Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) - Slovakia (Ratification: 2009)

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

In order to provide a comprehensive view of the issues relating to the application of ratified Conventions on labour inspection, the Committee considers it appropriate to examine Conventions Nos 81 (labour inspection) and 129 (labour inspection in agriculture) together.

Article 3(2) of Convention No. 81, and Article 6(3) of Convention No. 129. Additional duties entrusted to labour inspectors. The Committee notes the Government’s indication, in reply to its previous request, that labour inspection services continue to give their full attention to Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) protection. The Government states that, according to the Plan of the National Labour Inspectorate (NLI) for 2018, only two out of 18 tasks identified as the NLI’s priorities concern supervision of illegal work. However, the Committee notes that according to the 2018 Report on the State of Work Protection, available on the NLI’s website, out of a total of 68,620 inspections carried out in 2018, 17,269 inspections focused on working conditions and 11,727 focused on OSH, while 25,769 inspections focused on illegal employment. The Committee also notes that the NLI issued a total of 1,219 sanctions for 11,491 violations of the Labour Code detected including those related to illegal work without an employment contract or illegal employment. It notes the Government’s statement that all situations of workers found in an irregular situation were resolved by the end of 2018.

The Committee once again recalls that, pursuant to Article 3(1) and (2) of Convention No. 81 and Article 6(1) and (3) of Convention No. 129, the functions of the system of labour inspection shall be to secure the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work, and any further duties which may be entrusted to labour inspectors shall not be such as to interfere with the effective discharge of their primary duties. Noting that nearly 40 per cent of labour inspections performed in 2018 focused on the control of illegal work, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether this includes the control of the legality of employment of migrant workers in an irregular situation, and if so, to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that the functions assigned to labour inspectors do not interfere with the main objective of labour inspectors to ensure the protection of workers in accordance with labour inspectors’ primary duties as required under Article 3(2) of Convention No. 81 and Article 6(3) of Convention No. 129. It also requests the Government to provide further information on action undertaken by the National Labour Inspectorate to ensure the enforcement of employers’ obligations with regard to the statutory rights of migrant workers found to be in an irregular situation, including specific information on the number of cases where such workers have been granted their due rights, such as the amounts of payment of outstanding wages, the extension of social security benefits provided in connection with the period of employment, or the establishment of an employment contract.

Articles 4 and 5 of Convention No. 81, and Articles 7 and 12 of Convention No. 129. Supervision by a central labour inspection authority and effective cooperation between the labour inspectorate and other government services, and collaboration with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s indication, in reply to its previous request, that in 2018, the labour inspectorates and the Bureau of Regional Public Health carried out 34 joint inspections, in line with the agreement of the control authorities at the regional level concerning the EU–OSHA campaign “Healthy Workplaces Manage Dangerous Substances.” The NLI and the Public Health Authority cooperate in dealing with complaints to avoid duplications in investigation. The labour inspectorates and the Police Corps at the national and regional levels carry out joint inspections related to supervising compliance with social legislation in transport on roads, based on a cooperation agreement between the NLI and the Ministry of Interior. The NLI also uses the database of the Social Insurance Agency for inspections on illegal employment and on employers’ non-compliance with social security contributions. The Committee further notes the conclusion of a cooperation agreement between the NLI, the Confederation of Trade Unions (KOZ) and the Association of Employers’ Federations (AZZZ), under which the KOZ and AZZZ regularly send reports to the NLI on their activities related to labour inspection and participate in inspection activities carried out by the NLI. Based on this cooperation, annual reports are regularly published. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the conditions and modalities under which the NLI collaborates with the KOZ and AZZZ, including the impact of such collaboration in relation to the enforcement of legal provisions on the conditions of work and the protection of workers.

Articles 20 and 21 of Convention No. 81, and Articles 26 and 27 of Convention No. 129. Annual inspection report. The Committee notes the Government’s indication, in reply to its previous request, that the annual reports on labour inspection activities will be submitted to the ILO. It also notes that the 2018 Report on the State of Work Protection is available on the website of the NLI. However, it does not contain full information on the activities of the labour inspection services in agriculture, as required by Article 27 of Convention No. 129. The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that future reports contain full information on the activities of the labour inspection services in agriculture, including statistics on: agricultural undertakings liable to inspection and the number of persons working therein (Article 27(c) of Convention No. 129), the number of inspection visits undertaken (Article 27(d)), the specific penalties imposed for violations (Article 27(e)) and the number of occupational accidents and diseases (Article 27(f) and (g)). The Committee also requests the Government to ensure that annual reports are transmitted to the ILO, in accordance with Article 20(3).

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

In order to provide a comprehensive view of the issues relating to the application of ratified Conventions on labour inspection, the Committee considers it appropriate to examine Conventions Nos 81 (labour inspection and 129 (labour inspection in agriculture together.

Articles 4, 5(b) and 19 of Convention No. 81, and Articles 7, 12, and 25 of Convention No. 129. Supervision by a central labour inspection authority and effective cooperation between the labour inspectorate and other government services. Periodic reports to the central labour inspection authority. The Committee notes the Government’s indication, in reply to its previous request, that labour inspections on occupational safety and health (OSH) are also carried out by offices of the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, regional offices of public health, the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family as well as the labour inspectorate. The Committee also notes the information in the 2017 Report on the State of Work Protection, available on the website of the National Labour Inspectorate (NLI), on the broad cooperation between the labour inspectorate and other government authorities in inspections or investigations, exchange of information and research. The 2017 Report indicates that, in 2017, 11,036 inspections focused on OSH, detected a total of 34,710 violations, but does not indicate if this includes the OSH inspections performed by other bodies. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that information on OSH inspections performed by other bodies is sent to the NLI and reflected in annual labour inspection reports. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged by the NLI to ensure coordination and cooperation between the different institutions performing OSH inspections.

Article 6 of Convention No. 81, and Article 8 of Convention No. 129. Status and conditions of service of labour inspectors. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government, in reply to its previous request regarding the number of labour inspectors engaged as temporary public servants (18 out of 318 inspectors). It notes the Government’s indication that most temporary inspectors are engaged to replace permanent employees on maternity or parental leave for a short period of time.

Articles 20 and 21 of Convention No. 81, and Articles 26 and 27 of Convention No. 129. Annual inspection report. The Committee takes due note of the statistical data on the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors provided by the Government, in response to the Committee’s previous request. The Committee notes, however, that the annual report on the activities of the labour inspectorate has not been communicated since 2014. It further notes that the 2017 Report available on the website of the NLI does not contain the full information on the activities of the labour inspection services in agriculture, as required by Article 27 of Convention No. 129. Therefore, the Committee requests that the Government take the necessary measures to ensure that future reports contain full information on the activities of the labour inspection services in agriculture, including statistics on: agricultural undertakings liable to inspection and the number of persons working therein (Article 27(c) of Convention No. 129), the number of inspection visits undertaken (Article 27(d)), the specific penalties imposed for violations (Article 27(e)) and the number of occupational accidents and diseases (Article 27(f) and (g)). The Committee also requests the Government to ensure that annual reports are transmitted to the ILO.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

In order to provide a comprehensive view of the issues relating to the application of ratified Conventions on labour inspection, the Committee considers it appropriate to examine Conventions Nos 81 (labour inspection) and 129 (labour inspection in agriculture) together.

Article 3(2) of Convention No. 81, and Article 6(3) of Convention No. 129. Additional duties entrusted to labour inspectors. The Committee notes that according to the 2017 Report on the State of Work Protection, more time was spent by the labour inspection system performing inspections to control illegal employment than to perform inspections related to occupational safety and health (OSH). The Committee notes in this respect that the 2017 Report indicates that the labour inspection system cooperated with the specialized units of the Police Force (such as the Border and Alien Police Office; the Emergency Motor Vehicle Unit; Police and Criminal Police Officers; the Police Corps Presidium; the Risk Analysis and Coordination Division; the Risk Analysis and Statistics Department; the Human Trafficking Unit; the Centre for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Crime Prevention; the National Unit for Combating Illegal Migration; and the Local and National Police) to monitor compliance with the prohibition of illegal employment and trafficking of third-country nationals. The Committee also notes the information from the 2017 Report that in 2017 the labour inspection system carried out 19,467 inspections on illegal employment and 14,885 labour inspections on legal provisions under the Labour Code relating to wages, hours of work, employment contracts, as well as employment relationships.

The Committee recalls that, pursuant to Article 3(1) and (2) of Convention No. 81 and Article 6 of Convention No. 129, the functions of the system of labour inspection shall be to secure the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work, and any further duties which may be entrusted to labour inspectors shall not be such as to interfere with the effective discharge of their primary duties. In its 2006 General Survey, Labour inspection, paragraph 78, the Committee indicated that any function of verifying the legality of employment should have as its corollary the reinstatement of the statutory rights of all the workers if it is to be compatible with the objective of labour inspection, which is to protect the rights and interests of all workers and to improve their working. Referring to paragraph 452 of the 2017 General Survey on certain occupational safety and health instruments, the Committee reminds the Government that workers in a vulnerable situation may not be willing to cooperate with the labour inspection services if they fear negative consequences as a result of inspection activities, such as the loss of their job or expulsion from the country. The Committee requests the Government to take specific measures to ensure that the functions assigned to labour inspectors do not interfere with the main objective of labour inspectors to ensure the protection of workers in accordance with labour inspectors’ primary duties as provided for in Article 3(2) of Convention No. 81 and Article 6(3) of Convention No. 129. It also once again requests the Government to provide information on action undertaken by the National Labour Inspectorate to ensure the enforcement of employers’ obligations with regard to the statutory rights of workers found to be in an irregular situation. It further asks the Government to provide information on the number of cases in which workers found to be in an irregular situation have been granted their due rights, such as the payment of outstanding wages or social security benefits.

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

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

The Committee also refers the Government to its comments under the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), in so far as they are concerned with the application of the present Convention.

Articles 26 and 27 of the Convention. Annual inspection report. The Committee notes that the Report on the status of work and activities of the state administration in the area of labour inspection of 2013 (available on the website of the National Labour Inspectorate) contains information on the number of violations detected in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors, and indicates that special inspections focused on occupational safety in agriculture were undertaken during and after the harvest. However, the Committee observes that this report does not contain information on a number of subjects required under Article 27 of the Convention. Therefore, the Committee requests that the Government take the necessary measures to ensure that future reports contain full information on the activities of the labour inspection services in agriculture, including statistics on: agricultural undertakings liable to inspection and the number of persons working therein (Article 27(c)), the number of inspection visits undertaken (Article 27(d)), the specific penalties imposed for violations (Article 27(e)) and the number of occupational accidents (Article 27(f)).

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

Communication of the Government’s report on the application of the Convention and publication and communication of annual reports on the activities of the labour inspection activities in agriculture. The Committee welcomes that the Government has sent a report on the work of the labour inspection services to the Office, as previously requested by the Committee under Articles 26 and 27 of the Convention. The Committee notes however that the Government’s report on the application of the Convention has not been received. The Committee reminds the Government of its obligation to provide the Office with a report on the application of the Convention in the intervals requested, and hopes that the Government will communicate such a report to the Office for examination by the Committee at its next session.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

The Committee notes with interest the comprehensive and full information on the application of the provisions of the Convention in the Government’s first report.

Also referring to its comments under the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), the Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention to the following point.

Articles 26 and 27 of the Convention. Annual report on the activities of the labour inspection in agriculture. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided the ILO with an annual report of the labour inspection activities in agriculture. The Committee asks the Government to publish and to communicate to the ILO, annual reports on the work of the inspection services in agriculture, which contain the information required by Article 27 (a)–(g) of the Convention, either as a separate report or as part of its general annual report.