Publications

Regional Seminar Proceedings 1992

DISCUSSION

Wage rate for Casual Labour

On the labour-based road programme in Botswana the wage rate for casual labour is lower than the minimum industrial class wage. NORAD who is providing financial and technical support to this programe recommends that the wage rate is increased to 70 % of the minimum industrial class wage rate. Today it is unclear whether the casual labour employed on the labour-based programme should be regarded as regular government workers and whether they are covered by regulations on wages, paid leave, insurance, etc.

On the labour-based pilot project in Namibia the casual labour wage rate is 1- Rands/day which is lower than the official minimum wage rate for the construction industry. However, this rate is far above the market rate for casual agricultural workers in that area.

In Lesotho the casual workers employed on the labour-based road projects are regarded as regualr government workers and receive the corresponding minimum wage (12 Rands/day).

It was noted that there are important differentials between the official minimum wage applied in the formal sector and the actual market wage levels in the informal sector in rural areas. In many African countries the wage rate for casual labour has been determined on the basis of the actual market wage level or average incomes in the rural areas. This level is often below the official minimum wage rate applied in the formal sector.

Several issues should be considered in relation to the wage rate for labour-based works:

(i) Labour-based projects generally provide additional employment opportunities and cash income in rural areas. It is important that they do not compete with and extract labour form the traditional economic activities in the area.

(ii) 40 to 60 % of the total costs on labour-based projects consist of wages. It is therfore evident that the wage level genrally will determine the economic feasibility of applying labour-based technology.

(iii) Then, it is important that the rates are at a level which is accepted by the casual labourers as fair and reasonable thereby ensuring satisfactory productivity rates.

The ILO does not prescribe the level of the wage rates for labour-based programmes. This is the responsibility of the authorities in the respective countries.

Payments in Kind

In Mozambique there is a food shortage in rural areas. In cooperation with the World Food Programme (WFP) the labour-based road programme in Mozambique therefore supplies the workers with food rations.

The ILO has recommended that if payments are given in kind, the cash portion of the wage should not be less that 50 % of the official minimum wage.

Equal Remuneration

Responding to a question whether payment to men and women should be the same even if their productivities are different, Ms. varga answere that for work of similar value remuneration should be the same.

Child Labour

The ILO standards on child labour also apply for projects with components of unpaid labour through community participation. Children should not be allowed to work on such projects either.

The Role of Technical Adviser

The ILO through their experts provides technical assistance to labour-based projects. The experts care advisers to the government who is responsible for the employment conditions of the workers. Nevertheless, ILO advisers should be aware of international labour standards and draw the attention of government authorities to violations of these standards.

If labour standards are violated there are several action which can be taken by the expert. He can check whether national laws are violated following the legal channels in the country (i.e. the national labour inspectorate). It is recommended to contact an ILO office or regional advisor on the matter. In case of severe violations ILO may decide to discontinue its association with the project.

In practice it is difficult for a technical adviser to take action. Labour-based experts are not qualified to take up legal matters. On the other hand ILO policies form an integral part of ILO technical cooperation. The ILO cannot be associated with project activities which are not in line with its own conventions and recommendations.

Guidelines

The issues discussed show that there is a need and a demand for guidelines on international labour standards in relation to technical cooperation projects in developing countries.

It was proposed that manuals on various issues should be designed for this purpose. It was suggested that these could for example concern the organisation of community participation projects with unpaid labour avoiding forced labour or the relationships between formal construction sector minimum wages and casual rural workers.

In this context several general issues remain to be clarified: What is ithe staus of labour-based work programmes? Should they be regarded as a part of the formal construction sector or should they be treated as additional employment schemes usder the informal sector? Will this also apply when the private industry is involved? What should be the social entitlements of casual labour?

It was concluded that in this field there is a need for close collaboration between the International Labour Standards Department (NORMES) of the ILO and the labour-based programmes.