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The Committee notes the Government’s report, including the indications concerning the latest legislative amendments affecting the application of the Convention. It notes in particular that under the revised section 23(1) of the Labour Code (Act No. 311/2001, as amended by Act No. 210/2003), an employer, preliminary bankruptcy trustee or bankruptcy trustee is obliged to inform the employees’ representatives, and in the absence of any such representatives, the employees directly in writing on his/her state of insolvency within five days from its onset. In fact, this provision reflects Paragraph 11 of the Protection of Workers’ Claims (Employer’s Insolvency) Recommendation, 1992 (No. 180), which suggests that workers or their representatives should receive timely information with regard to insolvency proceedings that have been opened and to which the workers’ claims pertain. The Committee also notes that with respect to the monetary limit of the financial compensation which may be granted by the wage guarantee fund, in accordance with section 22(5) of the Labour Code, the average monthly wage for the first half of 2003 amounted to 13,400 SKK.

Noting that the provisions of Part III of the Convention dealing with the protection of workers’ claims by a guarantee institution appear to be fully applied in national law and practice, and also recalling the Government’s earlier statement that it intends to extend eventually its acceptance to Part III, the Committee once again invites the Government to give favourable consideration to the possibility afforded by Article 3, paragraph 2, of the Convention and accept the obligations of both Parts. In the meantime, the Committee would appreciate if the Government could continue to supply, as required under Part IV of the report form, detailed information on the practical application of the Convention, including for instance available statistics on the number of bankruptcies and the amount of unpaid wages recovered through judicial proceedings in accordance with existing bankruptcy laws and regulations, but also full particulars on the operation, financing and management of the guarantee fund, particularly as regards the number of applications received, the proportion of claims settled and the sums of wage debts paid since its establishment.