Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the following matters raised in its previous comments: Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. 1. In its previous comments, the Committee has sought information concerning the freedom of public servants to leave their employment, particularly with regard to those public servants who have benefited from training. The Committee notes the Government's response that public servants, like workers in the private and mixed sectors, are free to terminate employment. In the case of workers in the private and mixed sectors, the procedure is compulsory under sections 2, 73 and 77 of the Labour Code and in respect of vocational training, is governed by section 10 of the Ordinance No. 91/026/PRG/SGG of 11 March 1991. In the case of public servants, freedom to terminate is governed by sections 1, 6, 102, 103, 104, 105 and 111 of the General Public Service Statute. The Committee notes that under the above section 103, resignation is only effective in so far as it is accepted by the authority empowered to make appointments; and that under section 105 disciplinary sanctions are provided for in this respect. The Committee refers to the explanations given in paragraphs 67 to 69 of the General Survey of 1979 on the abolition of forced labour, and requests the Government to provide information in respect of the application of sections 103 and 105 of the General Public Service Statute, in particular with regard to the criteria applied by the competent authorities in accepting or refusing an application to resign, and the types of disciplinary sanctions provided for. 2. The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate whether the new Public Service Statute, which it referred to in previous reports, has been adopted and, if so, to provide a copy of the text. 3. Referring to the general observation on the Convention made in its report to the 87th Session of the ILC (1999), the Committee requests the Government to include in its next report information as to the present position in law and practice as regards:

(i) whether there are prisons administered by private concerns, profit-making or otherwise;

(ii) whether any private prison contractors deploy prisoners to work either inside or outside prison premises, either for the account of the contractor or for that of another enterprise;

(iii) whether private parties are admitted by the prison authorities into prison premises of any kind for the purpose of engaging prisoners in employment;

(iv) whether employment of prisoners outside prison premises, either for a public authority or for a private enterprise, is allowed;

(v) the conditions in which employment under any of the above conditions takes place, in respect of remuneration (indicating the level and comparing it with minimum wage normally applicable to such work), benefits accruing (such as pension rights and workers' compensation), observance of occupational safety and health legislation and other conditions of employment (e.g. through labour inspection), and how those conditions are determined;

(vi) what the source of any remuneration is (whether from public or private funds) and for what purposes it must or may be applied (e.g. for the personal use of the prisoner or if it is subject to compulsory deductions);

(vii) for whose benefit is the product of prisoners' work and any surplus profit deriving from it, after deduction of overheads, and how it is disbursed;

(viii) how the consent of the prisoners concerned is guaranteed, so that it is free from the menace of any penalty, including any loss of privileges or other disadvantages following from a refusal to work.