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

Article 4, paragraph 2, of the Convention. Hours of work. The Committee notes that, under the terms of section 203 of the Labour Code, the wage of workers shall be increased by 100 per cent for each hour or part of an hour worked over and above 68 hours in the week. While recalling that the Convention requires reasonable normal hours of work, as well as reasonable overtime provisions, the Committee would be grateful to be provided with further details or statistics, where available, on the number of additional hours performed on average in the hotels and restaurants sector. It also requests the Government to indicate whether there is a weekly, monthly or annual limit on the additional hours authorized, without which the workers concerned would perform hours of work that would be contrary to the spirit of the Convention.

Article 5, paragraph 3. Proportionate leave or payment of wages in lieu. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the Government has not provided any information concerning the granting of leave proportionate to the length of service or payment of wages in lieu to workers covered by a fixed-term contract or a seasonal contract. The Committee had previously noted the Government’s intention to convene the Labour Advisory Council with a view to the adoption of provisions to guarantee the workers concerned in hotels and restaurants the granting of paid annual leave, but, in its last report, the Government does not refer to any progress in this respect. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate whether the Labour Advisory Council has already examined this matter and, where appropriate, to provide a copy of any law or regulations adopted to give full effect to this provision of the Convention.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes that the hotel and restaurants sector is the second biggest source of foreign exchange and employs 45,000 people. The Committee understands that the sector is characterized by a very low unionization rate, as well as very limited coverage by collective agreements. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide further practical information on this point and provide copies of relevant collective agreements, with an indication of the number of workers covered. The Committee would also appreciate being provided with other general indications on the manner in which the Convention is applied, and particularly statistics on the number of workers and establishments covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention, extracts from the reports of the inspection services indicating the number of inspections carried out and the contraventions reported, recent studies on conditions of employment and working conditions in the sector, any problems encountered in the application of the Convention, such as the financial crisis and the high proportion of undeclared foreign workers in the sector, their consequences and the protective measures adopted to provide assistance to the workers concerned, etc.