Effectiveness of labour legislation and the role of labour inspection in light of international labour organization standard

Abstract

Regulation of labour relations is accompanied by adoption of measures pivotal to ensuring effective implementation of labour legislation. One of the most important measures is labour inspection. During the last century, a solid legal and institutional framework for labour inspection had been developed in most of the world, with many countries using the standards contained in the International Labour Organization conventions no. 81 and 129 as inspiration or model. Nevertheless, labour inspectors face many challenges and obstacles, because the proliferation of labour regulations and the emergence of new occupational risks and new forms of work are not accompanied by appropriate mechanisms to ensure effective protection of labour rights. This also applies to the emergence of economic and financial crises, which are regularly linked to employers' efforts to reduce the cost of work by bypassing the labour, social and tax regulations. We should not lose sight of the fact that a large number of workers are outside of the personal scope of application of labour legislation, which, in the contemporary world of work, is a serious obstacle to successful labour inspection. In addition, a large number of workers performs undeclared work, and the so-called externalization of work has blurred the legal position of workers, calling into question the traditional distinction between employment and independent work for others, but also the traditional (unitary) concept of an employer, as its prerogatives are now exercised by two or more entities. The seriousness of these challenges becomes even greater if we take into account the insufficient number of labour inspectors and their inadequate training, which often results in the unacceptably modest number of (registered and unregistered) entities being inspected. The low probability of inspection actually taking place will further encourage employers to continue to circumvent the applicable regulations. This is bolstered by the lenient penalties that the labour inspectors have at their disposal, as well as the fact that their work is often rendered meaningless by the negligence of the misdemeanor courts. Another problem is the lack of specialization of labour inspectors for certain labour issues, such as the protection of particularly sensitive categories of workers. The authoress seeks to examine the goals, functions and prerogatives of labour inspectors in view of the International Labour Organization standards, as well as to review them taking into consideration the current trends in labour law, like economic and political turn towards neoliberalism, economic and financial crises as well as the intense international migrations.