CMNT_TITLE

The Committee notes the Government’s report. It notes, in particular, that the prohibition against the employment of women during the night continues to apply by virtue of sections 146, 148 and 149 of the Labour Code, Ordinance No. 003/PRG/SGG/88 of 28 January 1988, and section 1 of Order No. 1392/MASE/DNTLS/90 of 15 May 1990 concerning the employment of women and pregnant women. The Committee takes this opportunity to refer to paragraphs 191 to 202 of its General Survey of 2001 on the night work of women in industry, in which it referred to the continued relevance of the instruments on women’s night work and observed that the present trend is no doubt to move away from a blanket ban on women’s night work and to give the social partners at the national level the responsibility for determining the extent of the permitted exemptions. In this respect, the Committee considered that the Protocol of 1990 to Convention No. 89 was designed as a tool for smooth transition from outright prohibition to free access to night employment, especially for those States that wished to offer the possibility of night employment to women workers but felt that some institutional protection should remain in place to avoid exploitative practices and a sudden worsening of the social conditions of women workers. The Committee wishes therefore to draw the Government’s attention to the 1990 Protocol which affords greater flexibility in the application of the Convention. It also requests the Government to provide, in accordance with Part V of the report form, all available information concerning the practical application of the Convention, including for instance extracts from reports of inspection services, statistics on the number of workers covered by relevant legislation, the number and nature of contraventions reported, the application of the exceptions allowed under Articles 4 and 6 of the Convention, etc.