Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2005, publiée 95ème session CIT (2006)

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

Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee notes that section 39 of the Labour Law of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, section 50 of the Labour Law of the Republika Srpska, and section 31 of the Labour Law of the Brcko district provide that, when necessary, workers may be called upon to work on the day of their weekly rest without, however, specifying the reasons for which the worker’s entitlement to weekly rest may be suspended or reduced. While noting the Government’s statement that employers’ and workers’ representatives were consulted in drafting this provision, the Committee requests the Government to clarify whether the total or partial exceptions to weekly rest are authorized having special regard to all proper humanitarian and economic considerations, as required under this Article of the Convention. In this connection, the Committee wishes to emphasize that the guarantee of a weekly rest is an essential safeguard for the health and welfare of workers and therefore any exceptions must be limited to what is strictly necessary. The Committee further notes that, in case of exceptional work on the day of weekly rest, the labour laws of all three entities provide for compensatory rest to be granted according to the time schedule agreed upon between the employer and the employee. The Committee recalls, in this regard, that workers should not be deprived of their weekly rest entitlement for unreasonably long periods. The Committee refers to paragraph 3(a) of the Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Recommendation, 1957 (No. 103), which offers some guidance in this respect and indicates that persons to whom such special schemes apply should not work for more than three weeks without receiving the rest periods to which they are entitled.

Article 7. The Committee notes that according to the Government’s report, each employer is obliged to issue an internal regulation determining the day of weekly rest in advance, to post this regulation on a visible place and to make it accessible to all workers. It requests the Government to indicate the specific provision in the labour legislation of each of the three entities that lays down the obligation of employers to keep workers duly informed of the weekly rest arrangements applicable to them.

Part V of the report form. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, any available statistics on the number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, reports on labour inspection visits and the results obtained, the number and nature of contraventions observed, etc.