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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Saudi Arabia (Ratification: 1978)

Follow-up to the conclusions of the Committee on the Application of Standards (International Labour Conference, 100th Session, June 2011)

Articles 3(2) and 21 of the Convention. Additional functions entrusted to labour inspectors. Content of the annual inspection report. The Committee notes with interest that the annual labour inspection report includes statistics on (i) inspection visits; and (ii) infringements and penalties imposed, classified according to the provisions of the Labour Code.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has taken into account the Committee’s observation recalling that the primary duty of labour inspectors is to protect workers and not to enforce immigration law. The Committee notes from the Labour Inspection Audit conducted in the country by the ILO in December 2011, that most of the labour inspection visits are targeted at verifying the legality of the employment status of migrant workers. Referring to its previous comment, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the time and resources of the labour inspectorate spent on activities in the area of illegal employment compared to activities spent on securing the enforcement of legal provisions relating to other areas (provisions relating to working hours, wages, safety and health, child labour, forced labour, etc.), and to continue to provide relevant information on the number of inspections, violations found and penalties imposed, classified according to the legal provisions to which they relate, with reference, in particular, to migrant workers.

Furthermore, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the manner in which the labour inspectorate ensures the enforcement of employers’ obligations with regard to the rights of foreign workers in an irregular situation, such as the payment of wages and social security and other benefits, including compensation for industrial accidents, for the period of their effective employment relationship, especially in cases where such workers are liable to be expelled from the country. It also asks the Government to provide information on the number of cases, in which undocumented workers have been granted their due rights.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to take the necessary measures to ensure the publication of an annual inspection report containing all the information required under Article 21(a)–(g) of the Convention. It draws the Government’s attention to the guidance provided in Paragraph 9 of the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81), concerning the type of information that should be included in the labour inspection report.

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