Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

The Committee notes the Government’s report, the information provided in reply to its previous comments, the annual report on the activities of the Occupational Safety and Health Department and the legislation relating to the labour court. It also notes the Government’s reply dated 28 November 2005 to the observations made by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), communicated by the ICFTU to the ILO on 6 September 2005.

According to the ZCTU, the regular inspection of workplaces has always been a problem and has resulted in rampant non-compliance with the labour laws, especially by employers. The ZCTU considers that the lack of support from the Government for the labour inspection services through the allocation of human and financial resources constitutes an obstacle to the application of Conventions, and particularly to the adoption of measures to ensure the effective and efficient operation of the Labour Inspection Department.

1. Article 10 of the Convention. Staff of the labour inspection services. In the view of the ZCTU, the Labour Inspection Department has always operated below capacity, with 17 inspectors being expected to cover 1.5 million workers in 13,000 workplaces. Because of the poor working conditions, it is difficult to retain staff, which has affected the implementation of the Convention, the publication of statistics and the preparation of reports on the activities of the inspection services.

2. Article 18. Weakness of the means available to the inspection services. According to the ZCTU, the main weapon of the inspection authorities against non-compliance with the legislation is purely administrative and consists of polite correspondence, making recommendations, occasional inspections, etc. As a result, the inspection system is perceived as being weak and toothless, and employers fail to give serious consideration to the recommendations of labour inspectors. The ZCTU considers that this situation is made worse by the low level of the penalties and fines to which employers are liable.

3. Article 11. Material and logistical resources of the inspection services. The ZCTU criticizes the Government for not providing the labour inspection authorities with adequate resources, such as transport facilities and office supplies. According to the ZCTU, the majority of inspectors use public transport, which considerably limits their effectiveness. As a consequence, inspection is at a minimum level and therefore encourages non-compliance with labour laws. This also explains the non-availability of information and statistics on the level of compliance with labour laws. In general, the ZCTU considers that the application of the Convention in practice is compromised by administrative hurdles and that labour issues are not given priority by the Government.

4. Recommendations for the effective operation of the labour inspectorate. The Committee notes that the ZCTU recommends that the Government adopt measures to ensure that: competent staff are retained and more staff recruited; working conditions are improved; the provision of resources such as vehicles and office supplies to labour inspectors is given priority; and penalties for non-compliance with the labour legislation continue to act as a deterrent. While emphasizing that challenges relating to resources and the remuneration of inspectors are not peculiar to Zimbabwe, the Government states that it takes note of these recommendations and indicates that it has made significant progress in maximizing the existing resources for effective and efficient inspections through the development of an integrated inspectorate. It expresses the hope that, with the support of the social partners, who have a role to play in ensuring that the inspection system fulfils its mandate, the challenges will be overcome. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would keep the ILO informed of any development in relation to the recommendations made by the ZCTU and provide any relevant text, document or statistics.

The Committee is addressing a request directly to the Government on certain points.