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

The Committee notes the Government’s report received on 22 September 2009, in response to its previous comments.

Article 3(1)(a) and (c) and (2) of the Convention. Action against illegal employment, and monitoring of legislation relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the labour inspectorate’s priority for a number of years had been the fight against illegal employment and emphasized that the exercise of such a function by the labour inspectorate should have as its corollary the reinstatement of the statutory rights of all the workers in order to be compatible with the objective of labour inspection. The Committee notes the Government’s statement in its latest report to the effect that the fight against illegal labour is part of the European Union Accession Strategy and the Strategy on Poverty Reduction and focuses on industries where unregistered workers – mostly young and unqualified workers or older workers over 40 years – are most dominant (hotel/restaurant/cafe and tourism, trade, civil engineering and artisan and personal services). The Government adds that illegal employment is primarily due to a transition from public companies towards a huge number of small and medium-sized private enterprises, which has led to an aggravation of working conditions, often with regard to high‑risk jobs (e.g. engineering). This is why the Government is of the view that it is important to carry out regular and intensified inspection. The Government specifies that, where illegal employment has been detected, the employer is ordered to sign employment contracts and charges are pressed against employers in cases where more than one irregular worker is hired; as a result, the number of signed employment contracts and workers reported for compulsory social security coverage usually increases after the inspection is carried out. In order to address key legislative obstacles in this regard, the labour inspectorate has, among other things, proposed amendments to applicable regulations that would require the registration of signed employment contracts and improve the procedure for registration of workers in compulsory social security schemes under section 144 of the Pension and Disability Insurance Act.

Taking due note of the Government’s statement that the fight against illegal employment aims among other things at the “formalization” of employment relations so as to prevent a deterioration of conditions of work and that this has led to an increase of the number of signed employment contracts and workers reported for compulsory social security coverage, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide statistical data illustrating the improvements made in the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers through the activities of the labour inspectorate in the framework of the fight against illegal employment.

Article 3(1)(b). Preventive role of the labour inspectorate in the field of occupational safety and health. The Committee takes due note of the information provided by the Government on various activities relative to cooperation with services and institutions dealing with prevention during the period under review, including the organization of 15 round tables on risk assessment throughout the country from 20 to 24 October 2008, with an active participation of representatives from trade unions, employers’ organizations, chambers of commerce, and experts in the area of occupational safety and health (OSH). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide information on any action relative to cooperation with all the services and institutions dealing with prevention, including the social partners, the intensification of media campaigns, particularly in high-risk sectors, and the development of promotional material for public information.

Recalling that in its previous comments the Committee had welcomed the implementation of a new policy regarding health and safety in small and medium‑sized enterprises, according to which regular inspection visits would focus on prevention through information and education, the Committee also requests the Government to indicate the part of regular inspection visits targeted at small and medium-sized enterprises, and to provide information on information and education campaigns addressed at such enterprises.

Articles 5(a) and 18.  Effective cooperation of labour inspection services with government institutions and with the judicial system. Adequate penalties imposed and effectively enforced. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to comments by the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia, according to which the system of penalties against employers is not efficient. The Committee notes that the Government refers in its latest report to the pronouncement of sentences far below the minimum foreseen by the law which constitutes an obstacle to the proper and full application of the penal provisions envisaged under the Labour Law and the Law on Safety and Health at Work (OSH Law). The Government’s report also refers to the need to accelerate judicial procedures so as to overcome related problems with regard to the statute of limitations.

According to the Government, the labour inspectorate organized expert meetings and consultations between the labour inspectorate and bodies responsible for criminal prosecution in Serbia, both at the first instance and at the level of the Council for Criminal Offences. The need to further intensify the cooperation between these bodies was underlined in these meetings with a view to overcoming problems in the duration of the criminal procedures and the amount of the penalties imposed. The importance of exchange of data between municipal bodies and prosecution councils on the collection of fines was also stressed so as to ensure the harmonization and alignment of databases and monitor the economic effects of inspections as well as the efficiency of penal policy. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide statistical data on the average duration of proceedings and the average amount of penalties imposed for violations of the Labour Law and the OSH Law as well as information on the impact of the steps taken in order to overcome problems in the duration of proceedings, the amount of fines and their effective enforcement. The Committee would also like to request the Government to continue to provide information on any further steps taken or envisaged in order to ensure effective cooperation between the labour inspection services and the judicial authorities.

According to the Government, in 2008, 60 requests for the institution of criminal proceedings were filed by the labour inspectorate in relation to offences which apparently concerned only the area of OSH. Recalling that the functions of the labour inspectorate are not limited to the enforcement of the OSH legislation (the OSH Law) but also include the enforcement of legal provisions and advice relating to the conditions of work under the Labour Law, the Committee requests the Government to specify in its next report the manner in which the labour inspectorate addresses violations of legal provisions on hours of work, wages, the employment of children and young persons and other connected matters and the number of proceedings instituted for such violations.

Article 7(3). Adequate initial and further training of labour inspectors. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted the comments of the Union of Employers of Serbia, according to which, following the restructuring of the labour inspectorate as a single body, labour inspectors were not provided with adequate training to perform both legal and technical supervision. According to the Government’s report, the labour inspectorate launched in 2008 a modernization process to be delivered through internal training in three phases so as to enable labour inspectors to undertake integrated inspections. In this framework, an inspection methodology was designed and all inspectors gained adequate knowledge in areas in which they had not yet performed inspections (e.g. engineers in the field of labour relations, lawyers in the field of safety and health at work, etc.). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would communicate additional information as to the number of participants in the training sessions, their duration, the topics covered and the evaluation of the results. It also requests the Government to continue to furnish information on further periodical training for labour inspectors.

Articles 12(1) and 18. Penalties for obstructing labour inspectors in the performance of their duties, particularly with regard to their right of free entry in establishments. In its previous comments, the Committee took note of comments by the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia, according to which labour inspectors were occasionally denied the right to enter a workplace for inspection purposes, particularly in new private enterprises. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, the 2005 Labour Law and the 2005 OSH Law contain an obligation for the employer to allow the labour inspector to access facilities and premises at any time when occupied by workers, and, should it occur that the labour inspector is prevented from undertaking inspections, the labour inspectorate should address the Ministry of the Interior, which will enable unobstructed inspection with the assistance of the police. Keeping in mind that section 273(10) of the Labour Law and section 69, paragraph 1(32), of the OSH Law set fines in cases where a labour inspector is prevented from conducting an inspection, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate if any acts of obstruction were reported by labour inspectors to the central inspection authority and, if so, to describe the penalties imposed and the proceedings followed to ensure their effective enforcement in conformity with Article 18 of the Convention.

Article 5(a), 14 and 21(f) and (g). Notification of industrial accidents and cases of occupational  disease. In its previous comments the Committee took note of difficulties in the actual system of notification and registration of occupational accidents and diseases, despite the existence of a legal obligation for the employer to notify these under section 50 of the OSH Law. The Government’s report contains a list of steps that are necessary to ensure effective prevention of occupational accidents and diseases, including coordination of all services, institutions and individuals who work on the prevention of occupational accidents; intensified media campaigns, brochures aimed at promoting a national prevention culture in the field of safety and health at work, the introduction of a continuous data processing practice in all departments and institutions working in the area of OSH; as well as an efficient national system for recording and collecting data on occupational accidents and diseases. With regard to the latter, the Government indicates that the Serbian Institution for Occupational Medicine and Radiology “Dr Dragomir Krajovic” (under the Ministry of Health) is implementing a project on the development of a register for occupational accidents and on the identification, reporting and registration of occupational diseases. Working groups, in which representatives of the labour inspectorate have taken active part, were established in order to consider proposals for a new list of occupational diseases and an efficient registration system for occupational accidents.

The Committee once again draws the Government’s attention to the 1996 ILO code of practice on the recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases which could offer guidance in this framework. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged in order to strengthen the efficiency of the system for recording and notifying occupational accidents and diseases, including through the adoption of a new list of occupational diseases and a better collaboration of all institutions concerned for that purpose.

Articles 20 and 21. Submission and content of the annual report. In its previous comments, the Committee welcomed the detailed information contained in the annual report on the labour inspection activities for 2007 and requested additional information including on the total number of industrial and commercial establishments under the supervision of the labour inspectorate and the number of workers employed therein. The Committee takes due note of the information provided by the Government as to the number of establishments subject to labour inspection (318,540 businesses of which 10,056 are legal entities and 33,592 are individual entrepreneurs engaged in industrial activities as well as 35,738 legal entities and 72,703 entrepreneurs engaged in the trade sector). Drawing the Government’s attention to its 2009 general observation on the importance of statistics on workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers covered as a basis for assessing the effectiveness of the labour inspection system and its needs, the Committee takes due note of the Government’s indication that, in its future annual reports, the labour inspectorate will provide statistical data on the number of registered companies engaged in industrial and commercial activities as well as on the number of workers employed therein.

The Committee also notes however, that no further annual report on the labour inspection activities was received. It recalls that, according to Article 20, the annual report should be published by the central authority and duly forwarded to the ILO within a reasonable time after its publication. The Committee therefore requests the Government to ensure that the annual report on the labour inspection activities is forwarded to the ILO on an ongoing basis in accordance with Article 20 and that it contains information on the items listed in Article 21. In particular, in order to assess the coverage of labour inspection, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would also indicate in its next report, in addition to the information usually provided in the annual report, the total number of industrial and commercial establishments under the supervision of the labour inspectorate and the number of workers employed therein (clause (c)), the statistics of inspections carried out (clause (d)), and statistics on the outcome of judicial procedures and penalties imposed
(clause (e)).