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The Committee notes with interest that section 14C, paragraph 1, of the new Labour Relations Amendment Act of 2002 gives effect to Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention, providing 24 continuous hours of weekly rest to every employee, which was not regulated previously in the Labour Relations Act (Chapter 28:01) of 1984.

Apart from this main provision, no regulations have been made on weekly rest in the Amendment Act of 2002. The Committee notes, however, the Government’s indication that in practice collective agreements concluded under the auspices of the national employment councils are the major arrangements regulating weekly rest.

Article 2, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the Convention. The Government is requested to indicate how it ensures that weekly rest shall, wherever possible, be granted simultaneously to the whole of the staff of each undertaking, and shall, wherever possible, be fixed so as to coincide with the days already established by the traditions or customs of the country or district. Only one of the collective bargaining agreements submitted with the Government’s report takes these aspects of the Convention into account.

Articles 4 and 6. The collective bargaining agreements submitted permit derogations from the weekly rest period only in cases of emergency. The Government is asked to provide full information on the application of exemptions to weekly rest (other than emergency work) since it cannot be envisaged that an economy could function without regular exemptions to weekly rest and to communicate the list requested under Article 6.

Article 5. It appears furthermore that the collective bargaining agreements submitted with the Government’s report do not correspond with this provision of the Convention. Total or partial exceptions from the weekly rest period need to be compensated, as far as possible, with a compensatory rest period. The Government is therefore asked to indicate how it ensures compliance with Article 5 of the Convention.

The Committee requests the Government to furnish further copies of collective agreements and ministerial orders providing particulars on: (a) the normal weekly rest schemes (Article 2); (b) any exceptions under Article 4; (c) compensatory rest (Article 5) and; (d) the obligation of employers to notify persons concerned of collective weekly rest or of a special system of rest (Article 7). In particular, the Committee would be grateful if the collective bargaining agreements for the transport sectors could be provided.

Parts III and V of the report form. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the inspection activities of the labour relations officers and the agents of the national employment councils. Please include, where appropriate, relevant extracts from inspection reports or statistics on the number and nature of the contraventions reported.