Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2004, publiée 93ème session CIT (2005)

The Committee notes the amendment of the Labour Code (Act No. 65/1965, as amended by Act No. 312/2002). It also notes the observations made by the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (ČMKOS), received through the Government, on the national regulations on standby time, on which it expresses concern.

Article 2 of the Convention. Standby arrangements. According to section 83(5) of the Labour Code, "standby" shall mean the time during which an employee is in a state of readiness to carry out work covered by an employment contract but which, in the event of urgent need, must be carried out in addition to his/her scheduled work. Section 95(4) stipulates, however, that when no work is done during a period of standby, it shall not be counted as working time. Section 95(2) further stipulates that an agreement may be made for standby up to a maximum of 400 hours per calendar year. The remuneration for standby when no work is done, according to the Act on Wages, Remuneration for Standby and Average Earnings (Act No. 1/1992, as amended by Act No. 217/2000), is 10-20 per cent of the average wage, unless otherwise agreed through collective bargaining agreement or an employment contract.

The Committee directs the Government to its General Survey of 2005, concerning Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1), and the Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30), in particular, to the discussion on "on-call time" in paragraphs 48-51. In light of this, the Government is requested to indicate how it ensures that the time spent on standby is in line with the provisions contained in the Convention. It also requests the Government to provide judicial decisions, if any, on the subject of "on-call time" as well as any other information on how section 83(5) of the Labour Code is applied in practice.

Article 5. Averaging of working time. Section 85(1) of the Labour Code regulates the averaging of working time for a period of up to one year if the nature of the work or the operating conditions do not allow working time to be scheduled evenly over individual weeks. This may not only be done after consulting the competent trade union over a period agreed in the collective bargaining agreements but also after discussion with the individual employee.

The Committee points out that exceptions to the general working time as a general rule should not be left to the decision of the individual employer, even with the agreement of the worker. Other than the exceptions to the general working time in cases of accidents, urgent work or "force majeure" (Article 3) and continuous processes (Article 4), permanent and temporary exceptions to the general working time always require government participation, in order to safeguard workers’ interests and to ensure that daily or weekly limits of working hours do not jeopardize the health of the workers and leave sufficient room for their social activities. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the exceptions made under section 85 of the Labour Code and to indicate how it ensures that all exceptions to the ordinary working hours, as enshrined in Article 2, are in line with the requirements of the Convention.