CMNT_TITLE

The Committee notes the observations made by the Pakistan Workers’ Federation on the application of the Convention dated 21 September 2008 and transmitted to the Government on 10 October 2008. It requests the Government to include in its next report any comments it wishes to make in reply to these observations.

Article 2 of the Convention. Weekly hours of work. The Committee notes that section 46(1) of the Mines Act authorizes the competent government authorities to exempt, either unconditionally or under certain conditions, regions, mines or categories of mines, or specified categories of persons, from the application of all or part of the provisions of this Act. It also notes that, under section 46(5), no exemptions may be granted from the provisions of sections 22B and 22C of this Act, which concern hours of work, except in the case of war or threat to national security. The Committee notes, however, that the central Government has published a list of exemptions granted under section 46 of the Mines Act, some of which concern all the provisions of this Act, whereas others concern specifically section 22B. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the extent to which exemptions from the provisions of the Mines Act relating to the limitation of working hours are actually authorized, in view of the restrictions expressly established by section 46(5) of this Act.

Article 6. Permanent exceptions. The Committee notes that, in reply to its previous comment on this matter, the Government has only provided information on the permanent exceptions which may be established under the Factories Act of 1934. It therefore once again requests the Government to provide information on any permanent exceptions to the normal limits on hours of work which may have been made in accordance with section 25(5) of the Mines Act of 1923 for workers engaged in preparatory, complementary or intermittent work. The Government is also requested to provide information on the manner in which it is ensured that consultations are held with the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned prior to the establishment of permanent exceptions for railway staff whose work is essentially intermittent, under sections 71C(2) and 71E(b) of the Railways Act of 1890.

Temporary exceptions. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report on the temporary exceptions authorized by the Punjab Factories Rules of 1978. It requests the Government to provide a copy of the relevant provisions of these Rules. Furthermore, the Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain any information on the temporary exceptions established under section 25(4) of the Mines Act and section 71C(3)(b) of the Railways Act. It requests the Government to provide information in reply to its previous comment on this matter.

Furthermore, the Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain any information in reply to its previous comment concerning section 71C(1) of the Railways Act, under which railway staff – other than those whose work is essentially intermittent – may work up to 60 hours per week on average during any month. The Committee therefore trusts that the Government will take the measures required as soon as possible to amend section 71C(1) of the Railways Act in order to bring it into conformity with the Convention.

Furthermore, the Committee notes that, in reply to its previous comment concerning the scope of Article 10 of the Convention, the Government indicates that its legislation already respects the limit of 48 hours per week. In this regard, the Committee wishes to point out that Article 2 of the Convention establishes a double limit on the normal hours of work, which may not exceed eight hours per day and 48 hours per week. Furthermore, it notes that several provisions of the national legislation allow the working time of certain categories of workers to be arranged in such a way that their weekly hours of work may be up to 60 hours per week. It draws the Government’s attention to the fact that exceptions to the normal limits on hours of work are permitted by the Convention only in very specific cases and subject to prior consultation with the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any steps it might take to align its legislation with the provisions of Articles 2–8 of the Convention and to declare formally that it considers that Article 10 of the Convention is no longer applicable to it.

Part VI of the report form. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide general information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice including, where possible, statistics on the number of workers covered by the legislation, as well as reports of the inspection services, including information on the number and nature of violations reported and the measures taken in response.