Labour Inspections in Post-Soviet Countries: Reform or Collapse?

This article examines the policy of limiting the powers and resources assigned to the labour inspectorate in ten post-USSR republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. This policy is pursued in all ten countries in the name of boosting economic efficiency and reducing regulatory constraints on business. A significant number of limitations on labour inspections is identified, some of them in direct contradiction with the requirements of the priority International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions on Labour Inspections, No. 81 and 129. Some of the restrictions do not directly contradict the requirements of these Conventions, but their inadequate application in combination with certain restrictive measures leads to significant non-compliance with international labour standards. It is argued that international institutions such as the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have advocated this decline in inspections. The most significant restrictions on labour inspections in the region include limiting inspections to occupational safety and health matters; the legal requirement for labour inspectors to give prior warning to employers about the inspection, or to obtain approval for the inspection from other state authorities; and the requirement for a complaint to be made by workers as a necessary precondition for carrying out an inspection. Labour Legislation, International Labour Law, Labour Inspection, Law Enforcement, Post-Soviet Countries, Compliance, Occupational Safety and Health