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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Argentina (Ratification: 1955)

The Committee notes the Government’s report received on 30 October 2012, and the attached documentation. It also notes the successive comments made by the Confederation of Workers of Argentina (CTA), received on 31 August 2012, and 7 September 2012, and the comments of the General Confederation of Labour of the Republic of Argentina (CGT), 10 September 2012 and received 21 September 2012. The Committee requests the Government to provide any information or comments that it deems useful in this regard.

Articles 3(1)(a), 4, 10 and 11 of the Convention. Supervision and control of the labour inspection services by a central authority, and number of staff of the labour inspection services. The Committee previously requested the Government to indicate the manner in which effect is given to Article 4 of the Convention with respect to the structure and operation in practice of the labour inspection system, and especially the measures adopted to ensure coordination between the federal inspection authorities and the labour inspection authorities in the various provinces.

The CTA reiterates that uniform criteria have not been established throughout the country for labour inspection as a basis for effective supervision. The system of cooperation between the provinces and the Federal State, in addition to the scarcity of the human and material resources allocated to provincial offices, means that the inspection system is deficient, and that this deficiency is demonstrated by the high levels of informality. It emphasizes that entrusting the provinces with exclusive competence for the inspection of general conditions of work and occupational safety and health regulations has led to the undermining of the systems set up by the provinces, because of the shortage of human and material resources allocated to these offices. The number of inspectors is very inadequate in certain provinces where precarious forms of work and informality are very high. For this reason, greater resources should have been allocated to these provinces. The CTA considers that the absence of effective public policies for labour inspection is related to the pressure that can be exerted by local economic powers and major national and multinational enterprises subject to the jurisdiction of the provinces, and the importance of these enterprises in the local economy and employment structure is such that it discourages the intensification of inspection by the local authorities and allows the introduction of self-inspection. The trade union emphasizes that the failure to discharge the inspection function effectively has many negative consequences in relation to the promotion of decent work, for three basic reasons: the high level of unregistered or “black” work; the high incidence of employment accidents; and the low quality of employment and its increasingly precarious forms, which affect a significant number of workers. The CTA also refers to section 30 of Act No. 25.877 of 2004 on the labour system, creating the Integrated Labour and Social Security Inspection System (SIDITYSS), which provides that the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MTEYSS), in its capacity as the central authority may, following the intervention of the Federal Labour Council (CFT), discharge the corresponding functions when a local labour inspection service is not in compliance with the requirements of international Conventions or of the Act.

The Government indicates once again that the CFT promotes general inspection policies based on the principles of coordination, cooperation, co participation and co-responsibility with a view to achieving greater effectiveness in the various jurisdictions. In this respect, it refers to the agreement concluded by the MTEYSS and the CFT, in which the latter undertakes to collaborate with the MTEYSS for the implementation of the National Plan to Regularize Labour (PNRT), and the agreements concluded by the MTEYSS and the provincial authorities for the same purpose.

With regard to the number of labour inspectors, the Government indicates that there are currently 472 labour inspectors in the MTEYSS, in addition to the number of inspectors in each province and those of the Government of the autonomous city of Buenos Aires. The Government adds that it is taking measures to unfreeze 510 posts in the permanent staff of the Ministry, which will subsequently be subject to a competition to fill posts, among others, of labour and social security inspectors, specialist labour and social security inspectors and professional labour and social security inspection analysts.

The Committee recalls, as it noted in paragraph 140 of its General Survey of 2006 on labour inspection, that the objective of a central authority is to facilitate the establishment of a single policy throughout the territory covered and to make it possible to use the available resources in a rational way, and that flexibility in the nature of the system in federal States must not be regarded as derogating from the principle of having a single authority, provided that the constituent units of the federal State have budgetary resources that are sufficient to discharge the functions of the labour inspectorate within their respective fields of competence. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information in its next report on the measures adopted, including in the context of section 30 of Act No. 25.877 of 2004, with a view to giving effect to the Convention in terms of the need for a labour inspection system placed under the supervision and control of a central authority and based on common principles respecting its organization, methods of action and the distribution and management of human and financial resources.

The Committee also once again requests the Government to provide information on the geographical distribution and current number of the inspectors who are in post at federal level and in each of the provinces, in relation to the number and location of workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers employed therein.

Finally, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the proportion of the national budget devoted to labour inspection and its distribution between the central and provincial structures, as well as information on the material resources available to them, including means of transport for the professional travel of inspectors.

Articles 3(1)(a), 16, 18 and 24. Supervisory function of labour inspectors, frequency and scope of inspections, and penalties. The Committee previously requested the Government to provide information on the frequency and scope of the inspections undertaken, including in cases where one single establishment is concerned, and on the impact of the Integrated Employment Promotion Plan: “More and better work” and the “National plan for the regularization of work” (PNRT).

The Committee welcomes the Government’s indication that the PNRT is designed to achieve the incorporation into the social security system of workers excluded following decades of increasing labour flexibility and the lack of the State’s involvement in inspection functions, which led to forms of precarious employment such as pseudo-cooperatives, enterprises for the provision of services and subcontracting arrangements, leaving certain sectors and activities in a situation of extreme vulnerability. It adds that the number of workers who are currently in a registered and legal job with legal protection is the highest for the past 36 years. Informality has been combated through measures to promote a decrease in informal work and an increase in quality jobs with social protection. These have included placing the issue on the public agenda, the simplification of procedures to regularize workers, the reinstatement of and increase in personnel, and the use of technology in inspection activities. The supervisory activities carried out over the past seven years, through the PNRT, are unprecedented; between September 2003 and July 2011, a total of 910,922 workplaces were inspected and the situations of 2,888,024 workers were examined. These inspection activities have undoubtedly contributed to the fall in the rate of unregistered employment. In the second half of 2003, 49.6 per cent of the total number of workers were not registered. This percentage fell to 36 per cent in 2010 (according to the Permanent Household Survey). Through inspection, as well as information, repression and penalties, the MTEYSS has endeavoured to identify violations of the requirement for employers to declare and to pay contributions to the social security system throughout the national territory. The measures have included: the strengthening of the authority of regional heads and delegates throughout the national territory; awareness raising for all officials; training; the purchase of vehicles; the improvement of the premises of regional delegations and directorates; the development of a computerized support application; and the planning of activities. Contributions were also made by the inspections carried out by the Federal Public Income Administration (AFIP) and the provincial labour administrations, through the CFT.

The Committee also notes that the amounts of the fines established in the event of the engagement of workers in a dependent relationship without the required registration and declaration in the context of the PNRT have been updated and increased as from 1 September 2012, in accordance with Decision No. 327/2012 of 8 August 2012 of the National Social Security Administration (ANSES).

The Committee notes this progress with interest and requests the Government to provide information on the frequency and scope of the inspections undertaken in a single workplace, including by provincial delegations. It would also be grateful if the Government would indicate the proportion of labour inspections devoted to combating undeclared work in relation to the proportion of inspections carried out with a view to enforcing the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers (such as the payment of wages, and occupational safety and health conditions), including in relation to unregistered workers, and the penalties imposed (with an indication of the respective legal provision).

Article 6. Stability of employment and conditions of service of labour inspectors. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide a copy of Decision No. 670/10 of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, as well as information on the measures adopted to ensure that labour inspectors benefit from working conditions in accordance with the principles of stability and independence laid down by this provision of the Convention. The Committee notes that this Decision contained the job descriptions for the posts of labour and social security inspectors and territorial planning analysts. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted to guarantee labour inspectors, including those working at the provincial level, a legal status and conditions of service which ensure their stability of employment and independence from changes of government and improper external influences.

Article 7(3). In-service training for labour inspectors. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government to the effect that the level of studies of the inspectors and controllers recruited under the Framework Act to regulate national public employment (Act No. 25.164 of 1999) ranges from basic education (2 per cent) to postgraduate studies (13 per cent), including primary (7 per cent), secondary (53 per cent) and university (25 per cent) education. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the measures adopted to ensure that labour inspectors working in the provinces receive adequate training that is adapted to new technologies and the conditions of work and workplaces liable to inspection, under the terms of the Convention, both when entering service and during employment.

Article 9. Collaboration of technical experts and specialists in certain inspection activities falling within the remit of labour inspectors. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided information in reply to its previous comment on this Article. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to describe the arrangements through which the labour inspection services in the various provinces benefit from the collaboration of technical experts and specialists and the cooperation of the Occupational Risks Supervisory Authority (SRT).

Articles 20 and 21. Annual inspection report. The CGT alleges that the Government is not in compliance with these Articles of the Convention. The Committee notes that the last annual inspection report received by the Office dates from 2000. The Committee reminds the Government of its obligation to ensure that an annual report on the work of the labour inspection services is published and transmitted to the ILO in the form and within the time limits envisaged in Article 20, and that this report contains the information required on each of the items indicated in Article 21. The Committee hopes that measures will be adopted rapidly to give full effect to these provisions of the Convention and that information, such as the number of workplaces liable to inspection (including at the provincial level) and the number of workers employed therein, as well as statistics of occupational diseases and of industrial accidents, will in future be included in the annual report, so as to ensure that it is a useful tool to evaluate and improve the operation of the labour inspection system.

Furthermore, noting that the Government has not replied to a number of previous comments, the Committee requests it to provide the requested information on:

Cooperation in the context of MERCOSUR. The Committee notes that according to the Government’s report, the joint inspection operations in the context of MERCOSUR have continued and have been well received among the social partners in the region. Observing that the trade unions in Argentina asked for the inclusion of controls in relation to occupational safety and health and the work environment in the context of the MERCOSUR Regional Labour Inspection Plan (PRIM) and that the proposal was well received by the representatives of other countries, the Committee requests the Government to continue to supply information on the joint activities carried out in the framework of this plan and especially on their impact on the national labour inspection system. The Committee also requests the Government to supply information on any progress made in the formulation and implementation of the training plan for labour inspectors in the context of the PRIM.

Article 5. Cooperation between the inspection services and other institutions and collaboration with employers and workers. The Committee also notes that the SRT has been signing agreements with the provinces and with the autonomous city of Buenos Aires, with a view to conducting joint inspections and providing economic resources for the reinforcement of local labour inspection. The SRT has also signed agreements with the trade unions, with a view to providing economic resources for the training of union leaders and workers, and to developing projects and actions aimed at improving working conditions and the working environment. The Committee requests the Government to supply detailed information on the inspections carried out jointly by the SRT and the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and by the latter and the provincial delegations pursuant to the abovementioned agreements, and also on the impact of such collaboration with regard to the objective pursued by these agreements. It also requests the Government to provide information on any projects launched in the context of collaboration between the SRT and the trade unions, and on the results thereof.

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