Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

For several years, the Committee has expressed regret that sections 73 and 74 of the Labour Code contravene Articles 1, 3 and 8 of the Convention. Specifically, section 73 authorizes employers to refuse leave during one year in certain cases, and section 74 permits workers to postpone leave for three consecutive years so as to accumulate it in the fourth year. The Committee once again recalls that, under the terms of the Convention, workers employed in agricultural undertakings and related occupations must be granted an annual holiday with pay (Article 1) whose minimum duration must be determined in a manner approved by the competent authority (Article 3), and that any agreement to relinquish the right to an annual holiday with pay, or to forego such a holiday, must be void (Article 8). The Committee refers to its General Survey of the Convention in 1964 and recalls that a certain minimum part of the annual holiday must be granted each year, even where postponement of annual leave is permitted (paragraphs 177 to 181). Any other approach would be contrary not only to the fundamental provisions of the Convention but to the spirit in which it was conceived.

The Committee notes with regret that the Government's last report does not contain any new element with regard to bringing national legislation and practice into conformity with the provisions of the Convention. It urges the Government to take the necessary measures to that end as soon as possible.