Deputy prime minister and minister of labour, employment and eocial economy Dan Kersch (LSAP) presented the annual report of the ITM (labour inspectorate) together with Marco Boly, ITM director, 5 July 2021. Photo: MTEESS

Deputy prime minister and minister of labour, employment and eocial economy Dan Kersch (LSAP) presented the annual report of the ITM (labour inspectorate) together with Marco Boly, ITM director, 5 July 2021. Photo: MTEESS

With 7,419 inspections carried out last year--excluding covid checks--the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines (ITM) saw its activity swell despite the health crisis. The administration expects to have three new inspectors by the end of the year.

The spring 2020 confinement did not slow down the labour safety watchdog ITM, according to its annual report published on Monday. In 2020, it carried out 7,419 inspections, 1,737 more than in 2019. This 30% increase did not result from checks on compliance with health standards related to covid-19, since the 2,102 inspections related to the pandemic are counted separately.

The posting of workers accounted for 58% of inspections last year, far ahead of health and safety on construction sites, which accounted for one in five checks.

61 inspectors at the end of December

In total, €8.9m in fines were issued in Luxembourg--a total 67% higher than in 2019. The variation is roughly the same for the number of sanctions, which jumped by 65% to 2,105.

We need more labour inspectors on the ground.
Dan Kersch

Dan Kersch, minister of labour, LSAP

“We need more labour inspectors on the ground”, said labour minister (LSAP). “The standard requires a minimum of one inspector per 10,000 employees in industrial countries”.

With 445,800 employees in 2020, this means that Luxembourg would need at least 45 inspectors. That target was more than met, since there were 86 inspectors at the end of December 2020, 61 of whom were operational in the field. By way of comparison, there were only 19 in 2017.

At the end of May 2021, ITM had 64 inspectors operational in the field--a number that will rise to 67 by December. There are currently 39 inspectors in training, and it will take between one and two years for their training to be completed, ITM said.