The OECD accession review of labour market, social and migration policies in Colombia (OECD, 2016[1]) noted a high frequency of labour law violations in the country and areas for improvement in the labour inspection system. Despite considerable advances in the functioning of labour inspection in the 2010s, further improvements were considered necessary. Box 3.1 provides an overview of the recommendations made by the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee (ELSAC) in its Formal Opinion on Colombia’s accession to the OECD (OECD, 2018[2]).
OECD Reviews of Labour Market and Social Policies: Colombia 2026
1. Ensuring the adequacy of resources and enabling policy initiatives for the labour inspectorate to:
Allow labour inspectors to properly execute their tasks.
Continue offering regular training programmes for all labour inspectors (irrespective of their contract type).
Ensure investigations in rural areas.
2. Finalising the permanent hiring process for labour inspectors who passed the career exam and maintaining the number of labour inspectors in line with international standards.
3. Using the new electronic case management system nationwide and connecting it to the electronic fine collection system.
4. Strengthening the deterrence effect of labour inspection by:
Increasing the number of inspections and investigations per year, and making this information available to the public on a yearly basis.
Completing labour inspections within the established timeframes.
Improving the collection of fines.
Developing and implementing a national inspection strategy.
Source: OECD (2018[2]), Accession of Colombia to the OECD: Formal Opinion of the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee (ELSAC), unpublished document.
The total budget for labour inspection, surveillance and control in Colombia has been declining in recent years, from its highest point of EUR 2.71 million in 2023 to EUR 2.29 million in 2025 (Figure 3.1). Thanks to the proceeds from collected fines – which are allocated to the Ministry of Labour since 20201 – the available budget still exceeds the labour inspection budget prior to the global pandemic. Proceeds from collective fines have gradually increased over the years, reaching EUR 0.94 million in 2025 and accounting for 41% of the total budget. For 2026, the allocated state budget (EUR 1.27 million) is slightly lower than the budget in previous years (EUR 1.36 million in 2025).
Budget allocated to labour inspection, surveillance and control, 2014-2026
Source: OECD calculations based on data provided by the Ministry of Labour.
The number of labour inspectors has also seen a slow decrease the past few years, from 1 171 inspectors in 2022 to 1 130 inspectors in 2025 (Table 3.1). About half of all labour inspectors are civil servants, with the last civil career exam organised in August 2025. Contrary to the general career exam in 2018, the exam last year was organised specifically for the Ministry of Labour, allowing for better targeting to the needs of the Labour Inspectorate. However, the salary of labour inspectors compared to similar posts in the private sector or other ministries (for instance, tax inspectors earn about 25% more) remains an issue. High turnover among labour inspectors leads to a continuous loss of knowledge and complicates the functioning of labour inspection.
The government aims to increase the number of labour inspectors to bring them closer to international standards. There are currently 129 open vacancies, and a recently published decree (Decree 052 of 22 January 2026) allows the Ministry of Labour to hire 460 additional labour inspectors in 2026. If all open positions (i.e. 589) were to be filled, Colombia would reach a ratio of 0.68 labour inspectors per 10 000 workers, a ratio close to the OECD average of 0.79 (Figure 3.2).
Number of labour inspectors by type of contract, 2017-2025
Source: Data provided by the Ministry of Labour.
Ratio of labour inspectors per 10 000 employed workers, 2025 or latest available year, and estimation for 2026
Note: The data for Colombia for 2025 are based on the current number of labour inspectors and employed workers, while the data for 2026 are an estimation based on the foreseen hiring of labour inspectors under Decree 052 of 2026 and a forecasted number of employed workers for the end of 2026 based on the Gran Encuesta Integrada de Hogares (GEIH). The OECD average is an unweighted average of the 32 countries shown in the figure.
Source: Data on labour inspectors provided by the Colombian Ministry of Labour and ILO (2024[3]), Safety in numbers: What labour inspection data tells us, https://ilostat.ilo.org/safety-in-numbers-what-labour-inspection-data-tells-us/
The ministry continues to invest in training for labour inspectors. In 2025, 5 400 inspectors participated in trainings (inspectors can participate in multiple trainings), a significant increase from previous years (Table 3.2). A virtual campus platform, which was launched and implemented in 2019 with support of the ILO, offers a series of online training modules on key aspects related to labour law and workers’ rights.
Number of inspectors who participated in trainings, 2017‑2025
Note: Inspectors can participate in multiple trainings.
Source: Data provided by the Ministry of Labour.
An electronic inspection case management system for the labour inspectorate (SISINFO) has been operational since 2018. Since then, the system has been steadily expanded and improved. It was rolled out more widely across local inspection offices and upgraded with new versions that added useful features and simplified processes. From 2020 onwards, efforts focussed on strengthening the underlying infrastructure, improving prevention work, and making tools easier to use. More recent updates have enhanced data management, communication, and support functions. Overall, the system has become more efficient, user-friendly, and better integrated into daily inspection work.
Labour inspection has received a strong push under the current government, with targeted inspections in a few emblematic cases (in the retail sector and two ports) and improved fines collection. The Labour Minister and Vice‑Minister personally participated in several inspection visits and the actions were widely published on social media – which might generate a stronger deterrence effect for companies who do not respect labour laws than the lengthy and sometimes unsuccessful administrative sanction processes. The renewed efforts already show up in the data, with an increase in the number of inspections, more and higher imposed sanctions, and larger amounts of collected fines (especially in 2024).
Labour inspectors undertake both preventive visits and reactive inspections in line with predetermined yearly goals defined by the Ministry of Labour. Preventive assistance follows a proactive approach and mostly focusses on companies operating in priority sectors in rural areas (see discussion on the Rural Inspection Model below). Reactive inspections, instead, are carried out following a complaint and focus on specific situations. Over the past years, there has been a surge in the number of reactive inspections, rising from about 3 500 visits per year in 2020 to more than 11 700 in 2025 (Figure 3.3). Their share in the total number of inspections also rose to 74%, reflecting a clear shift in the purpose of inspections. Preventive assistance visits have remained roughly stable at around 4 000 visits per year, with the exception of two hikes in 2019 and 2021.
When comparing the number of inspection visits per labour inspector with other countries, Colombia sits at the bottom of the OECD ranking. With a total of 15 952 inspection visits in 2025 for 1 130 labour inspectors, Colombia registers a ratio of 14 visits per inspectors, which is more than five times lower than the OECD average (Figure 3.4). That said, the ILO estimates the number of workplaces liable to inspection at about 12 400 only,2 which implies that the number of annual inspection visits is higher than the number of workplaces liable to inspection. Considering the specificities of the Colombian labour market context, with high informality and rather large companies in the formal sector, is therefore an important element in the evaluation of the work of the labour inspectorate.
Number of preventive assistance and reactive inspection visits, 2018-2025
Source: Data provided by the Ministry of Labour.
Number of inspection visits per labour inspector, 2025 or latest available year
Note: The data for Colombia are for 2025 and include both preventive assistance visits and reactive inspections. The OECD average is an unweighted average of the 32 countries shown in the figure.
Source: Data provided by the Colombian Ministry of Labour and ILO (2024[3]), Safety in numbers: What labour inspection data tells us, https://ilostat.ilo.org/blog/safety-in-numbers-what-labour-inspection-data-tells-us/
In 2024, the Labour Inspectorate reformed its mobile labour inspection system into a “Rural Inspection Model”. The new model combines inspection visits with preventive assistance to help companies in rural areas comply with regulations. The Rural Inspection Model is applied to areas without a labour inspection office and where there has been a need to implement and strengthen the culture of compliance with labour standards. Priority has been given to both the formal rural sector (including mining, hydrocarbon, palm, flowers, ports, sugar, security and surveillance, transport and trade) and the informal rural sector (including agricultural activities such as coffee, banana, cocoa, artisanal fishing, and poultry, as well as rural tourism). The application of the new Rural Inspection Model allowed for an increased reach of the labour inspectorate in remote areas (Table 3.3).
Number of rural municipalities where labour inspectors intervened and number of people assisted, 2022 and 2025
Source: Data provided by the Ministry of Labour.
Contrary to the increase in inspection visits, the number of investigations and sanctioning procedures have both seen a strong declining trend over the past decade (Figure 3.5, Panel A). In 2017, labour inspectors still conducted around 19 000 preliminary inquiries per year, dropping initially to 14 000 in 2019 and then further to about 7 200 since 2023. There was a similarly large reduction in the number of administrative sanctioning procedures, from 3 177 in 2017 to 356 in 2022. Since then, the number increased again slightly, to 510 in 2025.
Since 2020, Colombia has made important institutional and procedural improvements to the fines collection process, mainly through the consolidation of a unified and structured system. A key step was the regulation and operationalisation of the FIVICOT fund, to which all labour fines have been allocated since January 2020. The fund created a direct link between sanctions and labour inspection resources. In addition, the Ministry of Labour adopted an internal regulation for portfolio collection (Resolution 2 628 of 2020), which standardises procedures, timelines and responsibilities for both persuasive and coercive collection. This methodology has been complemented by clearer institutional roles, particularly the work of the coercive collection group – whose size increased from 5 to 14 staff members – and the development of operational tools such as manuals and guidelines to ensure consistent application. Overall, these measures have improved the organisation, traceability and effectiveness of the collection process, moving towards a more coherent and systematic framework.
The value of the fines imposed by labour inspectors nearly tripled between 2023 and 2024, from about EUR 3.1 million to EUR 8.9 million. In 2025, the value stood at EUR 5.2 million. A similar trend holds for the value of collected fines, which rose from EUR 0.9 million in 2023 to EUR 2.8 million in 2024 and EUR 2.1 million in 2025 (Figure 3.5, Panel B).
Number of investigations and value of fines imposed and collected, 2017/2020‑2025
Source: Data provided by the Ministry of Labour.
Colombia has made meaningful progress in strengthening labour law enforcement, though important structural challenges persist. Recent years have seen a marked increase in inspection activity – particularly reactive inspections – and a significant expansion of the Rural Inspection Model, which has extended the inspectorate’s presence in remote areas. Training expanded substantially, and the continued upgrading of the electronic case management system (SISINFO), together with reforms to the fines collection process and the consolidation of the FIVICOT fund, have improved administrative efficiency and the traceability of sanctions.
Despite these advances, the overall capacity of the labour inspectorate remains constrained. The number of inspectors has gradually declined since 2022, and although new hiring is planned, current staffing levels still fall short of international standards. Budget reductions further limit operational reach. In parallel, while inspection visits have increased, the number of investigations and sanctioning procedures have fallen sharply over the past decade, raising concerns about the effectiveness and deterrence power of enforcement. Colombia also continues to show one of the lowest ratios of inspection visits per inspector among OECD countries.
To consolidate progress, Colombia would benefit from sustained investment in staffing and resources, stronger alignment between preventive and corrective actions, and a renewed focus on investigations and timely sanctions. Continued efforts are essential to ensure that labour law enforcement becomes sufficiently robust to guarantee workers’ rights across all regions and sectors.
References
[3] ILO (2024), Safety in numbers: What labour inspection data tells us, https://ilostat.ilo.org/blog/safety-in-numbers-what-labour-inspection-data-tells-us/.
[2] OECD (2018), Accession of Colombia to the OECD: Formal Opinion of the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee, Unpublished report.
[1] OECD (2016), OECD Reviews of Labour Market and Social Policies: Colombia 2016, OECD Reviews of Labour Market and Social Policies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264244825-en.
← 1. Prior to 2020, revenues from fines collection remained at the disposal of the National Training Service (SENA, Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje), the institution attached to the Ministry of Labour that was responsible for collecting the fines at that time.
← 2. The ILO definition refers to economic units that are subject to labour inspection according to national legislation and is based on administrative registries rather than statistical surveys.