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The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government’s report. It takes note of the Labour Relations Act of 1 January 2003, which repealed the Basic Employment Rights Act and the Employment Act. The Committee asks the Government to provide further information on the following issues.

Article 2 of the Convention. It appears that there exists some contradiction between paragraph 1 and paragraph 3 of section 156 of the new Labour Relations Act, in so far as the minimum weekly rest to be granted within every period of seven days shall be regarded as an average in a period of 14 successive days. The same applies to the provisions made under section 158(2) and (3) of the Labour Relations Act, which apparently permit that weekly rest may be granted and taken within a period of up to six months. The Committee recalls that this Article of the Convention provides for a rest period comprising at least 24 hours at regular seven-day intervals. It requests the Government to provide clarification on this point and to ensure that both the law and practice are in line with the Convention.

Articles 3, 4 and 6. The Committee requests the Government to inform it of any exceptions which might be made under Articles 3 and 4 of the Convention and to state the methods adopted for consulting the responsible associations of employers and workers. Please also communicate any collective agreements, in so far as they concern weekly rest in different industrial activities.

Parts III and V of the report form. The Committee requests the Government to supply further information on the working of inspection in respect of weekly rest, including relevant extracts from inspection reports or statistics on the number and nature of contraventions reported.