Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Poland (Ratification: 1958)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Poland (Ratification: 2017)

The Committee notes the observations of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), received on 30 August 2017.

Follow-up to the conclusions of the Committee on the Application of Standards (International Labour Conference, 106th Session, June 2017)

The Committee notes the detailed discussion which took place in the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in June 2017 concerning the application by Poland of the Convention.

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Vulnerable situation of migrant workers with regard to the exaction of forced labour. The Committee previously noted the observations of the Independent and Self-Governing Trade Union (“Solidarnosc”) that there had been exploitation of citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) for forced labour in Poland. In 2011, there were 239 DPRK workers brought legally to Poland, while the number in 2012 rose to 509. Reportedly they had to send back to the regime a large part of their legitimate earnings. Solidarnosc expressed its concern at the working conditions of those workers, which might be assimilated to forced labour. The Committee also noted the Government’s statement that, in 2016, comprehensive controls in selected entities known to employ DPRK citizens were carried out throughout the country. No cases of illegal employment were detected but a number of infringements of the provisions of the Act on Employment Promotion and provisions of the Labour Law were found. In particular, there were no instances of failure to pay or payment of a lower amount than that stated in the foreigners’ work permits, based on the evidence of payments presented by the employers, such as bank transfers and payrolls with signatures of DPRK citizens.

The Committee also noted that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations on the situation of human rights in the DPRK, nationals of the DPRK are being sent abroad by their Government to work under conditions that reportedly amount to forced labour. Some 50,000 DPRK workers operate in countries such as Poland and mainly in the mining, logging, textile and construction industries. As examples of working conditions, the workers do not know the details of their employment contract and earn on average between $120 and $150 per month, while employers in fact pay significantly higher amounts to the Government of the DPRK (employers deposit the salaries of the workers in accounts controlled by companies from the DPRK). The workers are forced to work sometimes up to 20 hours per day with only one or two rest days per month and given insufficient daily food rations. They are under constant surveillance by security personnel and their freedom of movement is unduly restricted. Workers’ passports are also confiscated by the same security agents.

The Committee notes that, in its conclusion adopted in June 2017, the Conference Committee called upon the Government to increase its efforts to ensure that migrant workers are fully protected from abusive practices and conditions amounting to forced labour; to provide information on the measures taken to identify cases of forced labour to the Committee of Experts, paying particular attention to the situation of workers from the DPRK; to take immediate and efficient measures so that the perpetrators of such practices, if they occur, are prosecuted and that dissuasive penalties are issued; and to ensure that identified victims of forced labour have access to adequate protection and remedies.

The Committee notes the IOE’s statement that it is essential to assess fully and objectively whether the living and working conditions of these workers are in accordance with fundamental labour standards. If forced labour practices are detected, the victims should be identified and protected. Moreover, beneficiaries of such illegal practices should be identified and following a fair trial, punishments should be imposed that are commensurate with the gravity of the offences.

The Committee notes the Government’s information in its report that the Polish authorities, including the Embassy of Poland in Pyongyang, are not involved in employing citizens from DPRK or carry out any promotional activities in this regard. Their employment takes place only as an activity of individual entities. Foreign employees, including those from the DPRK, are subject to the same labour law as Polish citizens in principle. The Government indicates that, in 2016 and 2017, no new visa has been issued to DPRK citizens. As of 1 January 2017, there were 400 citizens from DPRK in Poland with valid residence permits, including 368 with temporary residence permits and 31 with long-term European Union (EU) residence permits, while not all of them are employed. In response to the signals revealed in 2016, the National Labour Inspectorate and the Border Guards carried out monitoring activities covering all entities employing the citizens of the DPRK, and no infringements seemed to relate to forced labour. However, the Government indicates that, the lack of cooperation between potentially affected people and monitoring authorities can be observed, which may hamper the objective assessment.

The Committee also notes the Government’s information that a number of violations of provisions of the Act on the Promotion of Employment, as well as regulations in the scope of Labour Law were identified. Among the examples of inspections concerning citizens of DPRK, the Committee notes that, 51 persons were found carrying out paid work on a construction site in Warsaw. They were employed by a DPRK company under employment contracts governed by the DPRK law and delegated to work in Poland, and their salaries were paid to their wives in DPRK. On another construction site, 60 workers were found delegated to work there by the same DPRK company. Although no failure to ensure the minimum employment standards in Poland was detected, it was found that the passports of all the workers from DPRK were kept by a representative of that company. They also gave their residence cards to the representative of the company after the completion of the inspection. Moreover, a representative was always present during the inspection as an interpreter. The Committee observes that, the abovementioned practices, such as the indirect payment of wages and confiscation of identification papers, could significantly increase the dependency of workers concerned on the controlling DPRK entity, which in turn contributes to their vulnerability. The Committee recalls the importance of taking effective action to ensure that the system of the employment of migrant works does not place the workers concerned in a situation of increased vulnerability, particularly where they are subjected to abusive employer practices, such as retention of passports, non-payment or indirect payment of wages, and deprivation of liberty. Such practices might cause their employment to be transformed into situations that amount to forced labour. The Committee therefore requests the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure that migrant workers, especially those from the DPRK, are fully protected from abusive practices and conditions that amount to the exaction of forced labour. The Committee also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to enable migrant workers to approach the competent authorities and seek redress in the event of a violation of their rights or abuses, without fear of retaliation. It further requests the Government to provide statistical information on the number of violations of the working conditions of migrant workers that have been recently detected and registered by the labour inspectors, and to indicate the penalties applied for such violations.

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