Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Eswatini (Ratification: 1981)

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Articles 10, 11 and 16 of the Convention. Functioning and resources of the labour inspection system. Following its previous comment, the Committee notes the statistical information in the Government’s report. In 2020, the General Inspectorate Unit carried out a total of 458 labour inspections, including 402 initial or routine inspections and 56 follow-up inspections, which according to the Government, marked a significant decrease from 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government indicates that material resources, including motor vehicles allocated to the Department of Labour, were recalled and diverted to provide the necessary response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The unavailability of motor vehicles to conduct field work negatively impacted on the conduct of physical labour inspections. Moreover, few field inspections were carried out in 2021 due to the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect labour inspectors against COVID-19 virus. Consequently, the Government initiated a procurement process for appropriation of PPE which was planned to be finalised before the end of the 2021–22 financial year.

The Government also indicates that the implementation of the Strategic Compliance Plan, with the technical assistance provided by the ILO, mitigates against the challenges posed by the continued lack of resources, by maximizing labour inspection efforts based on available resources. In addition, the Government states that it is expected that the number of enterprises will increase at a faster rate than the capacity of the labour inspectorate to inspect them. As a result, the Department of Labour is in the process of designing an Inspection and Enforcement Policy in order to facilitate and ensure more effective implementation of an integrated approach to labour inspection, including the introduction of a unitary, integrated labour inspection system to replace the various specialist inspection services that have operated in the past. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure sufficient material means for the effective discharge of the duties of the inspectorate, including transport facilities and personal protective equipment as necessary. It also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of inspections carried out and the number of inspectors. In addition, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on specific measures taken or envisaged to ensure that workplaces are inspected as often and as thoroughly as is necessary for the effective application of the relevant legal provisions, including through the implementation of the Strategic Compliance Plan and the Inspection and Enforcement Policy.

Articles 20 and 21. Annual labour inspection report. The Committee notes that the Government report contains statistics on the number of inspection visits for the year 2020. It notes however that no information was provided with regard to the number of inspectors (Article21(b)), statistics of workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers employed therein (Article21(c)), statistics of violations and penalties imposed (Article21(e)), statistics of industrial accidents (Article 21(f)), and statistics of occupational diseases (Article21(g)). The Committee once again notes that no annual report of the Department of Labour has been received by the ILO since 2005, although such reports are required in accordance with Article20 of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the preparation, publication and regular communication to the ILO of annual reports of the labour inspectorate, which contain the information listed in Article 21 of the Convention.