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

Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181) - Portugal (Ratification: 2002)

Other comments on C181

Direct Request

2015
2010
2005

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The Committee notes the observations from the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers – National Trade Unions (CGTP–IN) and the General Workers’ Union (UGT) sent with the Government’s report. The Committee also notes the detailed information sent by the Government in reply to its previous request concerning the services of agencies covered by the Convention (Article 1(1)(c) of the Convention) and the legislative provisions concerning temporary work, taking into consideration the areas covered by Article 12. The Government lists in its report the legislative texts simplifying the regulations governing the operations of private employment agencies and access thereto for jobseekers which have been adopted since 2009.

Article 7. Fees and costs. In reply to the Committee’s request concerning the possibility of payment of fees by workers to private employment agencies, the Government indicates that section 187(5) of the Labour Code, as amended, prohibits agencies from imposing any financial charges whatsoever on temporary workers, particularly for vocational guidance and training services. In the context of these activities, agencies must ensure that services for jobseekers are free of charge and may not collect any amounts in cash, directly or indirectly. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on any eventual development in this matter.

Article 8. Protection of migrant workers. The Government indicates that migrant workers recruited or placed in employment in the national territory have the same rights and obligations as Portuguese workers, without prejudice to any more favourable treatment arising from the legislation or employment contract. Migrant workers also enjoy the right to the conditions of work established by law and by generally applicable collective agreements. The Committee notes that the competent inspection services can provisionally suspend the activities of any agency that engages in illegal practices. As regards workers placed in employment abroad, the UGT considers that, further to the amendment of Act No. 5/2014 of 12 February 2014, the protection of such workers has been weakened since some of the obligations relating to this type of placement have been abolished. The UGT cites as an example the abolition of the obligation to constitute a deposit, which was designed to guarantee the repatriation of any applicant for employment placed abroad, in the event of any failure to honour the employment contract that could not be ascribed to the applicant. Similarly, the CGTP–IN indicates that the amendment has had serious consequences, in view of the frequency of cases in which Portuguese workers placed abroad find themselves in living and working conditions that do not correspond to the offer made. In reply to the observations made by the workers’ organizations, the Government indicates that the agency’s responsibility to ensure the repatriation of workers placed outside the national territory in the event of a breach of contract or failure to honour the promise of work arising from a cause that cannot be ascribed to the applicant continues for six months after the placement. According to the Government’s indications, penalties for administrative offences have been stepped up. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the steps taken to ensure adequate protection for migrant workers recruited or placed in its territory by private employment agencies.

Article 13. Cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies. The Government indicates that the public employment service keeps the national register of private employment agencies up to date and makes it available to the public. The register contains information on the nature of the activities of the agencies, relating in particular to the suspension, prohibition or cessation of activity. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the conditions for promoting effective cooperation between the public employment service, including its local offices, and private employment agencies, and on the periodic review thereof.

Articles 10 and 14. Complaint procedures and supervision by the competent authorities. The Committee notes the data on the number of private employment agencies penalized by the labour inspectorate between 2010 and 2013. It notes that the number of infringements was 44 in 2010, 21 in 2011, two in 2012 and seven in 2013. The Committee requests the Government to provide examples of the procedures that exist for the investigation of alleged abuses or fraudulent practices relating to the activities of private employment agencies, specifying the number and nature of complaints received and the decisions whereby they were settled. The Committee also requests the Government to supply extracts from reports indicating the number of private employment agencies inspected, the number of infringements reported and penalties applied in relation to the provisions of the Convention, and also the number of workers registered with private employment agencies.