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Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106) - Montenegro (Ratification: 2006)

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Replies received to the issues raised in a direct request which do not give rise to further comments (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government, which answers the points raised in its previous direct request and has no further matters to raise in this regard.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Articles 6 and 7 of the Convention. Special weekly rest schemes. The Committee notes the latest amendments that were introduced to the Labour Law in 2011 (Official Gazette No. 59/2011 of 14 December 2011). The Committee notes that under section 62 of the Labour Law, in case an employee has to work during his weekly recess, the employer must allow him a rest period comprising not less than 24 successive hours during the following week. The Committee notes, in this regard, that section 54(1) provides for the possibility of rescheduling working hours – which might possibly result in applying special weekly rest schemes – whenever required by the nature of the activity, work organization, the need for better usage of assets, more rational distribution of working hours and performance of certain activities within defined time limits. The Committee wishes to recall, in this respect, that the circumstances enumerated in section 54(1) go beyond the well-defined circumstances for specified categories of persons or specified types of establishments justifying recourse to special weekly rest schemes in accordance with Article 7(1) of the Convention. Moreover, the Committee notes that according to section 53(1), the decision on the rescheduling of working hours may be taken by the employer whereas Article 7(4) of the Convention requires any exceptions to be authorized in consultation with the representative employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to give full effect to Article 7(1) and (4) of the Convention.

Article 8. Temporary exemptions. The Committee notes that section 50(1) of the Labour Law enumerates specific cases where an employee may be required to work overtime. The Committee also notes that section 49(1) provides that an employee may work overtime in case of an unexpected increased workload that cannot be completed through adequate organization of work or work schedule. The Committee recalls, in this respect, that Article 8(1) of the Convention only authorizes temporary exemptions to weekly rest in the circumstances enumerated exhaustively, i.e. (i) in case of accident, actual or threatened, force majeure or urgent work to premises and equipment, but only so far as may be necessary to avoid serious interference with the ordinary working of the establishment; (ii) in the event of abnormal pressure of work due to special circumstances, in so far as the employer cannot ordinarily be expected to resort to other measures; and (iii) in order to prevent the loss of perishable goods. Noting that the circumstances under which overtime is authorized under section 49(1) of the Labour Law, this may have an impact on the workers’ entitlement to weekly rest, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that any temporary exemptions to the normal 24-hour weekly rest period remains limited to the conditions set out in Article 8(1) of the Convention.

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

The Committee notes the Government’s first detailed report on the application of the Convention and wishes to draw its attention on the following points.

Article 7 of the Convention. Special weekly rest schemes. The Committee notes that section 47(1) of the Labour Law of 8 July 2003 (Official Gazette No. 43/03) seems to provide for the possibility of setting up special weekly rest schemes, due to the nature of the activity, the organization of the work or the need for more efficient use of assets and more rational distribution of work hours, provided that the workers who are required to work on the day of their weekly recess are granted another day of leave during the following week. The Government indicates that such schemes currently apply to the trade sector, catering, tourism and the construction industry. In this connection, the Committee recalls that the Convention authorizes the introduction of special schemes on an exceptional basis and only when specific conditions, such as the nature of the work or service, the size of the population or the number of persons employed, render impossible the application of the normal weekly rest scheme. It therefore requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged in order to determine the categories of persons or enterprises which may be subject to a special weekly rest scheme while ensuring that the cases justifying recourse to special schemes are limited to the cases provided for by Article 7(1) of the Convention.

Article 8. Temporary exemptions. The Committee notes that sections 42 and 43 of the Labour Law enumerate cases (for instance unexpected pressure of work, natural disaster, epidemics, accident, large-scale pollution, etc.) in which workers may be required to perform overtime work and consequently their weekly rest entitlement might be temporarily affected. The Committee also notes that section 52 of the Labour Law provides that, if an employee works beyond the regular working hours during a certain period in the calendar year and on short‑time basis for the remaining period, his/her weekly rest entitlement may be defined in another way and in another period. Recalling that the Convention only authorizes temporary exemptions to weekly rest in a limited number of cases which do not include the variable distribution of working hours in a calendar year, the Committee requests the Government to provide additional explanations on the practical implementation of this provision.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide up to date information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, statistics on the number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, labour inspection results showing the number of violations of the weekly rest rules observed and penalties imposed, copies of collective agreements containing provisions on weekly rest schemes, etc.