Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Labour Administration Convention, 1978 (No. 150) - Malawi (Ratification: 1999)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Repetition

Articles 1 and 6 of the Convention. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government to the effect that a national employment policy is under preparation. In its comments on the information supplied by the Government in its report for 2009, the Committee noted that a consultant had been hired within the framework of cooperation with Norway to assist in developing such a policy. It again asks the Government to provide information, including relevant documents, on the progress of the consultant’s mission and on any measures taken on the basis of his recommendations. It also repeats its request for copies of any texts in force concerning the functions and operation of each of the bodies mentioned in the 2009 report as exercising competence in the area of labour administration.

Article 3. The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain a copy of one of the collective agreements that the Government said it had appended. It asks again the Government to provide a copy of one or more of the collective labour agreements concluded by the social partners in pursuance of this provision.

Article 4. The Government indicates in its report the bodies through which the labour administration system operates. It stated in its previous report that monitoring is conducted through reports for the purpose of ensuring the effective operation of the system of labour administration. The Committee again asks the Government to provide copies of these reports or extracts thereof.

The Committee draws attention to the resolution on labour administration and inspection adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 100th Session in June 2011, in which it is noted that experience from the recent financial and economic crisis has shown that labour administration has an essential role among government institutions, as good labour policies and efficient institutions can help to address difficult economic situations, by protecting workers and enterprises against the worst impacts of an economic crisis and mitigating its economic and social consequences while facilitating economic recovery. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the system of labour administration in Malawi is so effective as to play an essential role in circumstances of financial and economic crisis.

Article 5. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that every year, the Ministry of Labour, in consultation with the social partners, organizes three regional meetings on social dialogue and one at national level. It notes, however, that the copy of the report referred to in the Government’s report was not attached. The Committee again asks the Government to provide copies of any reports or extracts thereof on the work of the national, regional and district-level tripartite consultation bodies referred to in its previous report.

Article 7. The Committee notes the information sent by the Government to the effect that the labour legislation can also be applied in the informal economy and that, as regards Tenants, a Bill is in preparation. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the conditions in which the abovementioned laws are applied in the informal economy and the categories of workers who are concerned and whom the law does not treat as employed persons. The Government is also asked to provide information on the extension of the system of labour administration in the Bill to workers whom the law does not treat as employed persons, and to send a copy to the Office as soon as it is adopted.

Article 10. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee again expresses the hope that the Government will not fail to supply the inspection reports for the years from 2003 to 2005.