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The Committee notes the Government’s report and wishes to draw its attention to the following points.

Article 4, paragraph 1, and Article 6, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee notes that under section 11(f) of the Labour Act (Cap. 75), a worker may be required to work on customary rest days in occupations where this is expressly provided for in the contract of service. In this connection, the Committee is obliged to recall that any exceptions to the general standard must be in compliance with the conditions set out in the Convention (i.e. account taken of all proper humanitarian and economic considerations and prior consultations with responsible associations of employers and workers) and therefore recourse to such exceptions must be limited to what is strictly necessary. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to provide specific information on the conditions under which and the limits within which exceptions to the weekly rest may be authorized with a view to protect workers from any risk of abuse. Moreover, the Committee notes that the text of the Essential Services Act (Cap. 12), which was referred to as being annexed to the Government’s report, has not been received by the Office, and therefore the Committee would appreciate receiving a copy of this instrument.

Article 5. The Committee notes that in a previous report, the Government indicated that workers whose conditions of service are regulated by the Essential Services Act receive extra pay, but no compensatory periods of rest, for work performed on a day of rest. In this connection, the Committee wishes to recall that according to the letter and the spirit of the Convention, the rest period cannot be replaced by the payment of compensation but must be granted, as far as possible, regardless of any such cash compensation. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to take appropriate steps to ensure that workers are granted, as far as possible, compensatory rest periods for any suspensions or diminutions made to their weekly rest. The Committee understands that the notion of essential services may be redefined in the framework of the labour law reform, which is currently undertaken in association with employers’ and workers’ organizations, and hopes that the Government will not fail to take into account the above comments in preparing any new legislative texts.

Article 7. The Committee notes the copies of rosters and notices used by the Water and Electricity Authorities for informing employees of their working time schedule and weekly rest arrangements.

Parts III and V of the report form. While noting that the labour inspection reports 2000-05 to which reference was made in the Government’s report have not been received by the Office, the Committee requests the Government to supply general information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, statistics on the number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, extracts from inspection reports showing the number of contraventions reported and sanctions imposed, etc.