Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Part II of the Convention. Progressive abolition of fee-charging employment agencies. Prospects for ratification of the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181). In reply to the direct request of 2005, the Government confirms that fee-charging placement is forbidden in Gabon. The recruitment of foreign workers carries an obligation to follow a procedure established by regulation which takes no account of skills and requires no payment. For placement abroad, no fee is charged in the country. The Government further indicates that it has taken note of the information concerning the invitation to contemplate ratifying Convention No. 181 and that the latter has already been submitted to Parliament. The Committee notes that in October 2009, Gabon ratified the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122). In its 2010 General Survey on employment instruments, the Committee pointed out the importance of building or striving to build the institutions needed to ensure the realization of full employment. Convention No. 181 being intrinsically linked to the other instruments (Convention No. 122 and the Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88), it is a necessary instrument for furthering the growth of employment. The public employment service and private employment agencies contribute to the realization of full employment by providing the necessary support institutions, particularly where there is a coordination of efforts (General Survey of 2010 on employment instruments, paragraphs 785–790). The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the initiatives taken, in consultation with the social partners, for the ratification of Convention No. 181.