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Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the new Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania, which came into force on 1 January 2003, extends the possibilities to deviate from the 40-hour week, as laid down in section 144, paragraph 1, of the new Labour Code. The old Law on Labour Protection of 1993, in section 44, paragraph 4, allowed exemptions from the general principle of the 40-hour week only in exceptional and categorized cases, which needed to be approved by the Government. Now, the new Labour Code merely stipulates in section 144, paragraph 3, that maximum working time, including overtime, must not exceed 48 hours per seven working days. The Committee notes that this provision may be used to arrange for a regular weekly working time of up to 48 hours, which would not be in line with the 40-hour principle of the Convention.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate the extent to which hours may be worked in excess of the 40-hour week, either (i) on a regular basis for all workers, (ii) on a regular basis by certain categories of workers or for certain types of work, or (iii) as overtime, with particulars of the rate of pay for overtime.