Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 (No. 94) - Guyana (Ratification: 1966)

Articles 2, 4 and 5 of the Convention. Contractual provisions. Inspections and sanctions. Application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to specify whether the reform of the public procurement legislation affects, in any possible manner, the application of the Convention in either law or practice, and to provide copies of any rules or regulations drafted to implement the Procurement Act (Cap. 73:05) of 2003, particularly with respect to the labour conditions of workers engaged in the execution of public contracts. The Committee welcomes the copies of the Guyana Legal & Policy Framework for Public Procurement and Regulations made under the Procurement Act 2003, attached to the report. It notes, however, that these documents do not contain any reference to the insertion into public contracts of the labour clauses required by the Convention. Indeed, the Government indicates that public contracts in Guyana do not contain any clauses regarding wages and labour issues, but that all of Guyana's labour laws apply to work done under public contracts. It adds that the Public Procurement Commission is a constitutional body charged with monitoring public procurement to ensure that the procurement of goods, services and the execution of works is carried out in compliance with national law and relevant policy guidelines. In this context, the Government indicates that, through the Public Procurement Commission, Security Services Contracts by public entities contain a clause that requires confirmation that no less than the minimum wage is paid to security guards. The Government adds that, to be eligible for public contracts, all contractors/employers must comply with the National Insurance Scheme and the requirements of the Guyana Revenue Authority. The Committee notes the legislation reform activities of the Public Procurement Commission, in particular, the preparation of draft Regulations 2020, in relation to Emergency Procurement. In this context, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to paragraph 45 of its 2008 General Survey on labour clauses in public contracts, which clarifies that “the mere fact of the national legislation being applicable to all workers does not release the State which has ratified the Convention from the obligation to take the necessary steps to ensure that public contracts contain the labour clauses specified in Article 2 of the Convention”. The Committee recalls that “the Convention has a very simple structure, all its provisions being articulated around and directly linked to the core requirement of Article 2(1), i.e. the insertion of labour clauses ensuring favourable wages and other working conditions to the workers concerned”. Noting that public contracts in Guyana still do not contain the labour clauses required to give effect to the Convention, the Committee urges the Government to take the opportunity presented by the legislative reforms undertaken by the Public Procurement Commission to bring its national legislation into full conformity with the provisions of the Convention, particularly with respect to: the determination of the terms of the labour clauses to be included in public contracts to which the Convention applies, after consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned (Article 2(3)); the dissemination of those clauses, by advertising specifications or otherwise, so that tenderers are aware of the terms of the clauses (Article 2(4)); the posting of notices in conspicuous places to ensure that the workers concerned are informed of the conditions of work applicable to them (Article 4(a)(iii)); and the establishment and implementation of a system of inspection and adequate sanctions, by the withholding of contracts or of payments due, for failure to apply the provisions of labour clauses (Article 5). The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of progress made in this regard and recalls that the Government can avail itself of the technical assistance of the ILO, should it wish to do so.