provided to all workers by the labour inspection system regardless of the type of the employment relationship. It emphasizes in paragraph 77 of its General Survey of 2006 on labour inspection that the Convention does not contain any provision suggesting that any worker be excluded from the protection afforded by labour inspection on account of their irregular employment status and that, to be compatible with the objective of labour inspection, the function of verifying the legality of employment should have as its corollary the reinstatement of the statutory rights of all the workers (wages, leave benefits, overtime and any other related matters).

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the structure of the labour inspectorate and the number of positions allocated respectively to the supervision of labour relations and labour conditions, as well as those positions which remain vacant.

The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the functions entrusted to the labour inspectorate to combat illegal employment do not interfere with the effective discharge of the primary duties defined by the Convention which are aimed at securing the application of the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work. If no measures have been taken or envisaged, the Government is requested to take such measures and to keep the ILO duly informed.

Articles 3(1) and 21(d) and (e). Labour inspection enforcement activities and relevant statistics. The Committee notes with interest from the annual report of the labour inspection service in 2008, the information concerning its activities centred on the issue of occupational safety and health (OSH), in pursuance of the objective of the implementation of European Union campaigns in the area of OSH (SLIC information and inspection campaign on manual handling of loads, and information campaign on risk assessment), including inspection campaigns in sectors with increased risk of accidents and occupational diseases (in 2008, construction, textiles, and hairdressers and beauty parlours). The Committee observes however that the statistical data provided do not enable the Committee to evaluate the activities carried out in relation to other areas of labour conditions such as wages, working time, leave, child labour and areas of protection of workers such as social security, freedom of association, etc. and the results achieved in terms of legal notices, injunctions, fines, etc. The statistics only refer to violations identified and sanctions applied by the labour inspectorate in relation to so-called “labour protection”, without further detail as to the nature, area and seriousness of the legal provisions at issue nor to the nature of the sanctions imposed. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide detailed statistical data on the labour activities and results achieved with regard to legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work. To be in a position to assess the level of application of the Convention, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would also ensure that, in the future, the labour inspection annual reports include the number of workplaces liable to inspection, the number of inspection visits made, their purpose, the classification of infringements according to the legal provisions to which they relate, and the nature of the penalties imposed (see the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81), Paragraph 9(b)(ii), (c)(i), (d)(ii) and (e)(ii)). The Committee also refers in this regard to its general observation of 2009 on the crucial importance of information on the number of industrial and commercial workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers employed therein.

Article 14. Notification of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted the adoption of Regulation No. 585 of 9 August 2005 establishing the procedure for the investigation and registration of work accidents, as well as Regulation No. 908 of 6 November 2006 on the procedure for the investigation and registration of cases of occupational diseases and had requested information on the operation of these procedures in practice and their impact on the detection and registration of work accidents and cases of occupational disease. The Committee notes with interest that in 2008, for the first time in five years, the number of accidents fell in part thanks to inspection campaigns implemented in high risk sectors which had not been previously inspected, and an active publicity campaign in the media. It also notes with interest that, according to the Government, an occupational therapist can request the labour inspection service to prepare an OSH report on the workplace in order to evaluate how the work may have influenced a person and diagnose an occupational disease, even in cases where the indications of an occupational disease are revealed in an employee or a person after termination of the employment relationship. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide information on the operation of the procedures for the investigation and registration of work accidents and cases of occupational disease and, in particular, their impact on the registration of work accidents and cases of occupational disease.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.