Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 (No. 94) - Denmark (Ratification: 1955)

Article 1 of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the Government indicating that the amended Circular on Labour Clauses in Public Contracts, which came into force on 1 July 2014, aims to encourage and increase the use of labour clauses in public contracts. The Government indicates that companies that are wholly owned by central authorities and are not part of any competition process are also required to apply labour clauses in contracts for work in the areas of construction and civil engineering. The amendments also call for all local councils and regional authorities to apply labour clauses in contracts for construction and civil engineering works, regardless of the amount of the contract and, where appropriate, also in contracts in other areas of work.

Article 2. Labour clauses in law and practice. Application of the Convention in practice. The Government indicates that the amended Circular provides that the contracting authority is required to set requirements in the contract to ensure that workers employed by contractors, as well as by any subcontractors who contribute to the performance of the contract, are entitled to pay (including special allowances), hours of work, and other working conditions that are not less favourable than those established for work of the same character under a collective agreement entered into by the most representative employers’ and workers’ organizations in Denmark in the trade or industry concerned. The Committee notes that the amended Circular also requires the contract to stipulate that the contractor and any subcontractors must ensure that their workers receive information of the working conditions established in these labour clauses. The Committee further notes that, in response to its previous comments, the Government refers to its Action Plan for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) “Responsible Growth” 2012–15, through which it encourages public procurers to increase the demand for goods and services produced under responsible conditions. In order to promote socially responsible public procurement (SRPP), the Government developed common public guidelines which led to the development of an online web tool, “the Responsible Purchaser”, in 2013. The tool is based on an analysis which mapped the use of CSR requirements in public purchasing, and provides recommendations and guidance as to the tools and information that public and private purchasers alike should use in order to undertake procurement processes in a consistent and socially responsible manner. The Responsible Purchaser contains a step-by-step guide, is intended for use in many different situations, and contains a number of examples. The Government indicates that to promote SRPP it also developed an annex, based on international guidelines, for standard contracts on CSR that may be included whenever the public sector contracts for the purchase of goods or services. The Committee welcomes the information provided by the Government and requests that it continue to provide information on the implementation of the Action Plan for CSR, the impact of the SRPP web tool and on the general manner in which the Convention is applied, including, for instance, extracts from official reports, including labour inspection reports, indicating the number of inspections of public administration contracts carried out, the number and type of infringements detected and sanctions imposed. Please also provide information on any practical difficulties encountered in the application of the Convention.