Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2024, publiée 113ème session CIT (2025)

Convention (n° 177) sur le travail à domicile, 1996 - Argentine (Ratification: 2006)

The Committee notes the observations of the General Confederation of Labour of the Argentine Republic (CGT RA), received on 23 August 2022. The Committee requests the Government to provide its reply in this regard.

Articles 1–5 of the Convention. National policy. The Committee notes the measures adopted during the reporting period in relation to telework, including those covered by the Convention, namely telework as a permanent rather than an occasional arrangement (examined in detail in the direct request). The Committee also notes the recent publication of Decree 592/2024 in the Official Bulletin of 8 July 2024, through which the Executive Branch enacted Act No. 27.742, Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines, which amends various provisions of the national legal system, including the Act on Employment Contracts. The Committee notes, however, that the Government has not provided information on the national policy relating to home work and other measures adopted with a view to improving the situation of all homeworkers, including those who do not telework. The Committee also notes the observations of the CGT RA, which highlight the absence of such policies in the country.

In this context, the Committee recalls that “the main requirement for ratifying States consists of the adoption, implementation and periodic review of a national policy on home work with the objective of improving the situation of homeworkers.” (2020 General Survey on promoting employment and decent work in a changing landscape, paragraph 540). In this respect, the Committee emphasizes that, even where the legal system recognizes the legal right of homeworkers to equality of treatment with other salaried workers, a national policy on home work, as required under the Convention, is the means by which it is possible to take stock, together with the social partners, of the existing challenges and periodically explore possible improvements to the situation of homeworkers. A specific national policy therefore contributes to ensuring in practice the effective application of the principle of equality of treatment to determine, where necessary, the need to supplement national legislative provisions, taking into account the special characteristics of home work and, where appropriate, conditions applicable to the same or a similar type of work carried out in an enterprise, as established in Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee also recalls that, in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention, consultations on the national policy in question must be carried out with the most representative organizations of employers and workers and, where they exist, with organizations concerned with homeworkers and those of employers of homeworkers. In the light of the foregoing, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on: (i) measures adopted or envisaged, in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention, with a view to adopting a national policy on home work aimed at improving the situation of all homeworkers; and (ii) the consultations held with the most representative organizations of employers and workers on the development, implementation and review of such measures. In addition, it requests the Government to provide information on the impact of Act No. 27.742, Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines, together with its implementing regulations, on the national policy on home work to improve the situation of such workers, and on the implementation of the Convention.

Home work in the garment and footwear sector. The Committee notes that the CGT RA refers to section 2 of Regulatory Decree 118.755/45, regulating Act 12.713, on home work, which defines home work as work which is performed in the worker’s home or premises chosen by him or her, or in the home or premises of a workshop facilitator, for an intermediary employer or workshop facilitator. Furthermore, section 2 defines homeworkers as those who, under their own initiative, in a room or premises of their choice, perform tasks to produce goods at the request of an employer or intermediary. The CGT RA emphasizes that home work is mainly concentrated in the garment and footwear sector in Buenos Aires and reports precarious labour situations that remain hidden. In this regard, the CGT RA refers to a report of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Trafficking and Exploitation of Persons (PROTEX), which carried out inspections in Buenos Aires, which states that: (i) workers are subjected to conditions of servitude and similar practices; and (ii) only 8 per cent of the workplaces inspected met legal requirements and in 18.57 per cent unregulated workshops were identified. The CGT RA also refers to statements of the Workers’ Union of the Footwear Industry of Argentina (UTRICA), which report the practice of “satellite” or clandestine workshops in the garment and footwear industry, which have increased against the backdrop of extreme decentralization of production by large enterprises aimed at reducing production costs and evading responsibilities. UTRICA alleges that: (i) large enterprises outsource garment-making to a person who is in charge of the relationship with the external workshop (workshop facilitators); (ii) the workshops work exclusively under the orders of the brands, which control the working conditions and labour pricing; (iii) the workshops are located in old houses that are rented, owned or occupied by workshop facilitators and where sometimes over 15 people work and live, including children and migrant workers in an irregular situation; and (iv) monitoring of offences found in a single workshop is decentralized among various bodies, depending on the type of offence or violation found, which hampers effective monitoring. In this respect, the Committee refers to its 2022 observation on the application of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), in which it notes with concern that, according to information provided by the Confederation of Workers of Argentina (CTA Autonomous) and the CGT RA, the practice of trafficking in persons in the garment sector persists. Taking into consideration that, in accordance with Article1(a) of the Convention, “home work” means work carried out by a person in his or her home or in other premises of his or her choice, other than the workplace of the employee, the Committee requests the Government to respond to the observations of the CTG RA concerning the existence of clandestine workshops that are also the home of workers in an irregular migratory situation.

In this respect, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the guidance provided in the ILO report, Good work! Human rights and labour rights due diligence tools for the garment sector in Argentina, focused on the garment sector in Argentina. This report includes human rights due diligence tools to identify, prevent and mitigate the risks of forced labour and other labour rights violations with regard to homeworkers. These tools have been developed in the framework of the ILO project, Evidence for Action (EvA), funded by the United States Department of Labor, which seeks to increase the capacity of the public and private sectors to face these challenges effectively.

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