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

Further to its previous comments, the Committee regrets to note that the Government has been unable to indicate any progress with respect to the specific points that the Committee has been raising for a number of years.

Article 2 of the Convention. Exclusions from the scope of application. The Committee recalls that the Convention applies to all persons to whom wages are paid or payable and that any categories of persons that the Government might propose to exclude from its scope of application should have been indicated in the first annual report following ratification. The Committee therefore considers that any use of section 112 of the Labour Act (Cap. 297), whereby the Minister would decide to exempt any category of non-manual workers from Part X of the Labour Act on the protection of wages would be inconsistent with the provisions of this Article of the Convention. Even though there has been no reliance on this section to exempt any workers, the Committee regards the very existence of a legislative provision that permits such exemption as incompatible with the Convention. It accordingly requests the Government to consider amending the Labour Act in this respect and to keep the Office informed of any steps taken to this end.

Article 4. Partial payment of wages in kind. The Committee notes that section 107(1) of the Labour Act reproduces the terms of the Convention without specifying, however, the means by which these requirements are applied in practice, in particular how it is ensured that only allowances in kind appropriate for the personal use and benefit of the worker and his/her family are permissible and also that the value attributed to such allowances is fair and reasonable. In this connection, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to
paragraphs 144–160 of the General Survey of 2003 on the protection of wages which offer some guidance as to possible ways in which legislative conformity with the Convention may be attained (e.g. general prohibition of payments in kind except for food and lodging, intervention of public officials in authorizing the type and cash value of payments in kind, or cash value of authorized goods and services fixed by law, setting an overall limit on the proportion of the wages in cash which may be replaced by benefits in kind, etc.). The Committee would appreciate if the Government would provide additional explanations in this regard.

Article 7. Works stores. While noting the Government’s indication that the regulations provided for in section 114(a) of the Labour Act for the establishment and control of commissaries or shops conducted by employers at places remote from town and villages have not so far been issued, and that in any case company stores are subject to regular labour inspection by labour officers, the Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any further developments concerning the adoption of those regulations.

Articles 8 and 10. Wage deductions and attachment of wages. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that no overall limit has as yet been set for the protection of workers’ earnings in the case of multiple wage attachments and deductions. In this connection, the Committee wishes to refer to paragraph 296 of the aforementioned General Survey in which it pointed out the importance of an overall limit beyond which wages could not be further reduced in order to protect the workers’ income. The Committee also emphasized that the net cash wage received by workers should in all cases be sufficient to ensure a decent living income for themselves and their families, and deductions or attachments should not be permitted to such an extent that would risk rendering meaningless the principle set out in Article 6 of the Convention concerning the freedom of workers to dispose of their wages. The Committee therefore requests the Government to specify the measures it intends to take in order to give full effect to these Articles of the Convention. It further asks the Government to indicate whether any action has been taken or envisaged with a view to regulating the assignment of wages in accordance with the Convention.

Article 14. Wage statements. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that despite the absence of an express legislative provision to this effect, as a matter of practice, workers are issued a pay slip or sign a register which states the particulars of the worker’s wages at the time of each payment. The Committee recalls in this respect paragraph 460 of the same General Survey in which it considered that being sufficiently informed of wage particulars, such as all the various wage components and the applicable rates, the method of calculation and compulsory deductions, is now almost as important as being paid on time and in full, and is in any event indispensable for a full understanding of the manner in which the amount of wages due is reckoned.  Indeed, the need to ensure greater transparency and protection of workers’ rights has raised the principle of keeping workers adequately informed of their wage conditions to the level of one of the fundamental requirements of the Convention. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take all appropriate measures to bring its national legislation into line with practice in so far as the issue of wage statements is concerned.