Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 (No. 94) - Dominica (Ratification: 1983)

The Committee notes the observations of the Dominica Public Service Union (DSPU) and the Dominican Employers’ Federation (DEF), transmitted by the Government in its report.

Article 6 of the Convention. Legislation giving effect to the Convention. The Committee recalls that for many years it has been requesting the Government to provide information on the application of the Convention. It notes, from the Government’s report, that the Convention is applied through Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act No. 14 of 2021 (the Act), in force since 1 April 2022. The Government indicates that this Act, which repealed the Public Procurement and Contract Administration Act, Chap. 63:06, aims to modernize public procurement by promoting the principles of good governance, transparency, accountability and value for money. It also states that a World Bank-financed technical assistance project for growth and social protection, the purpose of which has been to improve the transparency and efficiency of public procurement operations, since 2010, supported the adoption of this legislation. In addition, the Committee notes the DEF’s concern about the absence of tripartite consultations on the application of the Convention and the DSPU’s call for the Government to ensure continuous dialogue on labour issues.

The Committee observes that the new Act is implemented through the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Regulations No. 14 of 2022, and that neither the Act nor the Regulations sets out any standards regarding the labour conditions applicable to workers engaged in the execution of public contracts. The Committee recalls that “the essential purpose of the Convention is to ensure that the workers employed by a contractor and paid indirectly out of public funds enjoy wages and conditions of labour which are at least as satisfactory as the wages and conditions of labour normally established for the type of work concerned, whether they are established by collective agreement or otherwise, in the locality where the work is done. The Convention requires that this be done through the insertion of appropriate labour clauses in public contracts”. (2008 General Survey on labour clauses in public contracts, para. 40). Furthermore, the Convention requires that, the terms of the labour clauses must be determined after consultation with the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned (Article 2(3)), must be brought to the knowledge of tenderers in advance of the selection process (Article 2(4)), and notices informing workers of their conditions of work must be posted at the workplace (Article 4(a)(iii)). The Committee therefore regrets that the Government has yet again not seized the opportunity of the recent public procurement reform to bring the national legislation into conformity with the Convention. It therefore requests the Government to take all appropriate measures without further delay to ensure that the legal framework applicable to public procurement contracts expressly provides for the insertion of labour clauses in public contracts in accordance with the requirements of the Convention.

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the following specific measures:

• The Committee urges the Government to confirm the specific provisions being drafted to ensure that the new Act or its Regulations explicitly require the insertion of a labour clause in the actual public contract, specifying that wages and working conditions are not less favourable than those established by collective agreements or arbitration awards.
• The Committee requests the Government to respond to the observations of the Dominica Public Service Union (DSPU) and the Dominican Employers’ Federation (DEF) and to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to establish a continuous dialogue mechanism for effective consultation on the terms of the labour clauses and on general labour issues, in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 3.
• The Committee requests the Government to report on the steps taken to establish a legislative basis for imposing adequate sanctions (including withholding payments, contract cancellation, or bidder exclusion) in cases of non-compliance. Furthermore, regarding the monitoring of the 96 contracts awarded in 2022–23, the Committee requests the Government to provide:

(a) The average number of workers engaged annually through these public contracts.

(b) Extracts from the reports of the labour inspection services confirming whether any inspections focused on working conditions on these contracts took place, and the outcome of any such inspection.

Part V of the Report form. Application in practice. The Government indicates that, based on data from the Central Procurement Unit of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, Climate Resilience and Social Security, there were approximately 96 public procurement contracts awarded for the financial year 2022 to 2023 and 70 for 2023 to 2024. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information, including statistics on the average number of public contracts concluded annually and, if possible, the approximate number of workers engaged through those contracts; sample copies of the documents for calls for tenders, labour clauses and the general conditions of public contracts; extracts from the reports of the labour inspection services containing information on cases in which payments have been withheld, public contracts cancelled or bidders excluded from all subsequent calls for tender due to breaches of labour clauses; and any other information which would enable the Committee to assess more clearly the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice.