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Parliamentary Committee voted for eliminating obstacles to inspections Members of Parliament from the Committee for State Supervision met at the seat of Parliament on 17 February 2010 and issued a positive opinion on the President’s proposal to amend the act on the freedom of economic activity in the part which refers to eliminating restrictions on the National Labour Inspectorate’s inspection activity. Adoption of the proposed amendments by Parliament would allow the NLI to enforce law observance in labour relations more effectively. In the draft amendment presented to Members of Parliament, the Polish President suggested that inspections conducted by the NLI should be exempt from the provisions of the above-said act, and more precisely its chapter 5 which refers to inspecting entrepreneur’s economic activity. The current provisions included in that chapter impose, among others: a duty to inform an entrepreneur about the intention to commence inspection; a ban on simultaneous commencing and conducting of more than one inspection by specialised inspection authorities; limitation of the duration of all inspections at the employer’s company in a given calendar year. Such provisions have a negative influence on inspection activity of NLI’s inspectors and its effectiveness, which in consequence creates hindrances to the fulfilment of tasks entrusted to the labour inspectorate. Such restrictions particularly strongly affect the quality of inspections conducted on the basis of employees’ complaints about working conditions and work safety, issues connected with salaries and especially the sphere of employment legality. All the above was said by Bożena Borys-Szopa, Undersecretary of State at the President’s Office, who presented the draft to amend the act on the freedom of economic activity. – The most frequently mentioned problem which arises from statutory provisions and which hinders the effectiveness of an inspection process, is the requirement of prior notification to employers of the intention to conduct an inspection. No similar law or practice exists in any of the EU member states or any other country in the world which has authorities for supervising working conditions – stated Bożena Borys-Szopa. She reminded everyone that Poland had ratified Convention No. 81 of the International Labour Organization on labour inspection in industry and commerce. Provisions of that convention authorize labour inspectors to freely enter, without earlier notification, any workplace subject to inspection at any time of day and night. They also give authorization to inspect enterprises as often as it would be necessary for effective enforcement of relevant legal provisions. Yet, the convention refers to industrial and commercial companies, but it is not applicable to inspections conducted by NLI in other sectors of economic activity, e.g. services. As examples of enterprises exempt from provisions of the convention, Bożena Borys-Szopa mentioned service companies which work for mines and engage nearly 100 thousand workers. The same refers to companies providing services for large construction enterprises. – Prior notification of the intention to conduct an inspection renders effective inspections impossible in situations when hazards to life and health can be identified only after commencement of inspection activities. This refers, for example, to going underground in a mine, checking documents to verify workers’ competencies to perform specific tasks, checking and disclosing the fact of using forbidden technologies or hazardous machines and equipment whose operation was banned. Moreover, it hinders effective inspections of legality of employment. Honestly speaking, inspecting legality of employment after a prior notice is pointless – said the Minister from the President’s Office. Representatives of the Ministry of Economy present at the session did not agree with these arguments. Undersecretary of State from that Ministry, Marcin Korolec said that the Ministry “does not see the need to make such amendments to the act on the freedom of economic activity”. Some Members of Parliament were also against the amendment, chiefly because of concerns about additional burdens for entrepreneurs. Yet, the majority of the Committee voted for the motion of its deputy chairman Janusz Krasoń, supporting the President’s initiative. Members of Parliament created an Extraordinary Subcommittee, composed of 7 persons, to prepare a draft act on the amendment of the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate. The session, chaired by MP Arkadiusz Czartoryski, was attended by Deputy Chief Labour Inspectors: dr Marian Liwo and Iwona Hickiewicz with a group of co-workers. Dr Marian Liwo spoke about the inspectorate’s expectations connected with the amendment of the act on the freedom of economic activity, noticing, however, that it is narrower in scope than the amendments included in the draft of the Polish President. |
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