Labour administration

Labour administration in its modern sense dates back to 19th century – the century which marked the beginning of industrialisation in Europe and which gave rise to a host of social economic problems. The 19th century also saw the birth of trade unionism and confrontation between capital and labour which highlighted the need for something to be done to tackle the issues stemming from this confrontation.

The free play of economic forces placed workers in a powerless and hopeless situation and resulted in workers living and working in appalling conditions. Governments came to realise that social and economic policies had to be formulated and implemented to alleviate this situation. Increasingly, it was realised that new machinery and new institutions were required to develop and implement these policies. This led, haphazardly, and rudimentarily at first, to the setting up of labour inspection services, employment offices and conciliation and arbitration facilities.

Most important of all government began to take concrete steps to give workers a chance to participate in the preparation and enforcement of labour legislation. These developments, particularly those relating to inspection services, showed that laissez-faire was waning and that the naked power of the market had created social and economic problems that were not only of concern to individuals and their families but also to the nation as a whole. Increasingly, it became accepted that the state had a collective responsibility to regulate free market forces as part of the overall process of social and economic development.

By the end of the first world war, state intervention in matters of labour had become a fact of life. The new laws dealing with labour matters required a more formalised and integrated approach to intervention and enforcement, and departments of labour were the creations to provide this integration and greater formalisation. In summary, the development of labour administration as we know it today has passed through a number of significant phases:

1. Late 19th Century we might describe as a stage of Realisation. This stage was marked by an increase in awareness by governments of the need to improve conditions for workers and to provide services through legislative intervention.
2. Early 20th Century could be described as a stage of Consolidation. It saw responsibility for framing, application and enforcement of labour laws being consolidated in labour offices/units attached to ministries (usually a ministry dealing with economic affairs).
3. Immediate Post World War I might be seen as a stage of acceptance. It saw national recognition of the importance of labour matters by the creation of ministries of labour in their own right, concerned exclusively, with providing services related to labour and social matters.
4. 1920s can be regarded as a stage of Internationalism. This post war period was significant in development of labour administration  because it brought about an internationalism to labour matters. The development of national codes was soon followed by the creation of international codes; there was a conviction that some form of international cooperation in the establishment of principles and standards, supported by national systems of inspection, was essential if the poor were to be relieved of their hardships.

It was this type of thinking which saw the creation of the International labour Organisation (ILO) in 1919, and which marked the beginning of the fourth and most significant stage in the development of labour administration throughout the world. The ILO:

• Acknowledged workers and employers as equal social partners with governments in questions dealing with labour
• Conferred unprecedented status on national departments of labour and
• Set the scene for labour administration moving from a protective to a developmental approach to labour matters and for labour administration to become the guardian of social justice.

1.2      Labour administration – protectionist or developmental
The traditional view of labour administration concentrated on a relatively limited and largely protectionist role stressing such things as:

• Protection of wages to ensure that people were paid in cash not in kind and were paid on time
• Protection in the form of minimum hours of work and leave entitlements
• Protection through systems of inspections to ensure adherence to miniu terms and conditions of employment and safety at the workplace
• Compensation of work injusries and occuapational diseases

The protectionist role was often supplemented by responsibility for placement of workers through employment exchanges and dealing with labour relations problems, but the emphasis was on the protection f workers’ interests and the enforcement of procedures to ensure those interests were maintained. It was sometimes argued that “labour administrators are mere policemen” or in extreme cases, “you don’t really really need labour administrators at all – policemen can enforce the law”.

But things have changed. The awakening of social conscience throughout the world, the increased emphasis on human resources in the development process, technological advancements and the complexities of economic and social development planning  processes at national level, are just some of the factors that have moved us far beyond the narrow protectionist-enforcement role of labour administration.

The broader perspective of labour administration is appropriately described as developmental and requires us adopt a systems view of labour administration as provided in Convention No. 150. Thus the emphasis on social objectives has involved many countries in a shift away from regulatory and supervisory aspects of labour administration to active purposeful and developmental administration. Labour administration is now required to become a driving force behind positive social change.

The emphasis on developmental planning at national, regional and local levels in both developed and developing countries, has given labour administration a further boost in the public administration systems of those countries. Development planning must involve the organisation and development of human resources  which is one of the responsibilities of the labour administration system in most of the countries around the world.

Under a systems and developmental approach to labour administration it is apparent that it includes a very wide range of functional responsibilities. Under the heading of “public administration activities in the field of national labour policy” the following could be included:

• Inspection to ensure conformity to the terms and conditions of employment (labour administration)
• Inspection to ensure the working environment is safe (factory and medical inspection)
• Prevention and settlement of industrial disputes (industrial relations)
• Facilitating employment through the operation of employment exchanges (employment  promotion)
• Providing information on labour market conditions (labour market information)
• Administering apprenticeship and similar systems (vocational training)
• Compensating for work accidents and work related sicknesses (social security)
• Operating pension and social security schemes (social security)
• Planning and implementing human resource development programmes (education and training)
• Transferring labour to areas and occupations offering labour prospects (Labour mobility, labour migration, training)
• Promoting new employment opportunities through small-scale industry, rural crafts, small-holder farming (employment creation, rural development)
• Contributing to the formulation of social and economic development plans (development planning)
• Promoting self-emloyment opportunities and protecting own-account operators(employment promotion, labour inspection, occupational safety and health)
• Assist home-workers operating as subcontractors (labour inspections, employment creation)
• Gathering information and undertaking studies related to labour policy issues (research, information services)
• Providing specialist training opportunities for labour administration officials (training, staff development)