Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Article 2 of the Convention. Exemption of persons holding managerial positions. The Committee notes the Government’s explanation that section 107(2) in the General Labour Act No. 2/00 of 11 February 2000 seeks to exempt from working time rules, persons performing responsible and confidential functions or holding positions of trust and control, and therefore the exclusion clause of Article 2(a) of the Convention applies.

Article 5. Standby and alternating working-time arrangements. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that, under the standby arrangements provided for in section 120(2) of the General Labour Act, workers still receive pay for the time spent on standby. As regards alternating working-time arrangements (i.e. four continuous working weeks followed by an equal period of rest) provided for in section 121(1) of the General Labour Act, the Committee is bound to observe that such arrangements are incompatible with the requirements of the Convention. It recalls that the Convention lays down a double limit of daily and weekly hours of work which may be exceeded only in limited and well-circumscribed circumstances. It refers, in this connection, to paragraph 57 of the General Survey of 2005 on hours of work in which it pointed out that the limitations on normal working hours laid down in the Convention should be viewed as strict maximum limits which are not liable to variation or waiver at the free will of the parties. The Committee therefore requests the Government to amend the provisions of the General Labour Act concerning alternating working-time arrangements in order to bring them into line with the Convention.

Article 6, paragraph 1(b). Temporary exceptions. While noting the Government’s statement that work schedules are subject to the approval of the general labour inspectorate, the Committee observes that section 102 of the General Labour Act, which permits overtime in case of imperative needs of production or services, goes beyond the scope of temporary exceptions that may be allowed under this Article of the Convention. The Committee therefore requests the Government to consider appropriate amendments to bring the General Labour Act into full conformity with the Convention on this point.

Article 7. List of exceptions. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to section 20(2) of the Strike Act enumerating the establishments that are required to provide uninterrupted services and thus ensure a minimum service in the event of strike action. The Committee observes in this regard that the establishments concerned do not necessarily operate under exceptional working-time arrangements, such as those provided for in Articles 4, 5 and 6 of the Convention, simply because they provide essential services (the nature of the services provided by these undertakings may have some bearing on the right to strike of their employees but is not strictly relevant to the organization of the working time). The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide, in accordance with Article 7 of the Convention: (i) a list of all industrial enterprises which may exceed the weekly 48-hour limit within a maximum of 56 hours on the average by reason of the continuous nature of the process (Article 4); (ii) full particulars on any agreements on extended daily limits of work over a certain number of weeks due to exceptional circumstances (Article 5); and (iii) detailed information on any regulations authorizing permanent or temporary exceptions from the standard hours of work on specific grounds (Article 6).

Article 8(2). Sanctions. While noting the Government’s statement that it is an offence to employ workers beyond the authorized maximum number of working hours, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the legal provisions which prescribe specific sanctions for failure to comply with the national legislation on working time.

Part VI of the report form. Noting that the Government has not provided general information on the practical application of the Convention for a number of years, the Committee requests the Government to supply together with its next report up to date information, including, for instance, statistics – if possible broken down by occupational category and gender – on the number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, extracts from reports of the labour inspection services showing the number of contraventions of the working-time rules and sanctions imposed, copies of official documents or reports addressing working-time issues or any difficulties encountered in the implementation of the Convention, etc.