Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Libya

Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95) (Ratification: 1962)
Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) (Ratification: 1971)

In order to provide a comprehensive view of the issues relating to the application of the ratified Conventions on wages, the Committee considers it appropriate to examine Convention No. 131 (minimum wage) and Convention No. 95 (protection of wages) together.

Minimum wage

Articles 3 and 4 of Convention No. 131. Elements taken into consideration in determining the level of the minimum wage. Minimum wage-fixing machinery. Further to its previous comments on the operation of the minimum wage fixing machinery following the adoption of the Labour Relations Act in 2010, the Committee notes that the Government’s report only refers to the relevant provisions of the Act without providing information on their implementation in practice. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the establishment, mandate, composition and functioning of the Consultative Council for Wages established pursuant to section 19 of the Labour Relations Act, including on any decisions adopted further to its work.

Protection of wages

Article 12 of Convention No. 95. Regular payment of wages and final settlement of wages due. The Committee notes that the Government has not replied to its request for information on the implementation of Decision No. 20/2007, concerning the organization, import and employment of foreign labour, and Decision No. 56/2006, on the establishment of a multi-stakeholder committee to examine wage claims of migrant workers who had been expelled from the country as illegal immigrants, as well as on other measures taken with regard to the protection of all persons to whom wages are paid or payable. Moreover, the Committee notes that in December 2018, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights jointly released a report on the human rights situation of migrants and refugees in Libya, which noted that migrants and refugees were frequently exploited by unscrupulous employers who refused to pay their wages, knowing that in practice they had no recourse to justice, and that migrants and refugees engaged in daily work and other manual labour were vulnerable to being unpaid after completing their tasks or receiving less wages than the agreed upon sums. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any situation of wage arrears or other difficulties experienced in the timely or full payment of wages to workers, including migrant workers, as well as on any measures taken or decisions adopted to address such situation, including on the implementation of decisions Nos 20/2007 and 56/2006.