C97 Migration for Employment
Convention (Revised), 1949
Convention concerning Migration for Employment (Revised 1949)
(Note: Date of coming into force: 22:01:1952.)
Convention:C097
Place: Geneva
Session of the Conference:32
Date of adoption:01:07:1949 See the ratifications for this Convention
The General Conference of the International Labour
Organisation,
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the
International Labour Office, and having met in its Thirty-second Session on 8
June 1949, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with
regard to the revision of the Migration for Employment Convention, 1939, adopted
by the Conference at its Twenty-fifth Session, which is included in the eleventh
item on the agenda of the session, and
Considering that these proposals must take the form of an
international Convention,
adopts the first day of July of the year one thousand nine
hundred and forty-nine, the following Convention, which may be cited as the
Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949:
Article 1
Each Member of the International Labour Organisation for
which this Convention is in force undertakes to make available on request to the
International Labour Office and to other Members:
information on national policies, laws and regulations
relating to emigration and immigration;
information on special provisions concerning migration
for employment and the conditions of work and livelihood of migrants for
employment;
information concerning general agreements and special
arrangements on these questions concluded by the Member.
Article 2
Each Member for which this Convention is in force undertakes
to maintain, or satisfy itself that there is maintained, an adequate and free
service to assist migrants for employment, and in particular to provide them
with accurate information.
Article 3
Each Member for which this Convention is in force
undertakes that it will, so far as national laws and regulations permit,
take all appropriate steps against misleading propaganda relating to
emigration and immigration.
For this purpose, it will where appropriate act in
co-operation with other Members concerned.
Article 4
Measures shall be taken as appropriate by each Member,
within its jurisdiction, to facilitate the departure, journey and reception of
migrants for employment.
Article 5
Each Member for which this Convention is in force undertakes
to maintain, within its jurisdiction, appropriate medical services responsible
for:
ascertaining, where necessary, both at the time of
departure and on arrival, that migrants for employment and the members of
their families authorised to accompany or join them are in reasonable
health;
ensuring that migrants for employment and members of
their families enjoy adequate medical attention and good hygienic conditions
at the time of departure, during the journey and on arrival in the territory
of destination.
Article 6
Each Member for which this Convention is in force
undertakes to apply, without discrimination in respect of nationality, race,
religion or sex, to immigrants lawfully within its territory, treatment no
less favourable than that which it applies to its own nationals in respect
of the following matters:
in so far as such matters are regulated by law or
regulations, or are subject to the control of administrative authorities:
remuneration, including family allowances where
these form part of remuneration, hours of work, overtime
arrangements, holidays with pay, restrictions on home work, minimum
age for employment, apprenticeship and training, women's work and
the work of young persons;
membership of trade unions and enjoyment of the
benefits of collective bargaining;
accommodation;
social security (that is to say, legal provision in
respect of employment injury, maternity, sickness, invalidity, old age,
death, unemployment and family responsibilities, and any other
contingency which, according to national laws or regulations, is covered
by a social security scheme), subject to the following limitations:
there may be appropriate arrangements for the
maintenance of acquired rights and rights in course of acquisition;
national laws or regulations of immigration
countries may prescribe special arrangements concerning benefits or
portions of benefits which are payable wholly out of public funds,
and concerning allowances paid to persons who do not fulfil the
contribution conditions prescribed for the award of a normal
pension;
employment taxes, dues or contributions payable in
respect of the person employed; and
legal proceedings relating to the matters referred to
in this Convention.
In the case of a federal State the provisions of this
Article shall apply in so far as the matters dealt with are regulated by
federal law or regulations or are subject to the control of federal
administrative authorities. The extent to which and manner in which these
provisions shall be applied in respect of matters regulated by the law or
regulations of the constituent States, provinces or cantons, or subject to
the control of the administrative authorities thereof, shall be determined
by each Member. The Member shall indicate in its annual report upon the
application of the Convention the extent to which the matters dealt with in
this Article are regulated by federal law or regulations or are subject to
the control of federal administrative authorities. In respect of matters
which are regulated by the law or regulations of the constituent States,
provinces or cantons, or are subject to the control of the administrative
authorities thereof, the Member shall take the steps provided for in
paragraph 7 (b) of article 19 of the Constitution of the International
Labour Organisation.
Article 7
Each Member for which this Convention is in force
undertakes that its employment service and other services connected with
migration will co-operate in appropriate cases with the corresponding
services of other Members.
Each Member for which this Convention is in force
undertakes to ensure that the services rendered by its public employment
service to migrants for employment are rendered free.
Article 8
A migrant for employment who has been admitted on a
permanent basis and the members of his family who have been authorised to
accompany or join him shall not be returned to their territory of origin or
the territory from which they emigrated because the migrant is unable to
follow his occupation by reason of illness contracted or injury sustained
subsequent to entry, unless the person concerned so desires or an
international agreement to which the Member is a party so provides.
When migrants for employment are admitted on a permanent
basis upon arrival in the country of immigration the competent authority of
that country may determine that the provisions of paragraph 1 of this
Article shall take effect only after a reasonable period which shall in no
case exceed five years from the date of admission of such migrants.
Article 9
Each Member for which this Convention is in force undertakes
to permit, taking into account the limits allowed by national laws and
regulations concerning export and import of currency, the transfer of such part
of the earnings and savings of the migrant for employment as the migrant may
desire.
Article 10
In cases where the number of migrants going from the
territory of one Member to that of another is sufficiently large, the competent
authorities of the territories concerned shall, whenever necessary or desirable,
enter into agreements for the purpose of regulating matters of common concern
arising in connection with the application of the provisions of this Convention.
Article 11
For the purpose of this Convention the term migrant
for employment means a person who migrates from one country to another
with a view to being employed otherwise than on his own account and includes
any person regularly admitted as a migrant for employment.
This Convention does not apply to:
frontier workers;
short-term entry of members of the liberal
professions and artistes; and
seamen.
Article 12
The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be
communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for
registration.
Article 13
This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members
of the International Labour Organisation whose ratifications have been
registered with the Director-General.
It shall come into force twelve months after the date on
which the ratifications of two Members have been registered with the
Director-General.
Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any
Member twelve months after the date on which its ratifications has been
registered.
Article 14
Each Member ratifying this Convention may, by a
declaration appended to its ratification, exclude from its ratification any
or all of the Annexes to the Convention.
Subject to the terms of any such declaration, the
provisions of the Annexes shall have the same effect as the provisions of
the Convention.
Any Member which makes such a declaration may
subsequently by a new declaration notify the Director-General that it
accepts any or all of the Annexes mentioned in the declaration; as from the
date of the registration of such notification by the Director-General the
provisions of such Annexes shall be applicable to the Member in question.
While a declaration made under paragraph 1 of this
Article remains in force in respect of any Annex, the Member may declare its
willingness to accept that Annex as having the force of a Recommendation.
Article 15
Declarations communicated to the Director-General of the
International Labour Office in accordance with paragraph 2 of article 35 of
the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation shall indicate:
the territories in respect of which the Member
concerned undertakes that the provisions of the Convention shall be
applied without modification;
the territories in respect of which it undertakes
that the provisions of the Convention shall be applied subject to
modifications, together with details of the said modifications;
the territories in respect of which the Convention is
inapplicable and in such cases the grounds on which it is inapplicable;
the territories in respect of which it reserves its
decision pending further consideration of the position.
The undertakings referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b)
of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be deemed to be an integral part of the
ratification and shall have the force of ratification.
Any Member may at any time by a subsequent declaration
cancel in whole or in part any reservation made in its original declaration
in virtue of subparagraph (b), (c) or (d) of paragraph 1 of this Article.
Any Member may, at any time at which the Convention is
subject to denunciation in accordance with the provisions of Article 17,
communicate to the Director-General a declaration modifying in any other
respect the terms of any former declaration and stating the present position
in respect of such territories as it may specify.
Article 16
Declarations communicated to the Director-General of the
International Labour Office in accordance with paragraph 4 or 5 of article
35 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation shall
indicate whether the provisions of the Convention will be applied in the
territory concerned without modification or subject to modifications; when
the declaration indicates that the provisions of the Convention will be
applied subject to modifications, it shall give details of the said
modifications.
The Member, Members or international authority concerned
may at any time by a subsequent declaration renounce in whole or in part the
right to have recourse to any modification indicated in any former
declaration.
The Member, Members or international authority concerned
may, at any time at which the Convention is subject to denunciation in
accordance with the provisions of Article 17, communicate to the
Director-General a declaration modifying in any other respect the terms of
any former declaration and stating the present position in respect of the
application of the Convention.
Article 17
A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce
it after the expiration of ten years from the date on which the Convention
first comes into force, by an Act communicated to the Director-General of
the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation should
not take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered.
Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which
does not, within the year following the expiration of the period of ten
years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right of
denunciation provided for in this Article, will be bound for another period
of ten years and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration
of each period of ten years under the terms provided for in this Article.
At any time at which this Convention is subject to
denunciation in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraphs
any Member which does not so denounce it may communicate to the
Director-General a declaration denouncing separately any Annex to the
Convention which is in force for that Member.
The denunciation of this Convention or of any or all of
the Annexes shall not affect the rights granted thereunder to a migrant or
to the members of his family if he immigrated while the Convention or the
relevant Annex was in force in respect of the territory where the question
of the continued validity of these rights arises.
Article 18
The Director-General of the International Labour Office
shall notify all Members of the International Labour Organisation of the
registration of all ratifications and denunciations communicated to him by
the Members of the Organisation.
When notifying the Members of the Organisation of the
registration of the second ratification communicated to him, the
Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of the Organisation
to the date upon which the Convention will come into force.
Article 19
The Director-General of the International Labour Office
shall communicate to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for
registration in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations
full particulars of all ratifications and acts of denunciation registered by him
in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Articles.
Article 20
At the expiration of each period of ten years after the
coming into force of this Convention, the Governing Body of the International
Labour Office shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of
this Convention and shall examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of
the Conference the question of its revision in whole or in part.
Article 21
Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising
this Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new Convention
otherwise provides:
the ratification by a Member of the new revising
Convention shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of this
Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 17 above, if and
when the new revising Convention shall have come into force;
as from the date when the new revising Convention
comes into force this Convention shall cease to be open to ratification
by the Members.
This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its
actual form and content for those Members which have ratified it but have
not ratified the revising Convention.
Article 22
The International Labour Conference may, at any session
at which the matter is included in its agenda, adopt by a two-thirds
majority a revised text of any one or more of the Annexes to this
Convention.
Each Member for which this Convention is in force shall,
within the period of one year, or, in exceptional circumstances, of eighteen
months, from the closing of the session of the Conference, submit any such
revised text to the authority or authorities within whose competence the
matter lies, for the enactment of legislation or other action.
Any such revised text shall become effective for each
Member for which this Convention is in force on communication by that Member
to the Director-General of the International Labour Office of a declaration
notifying its acceptance of the revised text.
As from the date of the adoption of the revised text of
the Annex by the Conference, only the revised text shall be open to
acceptance by Members.
Article 23
The English and French versions of the text of this
Convention are equally authoritative.
Recruitment, placing and conditions of labour of migrants
for employment recruited otherwise than under government-sponsored arrangements
for group transfer.
Article 1
This Annex applies to migrants for employment who are
recruited otherwise than under Government-sponsored arrangements for group
transfer.
Article 2
For the purpose of this Annex:
the term recruitment means:
the engagement of a person in one territory on behalf
of an employer in another territory, or
the giving of an undertaking to a person in one
territory to provide him with employment in another territory, together
with the making of any arrangements in connection with the operations
mentioned in (i) and (ii) including the seeking for and selection of
emigrants and the preparation for departure of the emigrants;
the term introduction means any operations for
ensuring or facilitating the arrival in or admission to a territory of
persons who have been recruited within the meaning of paragraph (a) of this
Article; and
the term placing means any operations for the
purpose of ensuring or facilitating the employment of persons who have been
introduced within the meaning of paragraph (b) of this Article.
Article 3
Each Member for which this Annex is in force, the laws
and regulations of which permit the operations of recruitment, introduction
and placing as defined in Article 2, shall regulate such of the said
operations as are permitted by its laws and regulations in accordance with
the provisions of this Article.
Subject to the provisions of the following paragraph, the
right to engage in the operations of recruitment, introduction and placing
shall be restricted to:
public employment offices or other public bodies of
the territory in which the operations take place;
public bodies of a territory other than that in which
the operations take place which are authorised to operate in that
territory by agreement between the Governments concerned;
any body established in accordance with the terms of
an international instrument.
In so far as national laws and regulations or a bilateral
arrangement permit, the operations of recruitment, introduction and placing
may be undertaken by:
the prospective employer or a person in his service
acting on his behalf, subject, if necessary in the interest of the
migrant, to the approval and supervision of the competent authority;
a private agency, if given prior authorisation so to
do by the competent authority of the territory where the said operations
are to take place, in such cases and under such conditions as may be
prescribed by:
the laws and regulations of that territory, or
agreement between the competent authority of the
territory of emigration or any body established in accordance with
the terms of an international instrument and the competent authority
of the territory of immigration.
The competent authority of the territory where the
operations take place shall supervise the activities of bodies and persons
to whom authorisations have been issued in pursuance of paragraph 3 (b),
other than any body established in accordance with the terms of an
international instrument, the position of which shall continue to be
governed by the terms of the said instrument or by any agreement made
between the body and the competent authority concerned.
Nothing in this Article shall be deemed to permit the
acceptance of a migrant for employment for admission to the territory of any
Member by any person or body other than the competent authority of the
territory of immigration.
Article 4
Each Member for which this Annex is in force undertakes to
ensure that the services rendered by its public employment service in connection
with the recruitment, introduction or placing of migrants for employment are
rendered free.
Article 5
Each Member for which this Annex is in force which
maintains a system of supervision of contracts of employment between an
employer, or a person acting on his behalf, and a migrant for employment
undertakes to require:
that a copy of the contract of employment shall be
delivered to the migrant before departure or, if the Governments
concerned so agree, in a reception centre on arrival in the territory of
immigration;
that the contract shall contain provisions indicating
the conditions of work and particularly the remuneration offered to the
migrant;
that the migrant shall receive in writing before
departure, by a document which relates either to him individually or to
a group of migrants of which he is a member, information concerning the
general conditions of life and work applicable to him in the territory
of immigration.
Where a copy of the contract is to be delivered to the
migrant on arrival in the territory of immigration, he shall be informed in
writing before departure, by a document which relates either to him
individually or to a group of migrants of which he is a member, of the
occupational category for which he is engaged and the other conditions of
work, in particular the minimum wage which is guaranteed to him.
The competent authority shall ensure that the provisions
of the preceding paragraphs are enforced and that appropriate penalties are
applied in respect of violations thereof.
Article 6
The measures taken under Article 4 of the Convention shall,
as appropriate, include:
the simplification of administrative formalities;
the provision of interpretation services;
any necessary assistance during an initial period in the
settlement of the migrants and members of their families authorised to
accompany or join them; and
the safeguarding of the welfare, during the journey and
in particular on board ship, of migrants and members of their families
authorised to accompany or join them.
Article 7
In cases where the number of migrants for employment
going from the territory of one Member to that of another is sufficiently
large, the competent authorities of the territories concerned shall,
whenever necessary or desirable, enter into agreements for the purpose of
regulating matters of common concern arising in connection with the
application of the provisions of this Annex.
Where the members maintain a system of supervision over
contracts of employment, such agreements shall indicate the methods by which
the contractual obligations of the employers shall be enforced.
Article 8
Any person who promotes clandestine or illegal immigration
shall be subject to appropriate penalties.
recruitment, placing and conditions of labour of migrants
for employment recruited under government-sponsored arrangements for group
transfer
Article 1
This Annex applies to migrants for employment who are
recruited under Government-sponsored arrangements for group transfer.
Article 2
For the purpose of this Annex:
the term recruitment means:
the engagement of a person in one territory on behalf
of an employer in another territory under a Government-sponsored
arrangement for group transfer, or
the giving of an undertaking to a person in one
territory to provide him with employment in another territory under a
Government-sponsored arrangement for group transfer, together with the
making of any arrangements in connection with the operations mentioned
in (i) and (ii) including the seeking for and selection of emigrants and
the preparation for departure of the emigrants;
the term introduction means any operations for
ensuring or facilitating the arrival in or admission to a territory of
persons who have been recruited under a Government-sponsored arrangement for
group transfer within the meaning of subparagraph (a) of this paragraph; and
the term placing means any operations for the
purpose of ensuring or facilitating the employment of persons who have been
introduced under a Government-sponsored arrangement for group transfer
within the meaning of subparagraph (b) of this paragraph.
Article 3
Each Member for which this Annex is in force, the laws
and regulations of which permit the operations of recruitment, introduction
and placing as defined in Article 2, shall regulate such of the said
operations as are permitted by its laws and regulations in accordance with
the provisions of this Article.
Subject to the provisions of the following paragraph, the
right to engage in the operations of recruitment, introduction and placing
shall be restricted to:
public employment offices or other public bodies of
the territory in which the operations take place;
public bodies of a territory other than that in which
the operations take place which are authorised to operate in that
territory by agreement between the Governments concerned;
any body established in accordance with the terms of
an international instrument.
In so far as national laws and regulations or a bilateral
arrangement permit, and subject, if necessary in the interest of the
migrant, to the approval and supervision of the competent authority, the
operations of recruitment, introduction and placing may be undertaken by:
the prospective employer or a person in his service
acting on his behalf;
private agencies.
The right to engage in the operations of recruitment,
introduction and placing shall be subject to the prior authorisation of the
competent authority of the territory where the said operations are to take
place in such cases and under such conditions as may be prescribed by:
the laws and regulations of that territory, or
agreement between the competent authority of the
territory of emigration or any body established in accordance with the
terms of an international instrument and the competent authority of the
territory of immigration.
The competent authority of the territory where the
operations take place shall, in accordance with any agreements made between
the competent authorities concerned, supervise the activities of bodies and
persons to whom authorisations have been issued in pursuance of the
preceding paragraph, other than any body established in accordance with the
terms of an international instrument, the position of which shall continue
to be governed by the terms of the said instrument or by any agreement made
between the body and the competent authority concerned.
Before authorising the introduction of migrants for
employment the competent authority of the territory of immigration shall
ascertain whether there is not a sufficient number of persons already
available capable of doing the work in question.
Nothing in this Article shall be deemed to permit the
acceptance of a migrant for employment for admission to the territory of any
Member by any person or body other than the competent authority of the
territory of immigration.
Article 4
Each Member for which this Annex is in force undertakes
to ensure that the services rendered by its public employment service in
connection with the recruitment, introduction or placing of migrants for
employment are rendered free.
The administrative costs of recruitment, introduction and
placing shall not be borne by the migrants.
Article 5
In the case of collective transport of migrants from one
country to another necessitating passage in transit through a third country, the
competent authority of the territory of transit shall take measures for
expediting the passage, to avoid delays and administrative difficulties.
Article 6
Each Member for which this Annex is in force which
maintains a system of supervision of contracts of employment between an
employer, or a person acting on his behalf, and a migrant for employment
undertakes to require:
that a copy of the contract of employment shall be
delivered to the migrant before departure or, if the Governments
concerned so agree, in a reception centre on arrival in the territory of
immigration;
that the contract shall contain provisions indicating
the conditions of work and particularly the remuneration offered to the
migrant;
that the migrant shall receive in writing before
departure, by a document which relates either to him individually or to
a group of migrants of which he is a member, information concerning the
general conditions of life and work applicable to him in the territory
of immigration.
Where a copy of the contract is to be delivered to the
migrant on arrival in the territory of immigration, he shall be informed in
writing before departure, by a document which relates either to him
individually or to a group of migrants of which he is a member, of the
occupational category for which he is engaged and the other conditions of
work, in particular the minimum wage which is guaranteed to him.
The competent authority shall ensure that the provisions
of the preceding paragraphs are enforced and that appropriate penalties are
applied in respect of violations thereof.
Article 7
The measures taken under Article 4 of this Convention
shall, as appropriate, include:
the simplification of administrative formalities;
the provision of interpretation services;
any necessary assistance, during an initial period in
the settlement of the migrants and members of their families authorised
to accompany or join them;
the safeguarding of the welfare, during the journey
and in particular on board ship, of migrants and members of their
families authorised to accompany or join them; and
permission for the liquidation and transfer of the
property of migrants for employment admitted on a permanent basis.
Article 8
Appropriate measures shall be taken by the competent
authority to assist migrants for employment, during an initial period, in regard
to matters concerning their conditions of employment; where appropriate, such
measures may be taken in co-operation with approved voluntary organisations.
Article 9
If a migrant for employment introduced into the territory of
a Member in accordance with the provisions of Article 3 of this Annex fails, for
a reason for which he is not responsible, to secure the employment for which he
has been recruited or other suitable employment, the cost of his return and that
of the members of his family who have been authorised to accompany or join him,
including administrative fees, transport and maintenance charges to the final
destination, and charges for the transport of household belongings, shall not
fall upon the migrant.
Article 10
If the competent authority of the territory of immigration
considers that the employment for which a migrant for employment was recruited
under Article 3 of this Annex has been found to be unsuitable, it shall take
appropriate measures to assist him in finding suitable employment which does not
prejudice national workers and shall take such steps as will ensure his
maintenance pending placing in such employment, or his return to the area of
recruitment if the migrant is willing or agreed to such return at the time of
his recruitment, or his resettlement elsewhere.
Article 11
If a migrant for employment who is a refugee or a displaced
person and who has entered a territory of immigration in accordance with Article
3 of this Annex becomes redundant in any employment in that territory, the
competent authority of that territory shall use its best endeavours to enable
him to obtain suitable employment which does not prejudice national workers, and
shall take such steps as will ensure his maintenance pending placing in suitable
employment or his resettlement elsewhere.
Article 12
The competent authorities of the territories concerned
shall enter into agreements for the purpose of regulating matters of common
concern arising in connection with the application of the provisions of this
Annex.
Where the Members maintain a system of supervision over
contracts of employment, such agreements shall indicate the methods by which
the contractual obligations of the employer shall be enforced.
Such agreements shall provide, where appropriate, for
co-operation between the competent authority of the territory of emigration
or a body established in accordance with the terms of an international
instrument and the competent authority of the territory of immigration, in
respect of the assistance to be given to migrants concerning their
conditions of employment in virtue of the provisions of Article 8.
Article 13
Any person who promotes clandestine or illegal immigration
shall be subject to appropriate penalties.
importation of the personal effects, tools and equipment of
migrants for employment
Article 1
Personal effects belonging to recruited migrants for
employment and members of their families who have been authorised to
accompany or join them shall be exempt from customs duties on arrival in the
territory of immigration.
Portable hand-tools and portable equipment of the kind
normally owned by workers for the carrying out of their particular trades
belonging to recruited migrants for employment and members of their families
who have been authorised to accompany or join them shall be exempt from
customs duties on arrival in the territory of immigration if such tools and
equipment can be shown at the time of importation to be in their actual
ownership or possession, to have been in their possession and use for an
appreciable time, and to be intended to be used by them in the course of
their occupation.
Article 2
Personal effects belonging to migrants for employment and
members of their families who have been authorised to accompany or join them
shall be exempt from customs duties on the return of the said persons to
their country of origin if such persons have retained the nationality of
that country at the time of their return there.
Portable hand-tools and portable equipment of the kind
normally owned by workers for the carrying out of their particular trades
belonging to migrants for employment and members of their families who have
been authorised to accompany or join them shall be exempt from customs
duties on return of the said persons to their country of origin if such
persons have retained the nationality of that country at the time of their
return there and if such tools and equipment can be shown at the time of
importation to be in their actual ownership or possession, to have been in
their possession and use for an appreciable time, and to be intended to be
used by them in the course of their occupation.
