Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2024, Publicación: 113ª reunión CIT (2025)

Convenio sobre la inspección del trabajo, 1947 (núm. 81) - Níger (Ratificación : 1979)

Articles 5, 17 and 18 of the Convention. Collaboration between labour inspectors and employers and workers. Cooperation between the labour inspection services and the justice system. Penalties for violation of the legal provisions and for obstructing labour inspectors in the discharge of their functions. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that, while no activities have been organized to raise awareness among the social partners of the role and competences of labour inspectors, in practice, workers and employers may seek advice on the most effective way of applying the relevant legal and regulatory provisions. With regard to cooperation with the justice system, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, reports of violations found that are referred by the labour inspectors to the competent judicial bodies do not often result in the imposition of penalties. The Government also indicates that this constitutes an obstacle to the application of section 355 of the Labour Code, which provides for penalties in cases of obstruction to labour inspectors and their assistants. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on all measures taken or envisaged to improve cooperation between the labour inspectors and justice system, with a view to ensuring the full application of Articles 17 and 18 of the Convention. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the follow-up given to the reports of violations found that are referred by the labour inspectors to the judicial bodies.

Articles 10 and 11. Human resources of the labour inspectorate and material resources available to inspectors. Further to its previous comments concerning the human and material resources available to the labour inspection services, the Committee notes that, according to the statistics of the annual labour inspection report, there were four senior labour inspectors in 2019 compared to five in 2022, while the number of central office labour inspectors fell from 11 in 2019 to seven in 2022. According to these reports, the number of labour inspector assistants also fell from 15 to six between 2019 and 2022. The Committee nonetheless notes that in 2022, the labour inspectorate visited 365 workplaces, compared to 139 inspections in 2019. It also notes the information provided by the Government concerning the information technology equipment and means of transport obtained within the framework of the Migration Policy Support Project of the German Cooperation Agency (APM/GIZ). The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on all the measures taken or envisaged to strengthen the material resources available to the labour inspectorate. It requests the Government to provide updated statistics on the number of labour inspectors and the reasons for the fall in staff numbers between 2019 and 2022.

Articles 20 and 21. Annual report on the work of the inspection services. The Committee welcomes the 2022 annual labour inspection report provided by the Government. The Committee notes that this report contains information on all the subjects covered by Article 21 of the Convention, aside from statistics of workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers employed therein (Article 21(c)); statistics of violations and penalties imposed (Article 21 e)) and statistics of industrial accidents (Article 21 g)). The Committee notes, however, that although these statistics are not included in the annual labour inspection report, the Government holds statistics on occupational diseases (Article 21(g)), as it indicates that in 2024 seven cases of occupational diseases were recorded. In this regard, the Government indicates that the labour inspectorate is able to establish and publish annual reports, as long as the data collected by the labour inspection services are available, given the lack of means and the limited operational capacities of these services to forward this information to the central authority in time. The Committee requests the Government to continue to ensure that copies of the annual labour inspection reports are communicated to the ILO, and to continue its efforts to publish these reports, in conformity with Article 20 of the Convention, ensuring that they contain information on all the subjects set out in Article 21 (a) to (g).

Furthermore, the Committee recalls its pending comment concerning the Labour Administration Convention, 1978 (No. 150), adopted by the Committee in 2022, to which the Government will be requested to respond in 2027, in accordance with the reporting cycle.