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Article 2 of the Convention. Maximum limit of working hours per day. The Committee notes the Government’s explanations concerning the 12-hour limit of daily work established under section 144(5) of the Labour Code for those employed in more than one undertaking. It also notes the reference to Government Resolution No. 1043 of 19 August 2003 concerning the Employment Agreement on Peculiarities of Secondary Duties. Recalling that the general eight-hour limit laid down by this Article of the Convention is a daily limit of hours of work irrespective of the number or form of employment contracts under which that work is performed, the Committee once again requests the Government to take appropriate measures in order to bring the national legislation into full conformity with the Convention on this point. In addition, the Committee would appreciate receiving a copy of Government Resolution No. 1043 of 2003.

With regard to the treatment of working time spent “on duty” at home, as provided for in section 155(2) of the Labour Code, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the relevant provisions of the Labour Code have been the subject of consultations and agreement with the social partners, and that as a matter of practice, any time spent “on duty” at home is remunerated at the full rate. The Committee therefore invites the Government to consider the possibility of revising the relevant provision of the Labour Code in order to bring it into line with established practice.

Articles 2 and 5. Reference period for averaging working time. The Committee notes that the Government’s reply on this point refers only to section 149(1) of the Labour Code which provides for averaging of working time over a period of four months for those undertakings operating continuously by a succession of shifts. However, Government Resolution No. 587 of 14 May 2003 provides for a reference period of one year for those employed, among other sectors, in transport (passenger, road, railway, civil aviation, maritime, inland waterways, including maintenance services), and energy production. The Committee recalls, in this connection, that the Convention allows for the averaging of hours of work only under the limited and well-circumscribed conditions of Articles 2(c) (shift work), 5 (exceptional cases – bilateral agreement transformed into regulations) and 6 (permanent and temporary exceptions). The Government’s attention is drawn to paragraphs 85–168 of the General Survey of 2005 on hours of work which contain a detailed analysis of the provisions of the Convention as regards the variable distribution of working hours and permissible exceptions. Even though nothing in the Convention indicates the maximum length of the period over which the variable distribution of working hours might extend, the Committee once more observes that the reference period for averaging hours of work should not be unreasonably long in order to ensure that the workers’ health and welfare is adequately protected. It therefore requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the circumstances under which industrial undertakings may have recourse to averaging of working hours over a period longer than a week and specify how it is ensured that the object and purpose of the Convention are met under those circumstances.

Transport by road, rail and inland waterway. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to Government Resolution No. 587 of 2003 which replaced Government Resolution No. 248 of 1996. It notes, in particular, that the maximum daily driving time for road transport drivers is nine hours in general, but can be extended to ten hours twice a week while the maximum driving time in two consecutive weeks may not exceed 90 hours. With respect to rail transportation, the Committee notes that whereas the hours of work for railway workers in general are limited to 12 per day and 48 per week over a period of six months, employees serving passengers on board may work up to 16 hours a day and 60 hours a week and workers accompanying and storing freight trains may work up to 24 hours a day followed by a 24-hour rest. Moreover, the Committee notes that the maximum limits of working hours for inland water transport are set at 14 hours a day and 72 hours a week. Recalling that the Convention prescribes a double limit of eight hours per day and 48 hours per week, with very limited exemption possibilities, the Committee asks the Government to re-examine the appropriateness of the 16- and 24-hour daily limit for certain rail transport workers or the 72-hour weekly limit for workers in inland water transportation, which are manifestly inconsistent with the Convention, and need to be revised. The Committee notes with surprise that Government Resolution No. 587 contains a list of works for which a maximum limit of up to 24 hours per day may be established (in contrast, Government Resolution No. 248 referred to jobs where the duration of work may exceed 12 hours per 24-hour period), which is, of course, contrary to the letter and the spirit of this Convention.

Article 6, paragraph 1(b). Temporary exceptions. While noting the Government’s statement that the grounds for temporary exceptions referred to in section 151 of the Labour Code have been the subject of consultations and agreement with the social partners, the Committee once again wishes to point out that the Convention permits temporary exceptions only in exceptional cases of pressure of work and therefore the relevant provision of the Labour Code should be modified accordingly.

Article 7. List of exceptions. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that there is no legislative or regulatory text specifying the types of enterprises whose operation is deemed to be continuous within the meaning of Article 4 of the Convention. Despite the absence of a specific legal text, however, the Committee requests the Government to provide a complete list of all industrial undertakings falling within the scope of application of the Convention for which exceptions to limits on normal daily and weekly hours of work may have been put in place and transmit a copy of any relevant legal text which may not have been communicated previously.

Part VI of the report form. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue providing up to date information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, the approximate number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, labour inspection results showing the number and nature of working time-related offences observed and sanctions imposed, copies of collective agreements containing clauses on working time arrangements, etc.

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The Committee notes the Government’s last report and the information supplied in reply to its previous comments.

Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee notes that under section 148 of the Labour Code of 2002, some unspecified sectors of economic activity may, taking into consideration the seasonal nature of work and other conditions, be exempt from the provisions regulating the hours of work. The Committee requests therefore the Government to indicate whether any industrial enterprises within the meaning of Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention have so far been exempted from the provisions of the Labour Code on working time and also to indicate the working time regulations applicable to the workers concerned.

Article 2. The Committee notes that under section 144(5) of the Labour Code, the working day of persons employed in one undertaking but under two or more employment contracts may not be longer than 12 hours (including breaks to rest and eat). The Committee considers that such an arrangement may only undermine the purpose of setting a daily limit on working time and is therefore inconsistent with the basic requirement of this Article of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated to bring its legislation into full conformity with the Convention in this respect.

In addition, the Committee notes that with reference to on-call or stand-by assignment, section 155(2) of the Labour Code provides that the entire duration of being "on duty" at the enterprise and at least half of the time spent "on duty" at home must be counted as working time. The Committee recalls in this respect that, if being on duty requires the worker to be at the disposal of the employer and the worker is restricted from engaging in personal activities during that time, the time spent on duty must be considered as hours of work and should be remunerated accordingly regardless of the location in which the on-call assignment is carried out. The Committee draws attention to paragraph 51 of the 2005 General Survey on hours of work on this topic. The Committee would appreciate receiving additional explanations of the scope of on-call or stand-by as referred to in section 155(2) of the Labour Code.

Article 4. The Committee notes that section 5 of Government Resolution No. 248 of 20 February 1996 allows averaging of working time over a period of up to one year. The Committee reminds the Government that respect for daily and weekly limits on hours of work is an essential guarantee to safeguard workers’ health and welfare, and therefore the reference period for the purpose of averaging working time should not be unreasonably long.

Articles 2 and 5. The Committee notes that section 10 of Government Resolution No. 248 of 1996 sets limits not on the hours of work but on driving time for those working in road transportation. However, section 8 of the Resolution defines working time as including driving time as well as time spent on other non-driving tasks. Therefore, the actual working time remains unregulated by the Resolution. Recalling that working time is time during which the employee is at the disposal of the employer, the Committee requests the Government to take appropriate action to bring its legislation into conformity with the maximum working time limits prescribed by these Articles of the Convention.

As regards rail transportation, the Committee notes that section 16 of Government Resolution No. 248 allows employees who service train passengers to work up to 18 hours per 24-hour period and up to 60 hours per week. Section 16 further provides that the period of rest per 24-hour period must account for at least 50 per cent of their working time. The Committee requests the Government to specify how working time is calculated for workers in rail transportation and to indicate the actual hours of work these workers are allowed to perform per day or week. While recalling that the Convention only allows work up to 48 hours per week on average, the Committee asks the Government to clarify how could the above provisions be construed as being in line with the requirements of the Convention.

Article 6, paragraph 1(b). The Committee notes section 151 of the Labour Code which permits overtime, among other cases, in the case of: (i) work performed in the place of another shift worker who failed to arrive at the workstation, if the working process may be impeded because of this absence; and (ii) work related to loading and unloading and other related transportation work, when it is necessary to vacate warehouses of transportation enterprises and in order to avoid the accumulation of freight in dispatch and designation points and idle vehicle time. The Committee considers, however, that the above circumstances go beyond the wording of the Convention which only authorizes temporary exceptions in exceptional cases of pressure of work. It therefore requests the Government to consider appropriate modifications in order to bring the relevant provisions of the Labour Code into closer conformity with the temporary exception possibilities set out in this Article of the Convention.

Article 7. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply in its next report detailed information on: (i) the enterprises which are deemed to be necessarily continuous in character; (ii) the working of any agreements falling within the meaning of Article 5 of the Convention; and (iii) the regulations on permanent and temporary exceptions, as required under this Article of the Convention.

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The Committee notes the Government's last report and the information provided in reply to its previous comments on the legislative provisions which give effect to Articles 2 and 6 of the Convention. In this respect, the Committee wishes to draw the Government's attention to the abuses which may result from the strict application of section 44 of the Labour Code. This section envisages the possibility of having recourse to an irregular arrangement of daily working hours calculated as an average on an annual basis in certain branches of activity which require the irregular arrangement of working hours due to the nature of the work or technical reasons and subject to an authorization by the labour inspectorate. This arrangement of working hours is only limited by the obligation to restrict weekly working hours to a maximum of 60 hours. On this point, the Committee recalls that, although Article 2(b) of the Convention does indeed provide for the possibility of having recourse to an irregular arrangement of normal working hours, the daily limit of the eight hours may not be exceeded by more than one hour. The Committee hopes that the Government will take into account the above comments in order to envisage the necessary change in the national legislation.

Furthermore, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide, in so far as possible, the information requested under Parts III, V and VI of the report form, which are useful for it to assess the manner in which effect is given in practice to the provisions of the Convention.

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The Committee notes the information in the Government's report. It requests the Government to furnish further information on the following points:

Article 2(b) of the Convention. Do cases exist in which hours of work on one or more days of the week are less than eight and the limit of eight hours is exceeded on the remaining days of the week? Please indicate the pertinent legal provisions covering such workers.

Article 6. Please provide information concerning hours of work for workers whose work is essentially intermittent.

The Committee notes that the Government has no possibilities yet to give detailed information due to the lack of relevant labour statistics and because the state labour inspection has not yet been established. It hopes that the Government will be in a position to supply such information in its next report, in particular concerning the following points:

Part III of the report form. Please supply the information required under Article 7 (points (a) and (c)), as well as under Parts V and VI concerning practical application of the Convention.