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

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Partial exceptions from the prohibition of night work. The Committee notes that following the adoption of the Finance Act 2006 which amended section 45 of the Factories Act 1934, women may henceforth work with their consent till 10 p.m. provided that the employer arranges for the transport facilities. The Committee understands that the partial lifting of the ban on women’s night work is the outcome of pressing demands particularly on the part of the IT industry. The Committee notes with interest that the relaxation of the prohibition is consonant with the current trend favouring the review of the protective legislation with a view to gradually eliminating all provisions contrary to the principle of equal treatment between men and women – except those connected with maternity protection – while taking due account of national circumstances. It is bound to observe, however, that, as it currently reads, section 45 of the Factories Act provides for broader exceptions to the prohibition of night work of women than those permitted under the Convention (the duration of the night period being shortened to eight instead of 11 hours). It is for this reason that the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to the Protocol of 1990 to Convention No. 89, which expands considerably the exemption possibilities with regard to the prohibition of night work for women based on agreements concluded between the employers’ and workers’ representatives concerned. The Committee therefore once again invites the Government to consider the possibility of ratifying either the 1990 Protocol, which affords greater flexibility in the application of Convention No. 89, while remaining focused on the protection of women workers, or Convention No. 171 which shifts the emphasis from a specific category of workers and sector of economic activity to the safety and health protection of all night workers irrespective of gender. The Committee asks the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken in this regard.

In addition, the Committee notes that the Government remains bound by the provisions of the Night Work (Women) Convention, 1919 (No. 4), and therefore action needs also to be taken in this regard. In its General Survey of 2001 on the night work of women in industry, the Committee concluded that Convention No. 4 was a rigid instrument, ill-suited to present-day realities and manifestly of historical importance only (paragraph 193). Similarly, the ILO Governing Body, based on the recommendations of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards, decided to retain Convention No. 4 as a candidate for possible abrogation considering that it no longer corresponded to current needs and had become obsolete (see GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraphs 31–32 and 38). The Committee takes this opportunity to recall that contrary to most other Conventions which may be denounced after an initial period of five or ten years but only during an interval of one year, the denunciation of Convention No. 4 is possible at any time provided that the representative organizations of employers and workers are fully consulted in advance. The Committee therefore strongly encourages the Government to take appropriate action in respect of obsolete Convention No. 4.