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The Committee notes with interest the Government’s first report on the application of the Convention and wishes to draw attention to the following points.

Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that workers carrying out domestic work are excluded from the scope of Legislative Decree No. 24/89/M because domestic work used to be carried out solely by non-resident workers although this is no longer the case. The Government indicates that in order to remedy this situation, domestic workers will come within the scope of the new draft labour law which is currently at an advanced stage of the legislative process. The Committee requests the Government to provide full information on the legislative changes once they have become effective and to forward a copy of any relevant text.

Article 6, paragraphs 2 to 4. The Committee notes that there seems to be no legislative provision dealing with the issues of simultaneous weekly rest for all the persons concerned in each establishment, the regular day of rest established by tradition or custom, and the respect for the traditions and customs of religious minorities in matters of weekly rest. It therefore requests the Government to supply additional explanations on these points. Moreover, the Committee notes that according to the Government’s report, civil servants are entitled to two weekly rest days, i.e. Saturday and Sunday. It therefore asks the Government to specify the legal provisions regulating the weekly rest for civil servants and to transmit a copy of any relevant text.

Article 7, paragraph 1, read in conjunction with Article 11(a). The Committee notes that under section 18 of Legislative Decree 24/89/M, where it is not feasible to apply the 24-hour weekly rest rule due to the nature of the sector of economic activity, workers must be given a rest of four consecutive days for each four-week work period. In this connection, the Committee wishes to refer to Paragraph 3(a) of the Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Recommendation, 1957 (No. 103), which indicates that persons to whom such special schemes apply should not work for more than three weeks without receiving the rest periods to which they are entitled. It accordingly requests the Government to specify the types of establishments which are currently subject to special weekly rest schemes, the number of workers affected by those schemes and the reasons for the deferral of the rest day.

Article 8, paragraph 2. While noting the general indications provided by the Government in its report with regard to the role of the tripartite Council of Social Consultation in formulating socio-labour policies, the Committee requests the Government to clarify the manner in which the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned were consulted in determining the circumstances in which temporary exemptions may be granted.

Part V of the report form. The Committee would thank the Government for continuing to provide general information on the application of the Convention in practice, including for instance statistics on the number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, extracts from reports of the labour inspection services showing the number and nature of contraventions reported, full particulars on authorized cases of postponement of the rest day or temporary exemptions, etc.