Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Lithuania (Ratification: 1994)

Article 3(1) and (2) of the Convention. Additional functions entrusted to labour inspectors. Labour inspection activities in the area of irregular work. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the actions undertaken by the labour inspectorate and the judicial authorities to ensure the enforcement of employers’ obligations with regard to the statutory rights of workers found, in the course of inspections, to be working irregularly. The Committee notes the Government’s indication regarding a series of activities aiming at the prevention and control of illegal work, undeclared work, undeclared self-employment and violations of the procedure for employing third-country nationals. The Committee notes in this respect that in 2020, the state labour inspectorate (SLI) carried out 4,161 inspections focused on illegal work, which resulted in the detection of 1,794 workers who were working illegally. The Government indicates that in 2020 the SLI undertook a series of consultations with employers, workers and their representative organizations on the issue of illegal work, focusing on the activities of small and medium-sized enterprises and first-year entities. The Government also provides details on the inspections of entities in the areas of the highest risk of breaching the requirements of occupational safety and health and labour legislation and reports the establishment of inspection groups specialised in controlling illegal labour.

The Committee notes that the Government does not provide information on cases in which the statutory rights of workers found to be working irregularly have been reinstated. In addition, the Committee notes that section 56 of the Law on Employment provides for measures to be taken by labour inspectors in cases of illegal work. The Committee further notes that according to this section, when such cases concern foreign workers, the labour inspectors request the employer to terminate the labour relations and notify the immigration authorities. The Committee recalls that the 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 conditions (see 2006 General Survey on labour inspection, paragraph 78). In this respect, the Committee also recalls 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 (see 2017 General Survey on instruments concerning occupational safety and health, paragraph 452). The Committee requests the Government to take measures to ensure that the functions assigned to labour inspectors with regard to irregular work do not interfere with the main objective of labour inspectors to ensure the protection of workers in accordance with labour inspectors’ primary duties as set forth in Article 3(1) of the Convention. It requests the Government to provide information on the time and resources that are allocated to the prevention and control of illegal or undeclared work as a proportion of inspectors’ overall time and resources.It once again requests the Government to indicate how the SLI ensures the enforcement of employers’ obligations with regard to the statutory rights of the workers found to be working irregularly, including migrant workers.

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