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The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report does not include any new information in reply to its previous comments and is confined for the fourth consecutive year to reiterating the information provided previously. It therefore requests the Government to provide concrete explanations in its next report on the points on which it has been commenting for several years.

Article 5 of the Convention. Compensatory rest. Further to its previous comments relating to section 209 of the Labour Code and sections 9 and 10 of Decree No. 56/PR-MTJS-TMOPS of 8 February 1969, which envisage exceptions to the weekly rest scheme without compensatory periods of rest, the Committee once again draws the Government’s attention to the fact that Article 5 of the Convention provides that provision shall be made, as far as possible, for compensatory periods of rest to be granted in the event of exceptions to the normal weekly rest scheme. The granting of compensation in cash or in the form of higher rates of pay for the hours worked on the weekly rest day do not correspond to the objective of the Convention, which is to ensure that workers benefit from a minimum period of rest with a view to preserving their health and giving them access to leisure activities. The Committee hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to indicate all the measures adopted or envisaged to ensure that compensatory rest periods are granted in these cases and to indicate any agreements or customs established in these matters which ensure the application of the Convention.

Moreover, with regard to workers in the oil industry, who are entitled to a period of two weeks of rest in respect of each period of four weeks of uninterrupted work, the Committee emphasizes that, while the Convention does not establish a precise time limit for granting the compensatory rest period, compliance with the spirit of the Convention requires this to be within a reasonably short period. If this were not the case, the Convention would risk becoming bereft of all meaning.

Article 7. Information on implementation measures. The Committee understands the difficulties faced by the Government in the field of labour inspection, which are preventing it from providing the information requested previously concerning the application in practice of section 17 of Decree No. 56/PR-MTJS-DTMOPS of 8 February 1969 respecting workers’ information in relation to weekly rest arrangements (Article 7). The Committee nevertheless hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to provide this information and requests it to supply any other information available which would allow the Committee to assess the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice in the country.

Finally, the Committee takes this opportunity to recall that, based on the conclusions and proposals of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards, the ILO Governing Body has decided that the ratification of up to date Conventions, including the Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14), and the Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106), should be encouraged because they continue to respond to current needs (see GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paras 17–18). The Committee therefore invites the Government to envisage ratifying Convention No. 106 and to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this respect.