Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

The Committee notes the Government’s report in reply to its previous comments, the attached documentation and annual reports on the work of the Labour Inspectorate for 2004 and 2005.

Article 5(a) of the Convention. Section 21 of the Decree of 2001 on the internal organization of the State Inspectorate provides that the inspectorate shall collaborate with other public administrations and associations. In its previous comment, the Committee referred to the annual inspection report for 2003 and asked the Government to supply information on any cooperation, firstly, with the tax authorities with regard to contraventions of wage legislation and, secondly, with the services responsible for occupational safety and health issues. The Committee notes that the Government has not supplied this information and that the annual inspection report for 2005 contains recommendations for stepping up cooperation and the exchange of information between all institutions involved in inspection. It therefore requests the Government once again to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to encourage the labour relations and the occupational safety inspectorates to collaborate with the other public services and institutions concerned, with a view to reinforcing the effectiveness and follow-up of inspectors’ prevention and enforcement activities.

Articles 6, 10 and 11. Inspectors’ conditions of service and work. Human and material resources of the inspectorate. The Committee notes that the inspectorate, in its activity report for 2005, again recommends increasing the wages of inspection staff, establishing a method to evaluate their performance, increasing staff and improving their physical conditions of work (more vehicles, means of communication and technical equipment – measuring apparatus, personal protection equipment for certain visits, etc.). According to the Government, when this activity report for 2005 was examined by the Economic and Social Council and by the Government, a proposal containing the measures recommended by the inspectorate with a view to reinforcing its activities was adopted, the central administration being instructed to implement them, albeit without a precise deadline being set. The Committee requests the Government to give details of all the measures contained in the aforementioned adopted proposal, particularly as regards increases in staff which, according to the inspectorate, do not always correspond to real requirements or to the necessary numbers of staff calculated according to the criteria laid down by the State Inspectorate Act, 1999 (section 21). The Government is requested to forward a copy of this proposal to the Office and provide information on the implementation of the planned measures. Moreover, while noting that the Government acknowledges that there is a need to invest more in the physical resources made available to inspectors, it requests it once again to supply information on the transport facilities available.

Article 12, paragraph 1(b). Inspectors’ right of access to certain workplaces. The Committee notes that the information provided by the Government on the application of this Article does not reply to the issue it raised concerning inspectors’ right to enter establishments and workplaces which have not been registered as such, but in which an industrial or commercial activity is performed by workers covered by the Convention, and which inspectors may have reasonable cause to believe to be liable to inspection. It therefore requests the Government to indicate in its next report how it is ensured that labour inspectors are empowered to carry out inspections and investigations in the above workplaces and premises.

Articles 3 and 14. Role of the inspectorate in the prevention of occupational diseases and notification of reported cases of occupational disease. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government states that the Croatian Sickness Insurance Institute must notify the labour inspectorate of cases of occupational disease. Moreover, the Committee notes that the annual inspection report for 2005 recommends the establishment by the Ministry of Health of an effective system for monitoring these diseases and emphasizes that the inspectorate is not in a position to take preventive action to curb the growing number of occupational diseases. The Committee requests the Government to supply details of the arrangements (procedures and deadlines) by which the Croatian Sickness Insurance Institute notifies the inspectorate of cases of occupational disease and to supply information on the working of this procedure in practice. It would also be grateful if the Government would indicate the measures taken or envisaged to reinforce the preventive role of the labour inspectorate in this area.

Articles 17 and 18. Prosecution of contraventions or warnings and advice. Establishment and application of adequate penalties. The Government’s report states that, under the terms of section 51 of the State Inspectorate Act, 1999, there are in practice only a negligible number of contraventions with respect to which labour inspectors are not required to institute legal proceedings, whether these be contraventions of labour legislation or of occupational safety and health legislation. The Government refers to the slowness of legal proceedings following the report of contraventions to the judicial authorities by labour inspectors. In its 2005 report, the inspectorate indeed emphasizes the need to improve the effectiveness of the judicial system, as regards action taken further to minor offences and in order to avoid obliging inspectors to institute legal proceedings if employers comply with their instructions quickly. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate whether it envisages adopting measures to act on these recommendations. Drawing the Government’s attention once again to the provisions of Article 17, paragraph 2, which state that it shall be left to the discretion of labour inspectors to give warning and advice instead of instituting or recommending proceedings, the Committee requests the Government once again to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to give effect to this provision of the Convention.

Moreover, the Committee refers to its comments on the application of Convention No. 100 to the role of the labour inspectorate in the protection of the rights of men and women to receive equal remuneration for work of equal value. It points out that section 240 of the Labour Act, 2004 (Act No. 137/2004) empowers the labour inspectorate to enforce its provisions, unless another law provides otherwise. The application of section 89 concerning equal remuneration should therefore come within the competence of labour inspectors and, under the terms of Article 18 of the Convention, adequate penalties for violations of these provisions should be provided for. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take steps to ensure that provisions establishing adequate penalties are incorporated in the legislation. It would also be grateful if the Government would provide information on action taken or envisaged further to the recommendation made by the central inspection authority in 2003 and repeated in 2005 to provide for the possibility, in the applicable penalties, of confiscating profits made as a result of failure to comply with the provisions of the legislation.