Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and the statistical information it contains.

Article 5, paragraph 2, and Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention. The Committee notes that, according to the statistical information provided by the Government on the persons employed in hotels and restaurants in 2001, some 471,000 are classified as workers who have had no holidays and around 122,000 as unpaid workers. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information on the situation of these workers in the light of the provisions of the Convention on the right to annual leave with pay and to basic remuneration, regardless of tips. The Committee also notes section 346 of the Federal Labour Act providing that tips shall be considered to be part of workers’ wages. The Committee recalls in this respect that one of the objectives of the Convention is precisely to ensure that a system of fixed remuneration is not entirely replaced by a system of voluntary gratuities and it requests the Government to indicate whether there are cases in which tips constitute the workers’ only source of pay.

Part V of the report form. The Committee notes that the one of the functions of the Federal Labour Inspectorate is to ensure compliance with the legislation respecting the hours of work, tips and meals of workers in hotels and restaurants. In this respect the Committee requests the Government to provide statistical data on the results of the inspections carried out (violations reported, sanctions imposed, etc.) and other general information on the application of the Convention in practice, including collective agreements and minimum wage rates applicable in the sector, and any other information on working conditions in hotels and restaurants.