Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2004, Publicación: 93ª reunión CIT (2005)

Article 1 of the Convention. 1. Home work and telework. Section 22 of the Labour Code excludes from the rules on the limits on the hours of work, inter alia, workers who work at home or in a place chosen by themselves. Since the adoption of Act No. 19.759, workers who by preference perform their tasks outside the enterprise and make use of information technology or telecommunications equipment are also excluded. The Committee reminds the Government that the exceptions set out in Article 1 of the Convention are exhaustive and do not include these categories of workers. It requests the Government to indicate the measures envisaged to ensure that the hours of work of these workers do not exceed eight hours in the day and 48 hours in the week.

2. Part-time work. Furthermore, Act No. 19.759 introduced into the Labour Code rules on part-time work, defined in section 40bis as being work not exceeding two-thirds of normal working hours. Under the terms of section 40bis(C), the parties may agree on alternative schemes for the distribution of hours of work, between which the employer may then choose. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the forms that may be taken by these schemes and on the measures adopted to ensure that they comply with the weekly and daily limits on normal hours of work.

Article 6. 1. Exceptional systems. The Director of the Labour Administration may, in specific cases and with the agreement of the workers concerned, establish exceptional systems for the distribution of hours of work and rest periods by means of a decision for which reasons are given and of which the validity may not be more than four years (section 38 of the Labour Code). The Committee requests the Government to indicate the daily and weekly limits applicable in the context of these exceptional systems. The Government is also requested to provide copies of any decisions of this type adopted by the Director of the Labour Administration.

2. Work outside urban centres. Under the terms of section 39 of the Labour Code, where work is performed outside urban centres, the parties may agree that the normal hours of work shall be arranged over periods of two weeks without interruption, provided that compensatory rest days are granted for any Sundays and national holidays that are worked. The Committee recalls that the exceptions allowed by Article 6 of the Convention are limited to exceptional cases in which the daily and weekly limits on working time are recognized as being inapplicable. However, this is not necessarily the case of work performed outside urban centres as workers may have access to means of transport. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the effect given in practice to this provision and to specify whether the agreements referred to ensure compliance with the limit of 48 hours in the week for the average weekly hours of work.

Article 7, paragraphs 2 and 3, and Article 8. 1. Commercial employees. The Committee notes that section 24 of the Labour Code authorizes the employer to extend the normal hours of work of commercial employees by up to two hours in the day during the periods immediately preceding Christmas, the national holiday and other official holidays. Under the terms of Article 7, paragraph 2(d), of the Convention, such exceptions require the adoption of regulations after consultation with the workers’ and employers’ organizations concerned. These regulations have to determine the number of additional hours of work which may be allowed, not only in the day, but also in the year. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures adopted or envisaged to ensure that additional hours by commercial employees are only authorized in compliance with the above conditions.

2. Ministries and public services. Act No. 18.834 issuing the administrative regulations establishes rules on hours of work for employees of ministries and public services who are being excluded from the scope of the Labour Code under section 1. Section 60 of the Act provides that authorities empowered to do so may require the performance of additional hours in cases where the work to be undertaken cannot be postponed. The Committee requests the Government to provide examples of cases in which the administrative authorities have made use of this provision. The Government is also requested to indicate the maximum number of additional hours that may be imposed in each case.

Bill to amend the Labour Code. The Committee also notes that the Government has submitted to Parliament a Bill to amend the Labour Code with a view, inter alia, to provide greater flexibility in relation to hours of work. As indicated by the Government in Message No. 136-343, attached to its report, the Bill is designed to transfer areas of competence from the legislative authority to autonomous collective use. For example, an employer and a trade union could, subject to approval by the majority of the workers concerned, conclude an agreement for the monthly averaging of working hours, with a maximum of 186 hours of work in the month and the possibility to perform a maximum of 30 additional hours in the month. In this case, the maximum daily hours of work would be raised to 12 hours. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that such provisions could be contrary to the requirements of the Convention, and particularly Article 3. It requests the Government to provide all relevant information on the examination of this Bill by Parliament and the effects that its adoption could have on the application of the Convention.