Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Bahamas (Ratification: 1976)

Article 15(b) and (c) of the Convention. Compliance by labour inspectors with the obligations of maintaining manufacturing or commercial secrets as well as the confidentiality of any complaint. The Committee notes that the Public Service Bill (2010), available on the Government’s website, contains the text of an oath of secrecy concerning, inter alia, facts that come to the knowledge of a public official because of his employment.

The Committee recalls the Government that, according to Article 15(b), labour inspectors shall be bound, subject to appropriate penalties or disciplinary measures not to reveal, even after leaving the service, any manufacturing or commercial secrets or working processes which may come to their knowledge in the course of their duties; and that, according to Article 15(c), they shall treat as absolutely confidential the source of any complaint bringing to their notice a defect or breach of legal provisions and shall give no intimation to the employer or his representative that a visit of inspection was made in consequence of the receipt of such a complaint. Referring to its previous direct requests, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide copies of the texts which ensure compliance by labour inspectors with the requirements of Article 15(b) and (c) of the Convention. In this context, it requests the Government to indicate if the Public Service Bill (2010) applies to labour inspectors and, if this is the case, it invites the Government to indicate if the obligation of secrecy continues once they have left the service. Please also provide information on additional measures taken or envisaged to give full effect to Article 15(b) and (c).

Articles 19, 20 and 21. Reporting obligations of the labour inspection services. The Committee notes that the copies of the annual inspection reports for the years 2005–12 were not attached to the Governments’ report contrary to its indications. It hopes that the next report will include full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee notes that, once again, no annual inspection report has been received and the Government is confined to indicating that while there are inspection reports, these are submitted in hard copy and not electronically. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the general observation of 2010 concerning Articles 20 and 21 of the Convention, and emphasizes that annual reports constitute an indispensable basis for the evaluation of the results in practice of the activities of the labour inspection services and, subsequently, the determination of the means necessary to improve their effectiveness. Detailed and well prepared reports on the activities of the labour inspection system are of fundamental importance to assess the rate of coverage by labour inspection services in relation to their scope and to determine the resources that have to be allocated to this public function. Furthermore, the publication of the annual inspection report, particularly through modern technological means, can also facilitate the development of exchanges in the fields of the conditions of work and the protection of workers at the regional and international levels, including through technical and financial cooperation. Therefore, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged in order to compile and publish an Annual Labour Inspection Report containing information which is as detailed as possible on all items listed in clauses (a)–(g) of Article 21. Furthermore, the Committee requests the Government to provide copies of the inspection reports mentioned in its report, as well as copies of model reports for the inspections of establishments, periodical reports by inspection officers as envisaged by Article 19, and any relevant statistics available. The Government is finally requested to indicate the difficulties encountered in the implementation of these provisions of the Convention and the measures envisaged to overcome them.