Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2004, published 93rd ILC session (2005)

The Committee recalls its previous comments in which it noted that the night period provided for in section 46 of the General Labour Act is not consistent with the 11-hour minimum nightly rest required under Article 2 of the Convention, whereas section 60 of the General Labour Act refers to broader exemption possibilities than those specifically allowed by the Convention. With reference to the ongoing process of revision of the General Labour Act, the Committee notes the Government’s request for technical assistance to the work of the tripartite committee responsible for amending the Act in conformity with the suggestions of the Committee of Experts.

The Committee takes this opportunity to refer to paragraphs 191 to 202 of its 2001 General Survey on the night work of women in industry, in which it observed that the present trend is no doubt to move away from a general prohibition against women’s night work and to give the social partners the responsibility for determining the extent of the permitted exemptions. In this respect, the Committee considered that the Protocol of 1990 to Convention No. 89 was designed as a tool for smooth transition from outright prohibition to free access to night employment, especially for those States that wished to offer the possibility of night employment to women workers but felt that some institutional protection should remain in place to avoid exploitative practices and a sudden worsening of the social conditions of women workers. It also suggested that greater efforts should be made by the Office to help those constituents who are still bound by the provisions of Convention No. 89, and who are not yet ready to ratify the new Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), to realize the advantages of modernizing their legislation in line with the provisions of the Protocol. Therefore, the Committee once again invites the Government to give favourable consideration to the ratification of the 1990 Protocol which affords greater flexibility in the application of the Convention while remaining focused on the protection of female employees and requests the Government to keep it informed of any decision taken in this respect. Finally, the Committee trusts that the Government may draw on the Office’s technical cooperation and expert advice in amending its labour legislation in line with the preceding observations and expresses the firm hope that the Government will be in a position to indicate substantial progress in this regard in the very near future.