Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Panama (Ratification: 1966)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Panama (Ratification: 2016)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report. It also notes the communications received on 28 August 2011 from the National Federation of Public Employees and Public Service Enterprise Workers (FENASEP), and on 14 August 2011 from the General Confederation of Workers of Panama (CGTP), which contain observations on the application of the Convention by Panama. The Committee notes the Government’s reply to these observations.

As regards the points previously raised concerning the alternative sanction of community work, the Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government on the application in practice of sections 65 to 67 and 57 of the Penal Code.

Article 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken to combat trafficking in persons and to reinforce its legal framework especially as regards trafficking for labour exploitation. It notes with interest the adoption of a new Law against Trafficking in Persons and Related Activities (No. 79 of 2011), which strengthens the national policy against trafficking and provides for a comprehensive coverage of the issue, including the establishment of a national action plan to combat trafficking in persons and several measures to protect and reintegrate victims. The new Law also expands the definition of the crime of trafficking to include trafficking for labour exploitation and incorporates a new chapter in the Penal Code which addresses several criminal activities related to trafficking and sanctions other forms of exploitation, such as forced labour and slavery.

The Committee also notes the detailed information (including statistical data, court decisions and a report prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Regional Conference on Migration) provided in the Government’s report as regards other measures it has been taking to address the issue of trafficking in persons in the last few years.

Noting the above information which demonstrates the Government’s efforts to combat trafficking, the Committee hopes that a national action plan will be established as part of the comprehensive national policy against trafficking referred to by the Government and that it will provide information on the application in practice of the new Law against Trafficking in Persons and Related Activities. Please also provide information on any judicial proceedings initiated under the new Law. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to combat trafficking in persons for both sexual and labour exploitation, as well as information on any difficulties encountered by the competent authorities in identifying victims and in initiating legal proceedings.

Obligation to perform overtime work. In its communication, the FENASEP expresses concern about the absence of provisions regulating overtime work and adequate compensation in the public sector in Panama. According to the FENASEP, this gap in the legal system allowed administrative authorities to impose overtime in the public sector, with no limits and no adequate compensation. The Committee notes that, in its reply to these observations, the Government provides detailed information on the normative provisions regulating overtime work in the public sector.

The Committee recalls, referring also to paragraphs 132–134 of its 2007 General Survey on the eradication of forced labour, that the imposition of overtime does not affect the application of the forced labour Convention as long as it is within the legal limits. However, above these limits and in cases in which overtime is imposed by exploiting the worker’s vulnerability, under the menace of a penalty, dismissal or payment of wages below the minimum level, such exploitation ceases to be merely a matter of poor working conditions of employment and calls for the protection of this Convention. The Committee hopes that the Government will continue to reinforce the legal protection as regards the use of overtime in the public sector, thereby guaranteeing that any risk of a forced labour situation is averted. It also refers in this connection to its comments addressed to the Government under the Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30).