Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Labour Administration Convention, 1978 (No. 150) - Armenia (Ratification: 2005)

Other comments on C150

Direct Request

2015
2010

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The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in reply to its previous requests concerning Articles 1 (scope and organization of the labour administration system), 2 (delegation of certain activities of labour administration to employers’ and workers’ organizations), 6 (preparation and administration of national labour policy) and 10 (staff of the labour administration system).

Review of the Labour Code. The Committee notes with interest that the Government has requested ILO technical assistance in the form of legislative comments on the draft amendments to the Labour Code that have been communicated to the Office. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made with the adoption of the amendments to the Labour Code and to provide a copy to the ILO of the revised Labour Code once it has been adopted.

Legislation. The Committee recalls that it previously asked the Government to provide copies of several legislative texts to enable it to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the national legislation in relation to the Convention. It notes that some of these laws have now been communicated to the Office, but that others have not yet been sent, for example Decree No. 357-N of 25 July 2013 amending a number of laws and repealing Government Decision No. 1146-N of 29 July 2004 on the establishment of the State Labour Inspection within the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The Committee requests the Government to provide a list of the applicable laws, administrative regulations and other legal texts in their current version that apply the provisions of the Convention. Please provide the Office with a copy of these texts, where this has not yet been done.

Article 4. Organization and effective functioning of the system of labour administration in a coordinated manner. The Committee notes the Government’s general indications, in reply to the Committee’s previous question concerning the effective functioning and coordination within the system of the labour administration system, that coordination is provided for in the legislative texts governing the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOSAL) and its external structures and that such coordination also takes place in practice.

In this regard, the Committee recalls that in its 2012 observation on the application of the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), it noted the coexistence of three inspection bodies, i.e. the State Labour Inspectorate, the State Hygiene and Anti-Epidemic Inspectorate (now merged into the State Health Inspectorate under the Ministry of Health) and the National Centre for Technical Safety whose competencies overlap and whose mandate, competence and purpose are not always clear. It further recalls that in its 2013 direct request on the application of the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), the activities of private employment agencies have been left out of the state employment regulation policy, with no efficient collaboration with the State Employment Service Agency. The Committee requests the Government to further specify how an effective coordination is ensured among the functions and responsibilities of the various entities within the system of labour administration (exchange of information, joint activities, etc.). Please indicate in particular, how the interaction between the newly created State Health Inspectorate under the Ministry of Health and the National Centre for Technical Safety is ensured, and also provide information on any steps taken to promote coordination between the State Employment Agency and the private employment services.

Article 5. Consultation, cooperation and negotiation between the public authorities and the most representative employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee previously noted the information provided by the Government concerning the system of social partnership at the national, sectorial, local and enterprise levels. In this regard, it notes that the Government indicates that progress has been made in recent years at the national level with the system of social partnership, and that it refers in this regard to the establishment of the Tripartite National Committee and the signing in 2012 of a new national collective contract determining basic regulations on labour relations between the Government, the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia (CTUA) and the Union of Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs of Armenia (UMEA).

The Committee further notes that the Government has not provided the requested information on the establishment and activities of other tripartite instances for consultation and negotiation, in addition to the national and local agreement committees that participate in the elaboration of the national employment policy. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide information on the establishment of other tripartite consultation mechanisms (for instance, on sectorial labour policies, etc.). It also once again requests the Government to provide information on the effectiveness of negotiations and consultations within these mechanisms, including their frequency, content and results.

Article 7. Gradual extension of the functions of the system of labour administration. The Committee previously noted with interest that according to the Government, the labour administration system covers categories of workers listed in Article 7 of the Convention who are not, in law, employed persons, like self-employed persons or members of cooperatives. It noted however, that the Labour Code applies to “employees”. The Committee notes that the Government refers to certain provisions of the Labour Code that do not clarify whether workers that are not, in law, employed persons are covered by the Labour Code. However, the Committee also notes the Government’s indication in its reply under Article 6 which appears to suggest that those categories are covered by social security and employment promotion measures. The Committee once again requests the Government to specify whether occupational safety and health legislation covers workers who are not, in law, employed persons, for example, tenants, sharecroppers and similar categories of agricultural workers and whether social security legislation allows for affiliation of self-employed workers. The Committee would also appreciate additional information on any policies and strategies with respect to workers in the informal economy.

Article 9. Supervision of parastatal and regional or local agencies to which particular labour administration activities may have been delegated. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that administrative functions have been delegated to self-governed bodies, where the law so provides and that they are supervised by the national bodies. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the parastatal and local agencies to which labour administration activities have been delegated and describe the manner in which they are being supervised.

Application in practice. The Committee notes from Annex 1 of Decree No. 1821-N of 14 November 2002 on the establishment of the Public Management Organization – “Staff of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia” and approving the Statutes and Organizational Chart of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, that a report on the activities of the MOSAL is published annually. The Committee requests the Government to communicate extracts of the annual reports on the activities of the MOSAL, if possible in one of the working languages of the ILO. Please also give a general overview of the manner in which the Convention is applied, and provide information on any practical difficulties encountered in this regard.