Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) - Kuwait (Ratification: 1961)

Other comments on C001

Observation

Direct Request

2013

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Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee notes with interest that following the adoption of the new Labour Law No. 6 of 2010 on work in the private sector, which repeals Law No. 38 of 1964, casual workers engaged in seasonal work not exceeding six months and owners of non mechanical enterprises employing fewer than five workers are now covered by the provisions on working time. It notes, however, that under section 5 of Labour Law No. 6 of 2010, these provisions do not apply to workers whose employment and working conditions are regulated by other laws. The Committee requests the Government to specify the categories of workers who are exempted from the application of the new Private Sector Labour Law No. 6 of 2010, and to provide a copy of the legal provisions regulating the working hours of those workers.

Article 6(1)(b). Temporary exceptions. The Committee notes that section 66 of the Private Sector Labour Law No. 6 of 2010, which essentially reproduces section 34 of the previous Labour Law No. 38 of 1964, provides that employees may be requested to perform overtime if this is necessary for avoiding a certain loss or completing such work exceeding the daily required work. The Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the fact that Article 6(1)(b) of the Convention permits the introduction of temporary exceptions to the normal hours of work only when industrial establishments need to deal with exceptional cases of pressure of work, whereas section 66 of the new Private Sector Labour Law does not seem to limit recourse to additional hours to exceptional situations. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures in order to bring the national legislation into full conformity with the requirements of Article 6(1)(b) of the Convention and to keep the Office informed of any further developments in this matter.

Article 6(2). Limit on the number of additional hours. The Committee notes that under section 66 of the Private Sector Labour Law No. 6 of 2010, additional hours are permitted up to a maximum of 180 hours per year. Furthermore, the Committee notes once again that sections 3 and 4 of Ministerial Order No. 34/77 concerning overtime in the public sector do not specify the maximum number of additional hours that may be authorized in the case of temporary exceptions to the normal hours of work. In this regard, the Committee wishes to refer to paragraph 144 of its 2005 General Survey on hours of work in which it noted that even though the establishment of specific limits to the total number of additional hours is left to the competent authorities, this does not mean that such authorities have unlimited discretion in this regard. Such limits must be reasonable and they must be prescribed in line with the general goal of the Convention, namely to establish the eight-hour day and 48-hour week as a legal standard of hours of work in order to provide protection against undue fatigue and to ensure reasonable leisure and opportunities for recreation and social life. It appears from the preparatory work that led to the adoption of Convention No. 1 that the limits considered to be permissible amounted to 150 hours per year in the case of temporary exceptions. In light of the preceding observations, the Committee hopes that the Government will take without further delay all necessary measures in order to establish a reasonable limit on the number of authorized additional hours in case of temporary exceptions both in the private and the public sectors and to keep the Office informed of any progress achieved in this respect.

Finally, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the conclusions of the ILO Tripartite Meeting of Experts on Working Time Arrangements, held in October 2011, according to which the provisions of existing ILO standards relating to daily and weekly hours of work, weekly rest, paid annual leave, part time and night work, remain relevant in the twenty-first century, and should be promoted in order to facilitate decent work. The Experts also emphasized the importance of working time, its regulation, and organization and management, to: (a) workers and their health and well-being, including opportunities for balancing working and non-work time; (b) the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises; and (c) effective responses to economic and labour market crises.