Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

The Committee notes the adoption of the new Labour Code (Act No. 23/2007 of 1 August 2007), and particularly sections 89 and 95 which are essentially the same as sections 32 and 36 of the previous Labour Code of 1998. In this respect, it wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the following points:

Article 1 of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee notes that, under the terms of section 3(1)(c) and (d) of the Labour Code, work in mines and ports is governed by specific legislation. While noting that, under the terms of section 3(2), the Labour Code applies to workers in the above sectors and sectors in which the activities require a special scheme in so far as it is compatible with their nature and characteristics, the Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the legislation relating to weekly rest applicable to workers in mines and ports and to provide a copy of any relevant text.

Persons in senior management or occupying positions of trust. The Committee notes that, by virtue of section 87(5) of the Labour Code, persons in senior management posts, positions of trust or supervisory positions, as well as those whose functions are such as to justify this scheme, are not subject to normal hours of work and accordingly may be governed by a special weekly rest scheme. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate the manner in which the weekly rest of the workers concerned is ensured.

Article 2. Duration of the weekly rest period. The Committee notes that section 95 of the Labour Code provides that all employed persons shall be entitled to a period of leave, generally granted on a Sunday, of a duration of at least 20 consecutive hours in the week. Unless this is due to a typographical error in the text available to the Committee, it recalls that Article 2 of the Convention requires a period of rest comprising at least 24 consecutive hours. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide the necessary clarifications in this respect and, in the event that the weekly rest period is in practice confined to 20 hours in the week, to indicate the measures adopted or envisaged to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention on this point.

Article 6. List of exceptions to the weekly rest scheme. The Committee notes the reference made by the Government to a list of exceptions to the weekly rest scheme in cases of the suspension or diminution of the rest period, which was not attached to the report. The Committee requests the Government to provide the list of exceptions to the weekly rest scheme with its next report.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide general information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including, for instance, extracts from the reports of the inspection services indicating the number of contraventions reported in relation to the weekly rest period, the number of workers covered by the legislation, etc.

Finally, the Committee takes this opportunity to recall that, based on the conclusions and proposals of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards, the ILO Governing Body has decided that the ratification of up to date Conventions, including the Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14), and the Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106), should be encouraged because they continue to respond to current needs (see GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraphs 17–18). The Committee accordingly invites the Government to envisage ratifying Convention No. 106 and to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.