Policy Guidelines

1.The labor inspection system will be established to improve working conditions in all workplaces and make workplaces safer, healthier and more productive.  These goals will be pursued through activities directed towards prevention, protection and improvement concerning working conditions and the working environment.

2.The Department will work in close cooperation with employers and workers to encourage them to assume prime responsibility for labor protection in workplaces, to raise awareness of the relation between good protection and good business, and to highlight the importance of labor-management cooperation and productivity enhancement, based on improved protective measures.

3.Labor inspectors, both men and women, will be appointed and empowered to inform workers and employers of the content and meaning of laws, to advise employers and workers on what needs to be done to comply with laws, to gain compliance with the law, and report to the Department on any defects and problems not covered by existing laws and regulations.

4. Labor inspectors will have responsibility for all three areas of labor inspection and working conditions (including wages), safety, and health and will also have some responsibilities for checking on the work arrangements for foreign workers.  Inspectors will be generalists' rather than specialists. The integrated inspection system, however, will have access to specialist expertise to assist inspectors in resolving particular technical problems.

5.Labor inspectors will need to ensure that imported machinery, equipment and substances are safe prior to their installation and use.  Accordingly, a centralized inspection facility will be developed to provide the necessary clearances for such items.

6.The emphasis to be placed on protection through prevention will require labor inspectors to visit workplaces on a routine basis, sometimes without appointments.  Visits to enterprises will be supported by follow-up inspection to ensure that improvement and rectification notices have been complied with.  Some inspection work will focus on specific issues including child labor, accident investigation, chemical hazards, and employment of foreign workers.  The emphasis on prevention will also require close cooperation between labor inspectors and labor relations officers, so that effective inspection work can reduce the number of labor-management conflicts and disputes by identifying potential conflict areas and resolving problems before they become too serious. In general, workplaces liable to inspection will be visited, on average, at least once per year. 

7. In the labor relations field the Department of Labor will appoint labor relations officers who will be responsible for implementing a policy framework as well as to negotiate on behalf of workers.  The Department will also be the voice of workers in matters related to the rights and entitlement of workers until the nation's Constitution is implemented.

8. The labor relation officers will guide the development of the labor relations system in its initial stages but, as the system develops and matures, employers and workers and their respective organizations will be encouraged to take greater responsibility for the operation of the system through information sharing, consultation, negotiation and bargaining, all directed to reinforcing the common interest between employers and workers.

9.Labor relations officers will play the leading role in ensuring that provisions in the National Constitution and the Employment and Labour Act are complied with. 

10.Labor relations officers will encourage workers and managers to cooperate and resolve disagreements through open communication, consultation and bargaining.  It is accepted, however, that some disagreements may require the intervention of a third party to settle or resolve any conflicts the parties cannot resolve through their own efforts.  Accordingly, a dispute resolution procedure will be established drawing to the maximum extent possible on customary and traditional approaches to dispute resolution, and emphasizing alternatives to the formal court system.  This procedure will be established by laws and regulations but will emphasize informal approaches including independent advice, negotiation, conciliation and mediation, rather than arbitration and adjudication.  It will be however, necessary, to establish an arbitration procedure to settle the few cases that cannot be resolved by less formal means. 

11.Persons other than labor relations officers can also play a third-party role in dispute resolution.  This will enable experienced Bhutanese in both government and private sectors to be appointed to assist in resolving and settling disputes.  Dispute resolution involving third party other than labor relations officers will be considered as the system matures.

12.The Department of Labor, in cooperation with the Ministry's Planning and Policy Division, will play a key role in the formulation of new approaches to labor inspection and labor relations by drafting policy papers for the consideration of higher authority.  The drafting of policy papers in the area of wages and occupational safety and health will be the high priority activities of the  Department.  In future, attention will have to be given to policy development in the field of social security.

13.These policy guidelines will be reviewed periodically by the Ministry's Planning and Policy Division, in consultation with the Labor and Employment Advisory Committee.

Objectives

  During the next five years the Department of Labor will strive to achieve the following objectives.

Labor laws and regulations concerning labor inspection and labor relations will be drafted, submitted to the National Assembly, enacted, widely publicized and enforced.

All enterprises liable to inspection will be inspected on average at least once per year.

All workers, both national and foreign, will benefit from labor protection activities through a safer and healthier working environment, and improved working conditions.

A national wage policy for the private and corporate sectors will be in place and implemented.

A national occupational safety and health policy will be in place and supporting laws and regulations will be enacted, implemented and enforced.

An integrated labor inspection system will be established and become operational.

A system for bargaining by the Department on behalf of the employees on a range of labor relations issues, including wages and working conditions, will be established until the finalization of the nation's constitution.

Labor dispute prevention mechanisms will be established and become operational in various enterprises.

Labor dispute resolution and settlement mechanisms, taking due account of traditional and customary approaches, will be in place and become operational.

Activities

  These objectives will be pursued through a department structure comprised of two divisions, as follows.

The Labor Inspection Division will focus on

Inspecting enterprises (by inspectors empowered by law), to educate, inform and advise employers on the content and meaning of laws, encourage self-compliance and, if necessary, gain compliance through enforcement measures.

Monitoring the implementation of laws with a view to identifying weaknesses and shortcomings thus enabling improvements to be made.

Extending labor inspection services, particularly concerning occupational safety and health, to workers not covered by formal contractual arrangements including self-employed persons, family businesses and farmers.

Reporting on the outcome of each inspection visit, preparing regular reports on the operation of the labor inspection and labor relations systems, and preparing an annual report to the Ministry.

Coordinating and information sharing with all other departments and agencies, both government and private, concerned with labor inspection and labor protection.

Shaping new policies by collecting information, undertaking basic research, and assisting in drafting policy papers on wages, occupational safety and health, and other matters. 

Supervising the work and operations of labor inspectors in three regional offices.

The Labor Relations Division which will focus on

Educating and informing workers, employers, relevant government officials, and wider society of the nature and purpose of a labor relations system in a mixed economy.

Advising and training workers and employers at enterprise level on labor relations processes.

Training workers and employers at enterprise level on interaction skills including communication, consultation and negotiation.

Resolving disputes through information and advice, conciliation and mediation.

Supporting, technically and administratively, the operation of the arbitration dispute settlement machinery.

Supervising the work and operations of labor relations officers in three regional offices.

Resource Requirements and Operational Arrangements

  The effective implementation of these strategies and activities will involve the following operational arrangements and resource support for the Department and its two divisions.

Formulating laws and regulations stating the functions, power and obligations of inspectors, and identifying workplaces liable to inspection.

Appointing the required number of inspectors, both men and women, to enable each workplace to be inspected on average at least once per year.

Issuing formal credentials (letters of appointment, identity cards) for each inspector.

Compiling a register of all workplaces liable to inspection including location, size and work processes.

Deploying inspectors in various locations throughout the Kingdom.

Providing training, both initial and on-going, for all inspectors.

Preparing technical desk manuals for ‘integrated' inspection.

Preparing monthly inspection visit work plans for each inspector indicating performance targets and priorities.

Providing occupational health measuring equipment.

Preparing inspection reporting forms and improvement/rectification notice pro forma.

Planning and implementing a system for collecting relevant statistics related to labor inspection and inspection visits.

Planning and implementing a system for the centralized inspection of machinery, equipment and substances.

Preparing and disseminating awareness information in the form of posters, pamphlets, videos, booklets, and media releases.

Enacting laws and regulations concerning workplace labor relations and dispute resolution.

Appointing a sufficient number of labor relations officers, both men and women.

Designing and implementing training activities, both initial and on-going, for labor relations officers, including the development of their training skills.

Preparing technical desk manuals for labor relations officers.

Compiling a national register of accredited conciliators.

Deploying labor relations officers in various locations throughout the country.

Preparing training materials on workplace cooperation, dispute prevention, and dispute settlement and resolution.

Securing adequate transport for labor inspectors and labor relations officers to facilitate enterprise visits.

Providing adequate office accommodation and support services in support of inspection and labor relations activities.

Facilitating access to information from other departments and agencies concerned with labor matters.

Encouraging formal and informal linkages to other departments and agencies, particularly to institutions involved in aspects of labor inspection and labor protection.