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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Cyprus (Ratification: 1960)

Article 3(1) of the Convention. Functions of the labour inspection system in the area of occupational safety and health. The Committee notes with interest from the 2009 annual report a number of practices which deserve to be highlighted and particularly the activities carried out by the labour inspectorate responsible for occupational safety and health in schools to raise public awareness from an early age concerning occupational safety and health issues, as well as the promotion of safety committees at the workplace and the participation in the European Safety and Health at Work Campaign with the slogan “Healthy workplaces – Good for you. Good for business”, which emphasizes the financial value to enterprises of beneficial conditions of work for workers. The Committee also notes with interest the information on the inspection campaigns targeting certain branches of activity, such as construction. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would keep the Office informed of the impact of these activities, for example, in terms of reduced accident rates, etc.

Articles 3(1) and (2), and 5(a). Functions of the labour inspection system and effective cooperation with other public and private institutions including the courts. The Committee notes from the annual reports for 2007, 2008 and 2009 that there has been an important increase in the number of visits by the labour inspectorate responsible for labour relations and in the number of corresponding cases brought to the courts in collaboration with a Public Prosecutor assigned for special duties to the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance. The Committee also notes, however, that, in 2009, almost half of the inspection visits carried out by the inspectorate responsible for labour relations (2,568 out of 5,431 visits) were related to the question of undeclared and illegal work, including by undocumented migrant workers. The inspection visits in question demonstrated that 24.49 per cent of the 8,858 workers occupied in the workplaces inspected were undeclared and that 11 per cent of these workers were foreigners from third countries, and many of them were irregular residents. Moreover, 72 out of 123 cases brought to the courts by labour inspectors in 2009 concerned undeclared and illegal work. The Committee understands from this information that the main priority of the labour inspectorate in the area of labour relations is to combat undeclared work, inter alia, by verifying the residency status of foreign workers.

The Committee recalls that, under Article 3(1)(a), the primary function of labour inspectors is to secure the enforcement of legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work, such as provisions relating to hours of work, the payment of wages, the prevention of child labour, the promotion of freedom of association, etc. As indicated in the General Survey of 2006 on labour inspection (paragraphs 77–78), the Convention does not contain any provision suggesting that any workers be excluded from the protection afforded by labour inspection on account of their irregular employment status. With regard to foreign workers in particular, the Committee has stated in unequivocal terms that “the primary duty of labour inspectors is to protect workers and not to enforce immigration law”. In conclusion, the Committee recalls that, to be compatible with the protective function of labour inspection, the verification of the legality of employment by labour inspectors should have as its corollary the reinstatement of the statutory rights of all workers, including undocumented ones. This objective can only be met if the workers covered are convinced that the primary task for the labour inspectorate is to enforce the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers.

The Committee also recalls that, under Article 3(2), additional duties that are not aimed at securing enforcement of the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers should be assigned to labour inspectors only in so far as they do not interfere with their primary duties or do not prejudice in any way the authority and impartiality which are necessary to inspectors in their relations with workers. Since the human and other resources available to labour inspectorates are not unlimited, the major role assigned to labour inspectors in the area of illegal employment would appear to entail a proportionate decrease in inspection of conditions of work. Consequently, the Committee of Experts has welcomed in paragraph 78 of its 2006 General Survey the initiative of certain governments to relieve the inspectorate of the task of policing illegal employment and transfer it to another body.

The Committee would be grateful if the Government would take the necessary measures to ensure that the additional duty of verifying the residency status of foreign workers is entrusted to a body separate from the labour inspectorate so that labour inspectors can focus on their main function which is to secure the enforcement of legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers. The Committee also requests the Government to specify the applicable legal provisions, the types of violations and the nature of the sanctions imposed by the courts in cases concerning undeclared work. It would be grateful if the Government would provide copies of legal decisions ordering the payment of outstanding wages to workers, including undocumented foreign workers, who were found to be in an illegal employment relationship for the period worked, and details on any remedial measures taken, in accordance with the law, in order to ensure that workers found to be in an illegal employment relationship are regularized in their employment. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would specify the types of violations involved in the 51 cases decided by penal courts in 2009, which did not relate to the issue of undeclared employment.

Articles 14 and 21(g). Notification of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease and relevant statistics. The Committee notes with interest the texts communicated by the Government, notably the National Strategy on Safety and Health at Work for the period 2007–12 as well as the Safety and Health at Work (Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences Notification) Regulations of 2007. The latter requires the notification to the Department of Labour Inspection of all accidents to employed and self-employed persons, arising out of their employment or occurring during their normal travel between home and their workplace, and all accidents occurring to any person not at work when those accidents are related to a place of work or a work activity (accidents to be reported are those which cause physical or mental harm as a result of which the worker is unable to perform the usual work for more than three days). The Government also indicates that, in order to minimize the under-reporting of accidents, close and continuous cooperation has been developed between the Department of Labour Inspection and the Social Insurance System which led to an increase of notified accidents by almost 50 per cent since 2002. The Committee also notes, however, that the statistical data provided in the 2009 annual report on the numbers of occupational accidents notified between 2003 and 2009, shows that the recent measures have not yet produced an impact. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of further measures taken to improve the reporting of occupational accidents and of any progress noted in this regard.

With regard to the recording of cases of occupational disease, the Government indicates that only a few cases were notified during the reporting period. In its previous comments, while welcoming a number of measures to improve the recording of occupational diseases, the Committee had also noted that, in view of the insufficient number of occupational physicians in the country, it would take some time before an accurate pool of such statistics would be established.

The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply information on any measures taken or envisaged with a view to improving the notification rate of cases of occupational disease and enabling the inclusion of the most accurate possible statistical data in future annual reports on the work of the labour inspection services. It also once again requests the Government to describe the functioning in practice of the notification and recording system established by the Safety and Health at Work (Occupational Diseases Notification) Regulations of 2007, and indicate any measures taken or envisaged to increase the number of occupational physicians.

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