Training Department

The core business of ARLAC is to strengthen the labour administration systems in member countries. This has mainly been achieved through training. It is important to note that the ARLAC mandate is informed by the International Labour Organization’s Labour Administration Convention, 1978 (No. 150), which, together with Recommendation No. 158, defines the role, functions and organization of national systems of labour administration.

Convention No. 150 defines the term “labour administration” as public administration activities in the field of national labour policy. It further defines “system of labour administration” to mean all public administration bodies responsible for and/or engaged in labour administration (Article 1), including ministerial departments and public agencies which have been set up by national laws and regulations to deal with labour matters, and the institutional framework for the coordination of their respective activities and for consultation with and participation by employers and workers and their respective organizations in the formulation and development of labour policy. The Convention provides for a coordinated and effective labour administration system that ensures appropriate cooperation with employers and workers regarding activities covered in more detail by other ILO instruments.

Convention No. 150 identifies certain functions that systems of labour administration must carry out regarding labour protection, employment, industrial relations and services for the social partners. In carrying out these functions, the competent bodies shall participate in the stages of preparation, administration, coordination, checking and review of national labour policy (Article 6, paragraph 1). Recommendation No. 158 lays down more detailed provisions in the areas of labour standards, labour relations, employment and research in labour matters, which could be taken into account by member States in formulating policy. In 1997, the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations noted that the list of functions enumerated in the Convention is not exhaustive. In addition to those indicated above, the General Survey of 1997 identified other principal labour administration functions, which are widely practised in many member States. These cover areas such as Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), social security, minimum wage fixing machinery and human resource development. The principle of tripartism is also enshrined in the Convention. Accordingly, the various functions of labour administration should be carried out in a spirit of consultation, cooperation and negotiation with the social partners.

Above all this, Convention 150 requires that labour administration staff should be suitably qualified, have access to training, be given proper status and be independent of improper external influences. They should also have “the material means and the financial resources necessary for the effective performance of their duties”.