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The Committee takes note of the Government's report for the period ending May 1998. It also notes the information provided by the Confederation of Unions for Academic Professionals in Finland (AKAVA) on the results of the survey conducted in October 1997 on the average weekly hours of work of its members.

The Committee notes that, under section 6 of the Working Hours Act (No. 605/1996), normal daily working time may not exceed eight hours and weekly working time may not exceed 40 hours. The Committee notes that, according to section 6(2) of the Act in question, average weekly working time can be calculated on the basis of a period not exceeding 52 weeks. In this regard, the Committee wishes to draw the Government's attention to the fact that compliance with daily or weekly working time-limits is an essential means for safeguarding the health and well-being of workers and protecting them against abuses. Where hours of work are calculated as an average, the longer the reference period, the greater the risk of such abuses. With reference to its 1967 General Survey on hours of work, the Committee recalls that calculation of normal hours of work as an average over a period longer than one week should be exceptional and should be limited to certain sectors in which technical needs justify it (paragraph 142).

In these circumstances, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the manner in which it proposes to ensure full application of the principle of the 40-hour week embodied in the Convention and recalls that, under Article 1 of the Convention each Member ratifying the Convention declares its approval not only of the principle, but also undertakes to take or facilitate such measures as to apply this principle to the various classes of employment. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide general indications on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, providing as far as possible the information requested under point V of the report form.