Report on OAS-CEATAL Workshop – How to improve compliance with labour legislation?

Compliance with labour legislation: CEATAL emphasised the importance of promoting a culture of compliance and self-assessment in the Americas and the role of technology to improve access to information, efficiency, effectiveness and capacity building in inspection systems

The Business Technical Advisory Body on Labour Matters (CEATAL), representing employers’ organisations of each member State of the Organization of American States (OAS), participated in the Inter-American Network for Labour Administration (RIAL) workshop on “Strategies to improve compliance with Labour Legislation” that took place on 6–7 of December in San José, Costa Rica.

This event was co-organized by the OAS and the ILO, under the auspices of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of Costa Rica and the financed by the Ministry of Employment and Social Development of Canada.

The workshop aimed at improving the knowledge and strengthening the capacity of ministries of labour so as to improve compliance with labour legislation and generate public policies that guarantee the effective exercise of labour rights. The workshop centred on the exchange and analysis of experiences, policies and programmes from the ministries of labour focused at (i) strengthening labour inspection, particularly through innovative approaches, but also with regards to the protection of the rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining; (ii) coordinating their actions with other public institutions, including labour justice, with the aim of greater compliance with labour legislation; (iii) promoting alternative resolution mechanisms of individual and collective labour disputes. Through this process workhop participants identified lessons learned and policy recommendations from the experiences analysed.

The CEATAL delegation was composed of John Craig (CEC-Canada), Fabio Masis and Jessica Gomez Lopez (UCCAEP-Costa Rica) and Viveca Amoros (CONFIEP-Perú) and supported by the IOE and ACTEMP/ILO.

John Craig made the presentation on behalf of CEATAL highlighting, among others:

1. the importance of promoting a culture of compliance and self-assessment in the Americas;
2. the need for the professionalisation of labour inspection systems;
3. the need for efficient and effective review mechanisms in respect of inspection orders;
4. the importance of technology to improve access to information, transparency, efficiency/effectiveness and capacity building in inspection systems; and
5. the importance of robust inspection systems as key tools in identifying and combatting violations of fundamental rights at work.

To access the full text of John Craig’s presentation please follow the link in the Documents box and all relevant materials for the workshop on the following page.

We remain at your disposal.

With kind regards,

Maria Paz Anzorreguy
IOE Senior Adviser /CEATAL Coordinator