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The Committee notes the weekly rest provisions (section 132-133) of the new Labour Code of the Republic of Romania of 2003, promulgated by Law No. 53/2003.

Article 4 of the Convention. Section 132, paragraph 2, of the Labour Code of 2003 provides that in situations where the ordinary weekly rest is prejudicial to the public interest or the usual running of the activity, exceptions from the ordinary weekly rest scheme can be granted on other days set up by the applicable collective labour agreement or by internal regulation. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether, in conformity with Article 4, responsible employers’ and workers’ organizations were consulted before section 132, paragraph 2, was introduced into the Labour Code. Secondly, the Committee would like to stress that leaving such a broad exception like "the usual running of activities" to internal regulations may lead to abuse. According to Article 4, exceptions may be authorized, special regard being had to all proper humanitarian and economic considerations. According to the intention of this wording, a proportionality test is needed between the interest of the workers to have a weekly rest on a day which shall coincide with the day already established by the tradition or custom of the country as required under Article 2, paragraph 3, of the Convention, and the economic need of some industrial undertakings to work on established rest days. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate how it ensures the full application of Article 4.

Article 6 of the Convention. The Government is requested to communicate an updated list of exceptions made under Article 4 of the Convention.

Article 7 of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to communicate in accordance with the report form specimen copies of the notices and rosters specified in virtue of this Article.

Parts III and V of the report form. The Committee notes that during the period between 1 January 2002 and 30 June 2003, 117,839 labour inspections have been carried out, covering 4,241,926 employees. The Committee would also appreciate receiving information on the number and nature of contraventions reported concerning the application of the Convention.

The Committee further notes the observations made by the Bloc National Syndical (BNS), concerning the application of the Convention in practice, which were transmitted to the Government. The Committee invites the Government to provide the Office with any comments it may deem useful, to enable the Committee to deal with the observations of the BNS at its next session.