Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - Ghana (Ratification: 1961)

1. Contribution of the employment service to employment promotion. The Committee notes with interest the information supplied by the Government in the report received in June 2006 indicating that Ghana enacted a new Labour Act in October 2003 providing for the establishment of public employment centres, which have the duty to freely assist persons, both unemployed and employed, in securing suitable employment and also to assist employers in finding suitable workers from among the persons that come to the centres. The Government also reports that the employment service operates through a network of 62 centres nationwide and five youth employment centres situated in Accra, Takioradi, Kumasi, Cape Coast and Tamale. The Government supplied in its report data on the registration and counselling of jobseekers in 2003 by the Labour Department. The Committee therefore asks the Government to continue providing detailed information on the application of the Convention and recalls the need to ensure the essential duty of the employment service and its adjustment to meet the new requirements of the economy and the working population, including special arrangements for young people (Articles 1, 3, and 8 of the Convention). It hopes that the Government will include statistical information published in annual or periodical reports on the number of public employment centres established, applications for employment received, vacancies notified and persons placed in employment by such centres (Part IV of the report form). Please also provide information on the activities of the public employment centres and the effects noted or expected on employment as a result of the implementation of the Ghana poverty reduction strategy.

2. Cooperation with the social partners. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to report on the measures adopted to establish advisory committees in order to secure the full cooperation of employers’ and workers’ representatives in the organization and operation of the employment service. It notes with interest that the National Tripartite Committee (NTC) – comprised of Government, Ghana Employers’ Association (GEA) and labour representatives – has been mandated under section 113(c) of the Labour Act, 2003, to consult with partners in the labour market on matters of social and economic importance. The Government adds that the forum provides advisory services for the operation of the employment service and the development of employment service policy. The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply it with information on the active participation of representatives of employers and workers in the operation of the employment service (Articles 4 and 5).

3. Measures to protect workers from trafficking. In its previous comments, the Committee recalled that the Office held a tripartite workshop in July 2005 on the regulation and monitoring of private recruitment agencies, in particular to combat trafficking in Ghana. It notes that section 7(2) of the Labour Act, 2003, provides for the establishment of private employment agencies. It notes that necessary measures shall be taken to secure effective cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies (Article 11 of Convention No. 88). It refers to its 2006 observation on the application of the Fee-Charging Employment Agencies Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 96), and requests the Government to indicate in its next report the arrangements made to give effect to Article 11 of Convention No. 88.