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

Gibraltar

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) (Ratification: 1958)
Labour Administration Convention, 1978 (No. 150) (Ratification: 1980)

Labour inspection: Convention No. 81

Article 3(1)(a), (b) and (2) of Convention No. 81. Additional functions entrusted to labour inspectors. Control of registration of employment vacancies and issuance of work permits. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that under the Employment Regulation (Offences) Act, labour inspectors are empowered to issue fixed penalty notices that can range from £750 for failure on the part of an employer to register a termination of employment to £3,000 for failing to register a vacancy, the engagement of a new employee or the request for a work permit. It notes in this respect that pursuant to Part III of the Employment Act, the Director of Employment may require: (a) notification to him of any employment vacancy before that vacancy may be filled; and (b) that an employer obtain permission from the Director prior to employing any workers (work permit).

The Committee recalls that, according to Article 3(1) and (2) of the Convention, the primary functions of the labour inspection system shall be to monitor and secure the conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work and any further duties which may be entrusted to labour inspectors should not be such as to interfere with the effective discharge of their primary duties or to prejudice in any way the authority and impartiality which are necessary to inspectors in their relations with employers and workers. The Committee requests the Government to take specific measures to ensure that any functions assigned to labour inspectors to monitor registration of employment vacancies and work permits, or issue penalty notices related to such registration, do not interfere with the main objective of labour inspectors to secure the enforcement of legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers as required under Article 3(1) of the Convention. It requests the Government to provide information on the time and resources spent on labour inspection activities in these areas compared to activities spent on securing the enforcement of legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers.

Articles 10, 14, 16, 20 and 21. Number of labour inspectors and coverage of inspections. Annual labour inspection reports. Notification of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease to the labour inspectorate. The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government, in reply to its previous request, on the labour inspection activities performed during fiscal years 2016 to mid-2019. The Committee notes a reduction of the number of labour inspectors, from a total of five inspectors in 2017 to three in 2019, despite an increase in the number of employers subject to inspection from 5,574 (with 34,715 employees) to 5,926 employers (with 37,711 employees). It however notes a rise in the number of inspection visits carried out in fiscal years 2017–18: 495 visits (up from 398 visits in fiscal years 2016–17) which resulted in the detections of 88 violations and the issuance of 21 fines. The Committee also notes that for the fiscal year 2017–18, 119 minor accidents and 28 serious accidents were reported to the labour inspectorate with no notifications made on occupational diseases, while for the fiscal year 2018–19, 152 minor accidents, 29 serious accidents, and one case of occupational disease was reported. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the manner in which labour inspection activities are carried out with respect to occupational safety and health (OSH) issues, and to continue to provide statistical information on the number of labour inspections performed in the areas of OSH and working conditions. It also requests the Government to provide further information on the measures taken to ensure the notification of cases of occupational diseases to the labour inspectorate, in accordance with Article 14. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether annual labour inspection reports containing the statistics provided by the Government are published in accordance with Article 20(2) of the Convention.

Article 12(1) and (2). Right of inspectors to enter freely any workplace liable to inspection. The Committee notes that under section 17(1)(a) and (d) of the Employment Act, labour inspectors shall be empowered to enter at all reasonable times any premises, ship or other place liable to inspection under the Act, and with the prior written authority of the Director, to do anything necessary to ensure that the Act is complied with or to detect any breach of this Act. However, the Committee notes the absence of a provision, which as a matter of principle, empowers labour inspectors to enter freely and without previous notice at any hour of the day or night any workplace liable to inspection, in accordance with Article 12 of the Convention. Moreover, the Committee notes that the Factories Act regulating appointment and powers of inspectors in the areas of OSH does not appear to contain any provisions empowering inspectors to enter freely any workplace liable to inspection. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the exercise by inspectors in practice of the powers in sections provided for in section 17(1)(a) and (d) of the Employment Act, including further information on the requirement to obtain written authority from the Director, the modalities for obtaining this, including if a separate request is required before each inspection. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate whether labour inspectors entrusted with supervising compliance with the Factories Act are empowered to enter freely any workplace liable to inspection, in accordance with Article 12(1) of the Convention.

Labour administration: Convention No. 150

Articles 5, 6(1) and (2) of Convention No. 150. Preparation and implementation of laws and regulations giving effect to the national labour policy, in consultation and cooperation with the most representative organizations of employers and workers. The Committee notes that section 6 of the Employment Act establishes the Condition of Employment Board which comprises a chairperson and independent persons as the Minister may appoint, as well as the equal number of representatives of employers and employees as the Minister may appoint. Section 7 of the Act provides that the functions of the Board shall be: (a) to make recommendations to the Minister as to any general minimum standard conditions of employment; (b) to make recommendations to the Minister as to any particular minimum standard conditions of employment on any matter referred to the Board by the Minister; and (c) to advise the Minister on any matter relating to conditions of employment, or on any matter referred to the Board by the Minister. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which the Condition of Employment Board currently functions and contributes to the preparation, administration, coordination, checking and review of national labour policy.

Article 7. Gradual extension of the functions of the system of labour administration to certain categories of workers. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the coverage of the labour administration system, and on any measures taken to extend this coverage to categories of workers not previously covered, such as those referred to in Article 7 (a)–(d) of the Convention with a view to meeting the needs of the largest possible number of workers.