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Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14) - Anguilla

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Articles 2 and 4 of the Convention. Weekly rest entitlement. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report, in particular on the relevant provisions of the new Labour (Relations) Act of 2018 (2018 LRA) implementing the Convention, as well as the Public Holidays Act which provides that Sunday is observed as a common law holiday in Anguilla. The Committee notes that section 30(2) of the 2018 LRA provides that employers shall permit their employees to enjoy in every period of seven consecutive days, a period of rest comprising at least 24 consecutive hours or an employer shall not employ a person in excess of 12 hours in a period of 24 hours, or in excess of 72 hours in a period of 168 hours. The Committee notes that by providing an alternative between the obligation to ensure a period of rest comprising at least 24 consecutive hours in every period of seven consecutive days and other working time arrangements based on limits to hours of work, this provision allows possible permanent exceptions to the principle set in the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which section 30(2) of the 2018 LRA is applied in practice, particularly on the cases in which employers have used the alternatives provided for in that section instead of granting a period of rest comprising at least 24 consecutive hours in every period of seven consecutive days.

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Articles 2(3), 5 and 7 of the Convention. Weekly rest. The Committee recalls that the Fair Labour Standards Act does not regulate the workers’ entitlement to weekly rest in sufficient detail and therefore gives only partial effect to the requirements of the Convention. In its latest report, the Government indicates that no problems are encountered in the practical application of the relevant legislation. It also indicates that a new draft Labour Code is under preparation with ILO technical assistance and that the gaps with regard to this Convention have been addressed. The Committee trusts that in the context of the ongoing law reform process the Government will take steps to ensure that the following requirements of the Convention are appropriately reflected: (i) the day of weekly rest is fixed, wherever possible, so as to coincide with the day already established by tradition or custom (Article 2(3)); (ii) compensatory rest is granted, as far as possible, to any person who is required to work on a weekly rest day (Article 5); (iii) workers are kept informed of the weekly rest schedule applicable to them by appropriate means, such as posting of notices or rosters (Article 7).

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The Committee notes that for many years the Government has been indicating that there have been no legislative changes or other major developments to be reported and that the Convention applies without difficulty. The Committee would appreciate if the Government would clarify in its next report how it is giving effect in law and in practice to the following requirements of the Convention: (i) that the day of weekly rest be fixed, wherever possible, so as to coincide with the day already established by tradition or custom, that is Sunday in the case of Anguilla (Article 2(3)); (ii) that compensatory rest be granted, as far as possible, to any person who may be requested to perform work on a weekly rest day (Article 5); (iii) that workers be kept informed of the weekly rest schedule applicable to them by means of notices or rosters (Article 7).

Moreover, the Committee recalls that a draft Labour Code had been prepared in 2003, section 47(1) of which essentially reproduced the provisions of the Fair Labour Standards Ordinance, 1988, on weekly rest. The Committee requests the Government to provide up to date information on any progress made with respect to the finalization and adoption of the Labour Code.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply general information on the application of the Convention in practice, including for instance statistics on the number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, copies of collective agreements containing clauses on weekly rest, extracts from reports of the labour inspection services showing the number of any infringements observed and sanctions imposed, etc.

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, paragraphs 17–18). The Committee accordingly invites the Government to contemplate ratifying Convention No. 106 – especially since the relevant legislation is of general application and covers equally industry and commerce – and to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this respect.

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The Committee asks the Government to forward a copy of the Fair Labour Standards Ordinance 1988 Part IV and the Fair Labour Standards (Amendment) Ordinance 1990, referred to in the report.