Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Article 3 of the Convention. General prohibition of night work for women. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to Ministerial Order No. 183 of 2003 which was issued in accordance with section 89 of the Labour Code and which determines the type of work and conditions in which employment of women is prohibited between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. According to the information provided by the Government, the Order provides that women may not be employed at any industrial undertaking, or at any of its branches, in the interval from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. (section 1), except in cases of force majeure or work necessary to protect raw materials (section 4), while its provisions do not apply to women occupying responsible positions of a managerial or technical character (section 5). As the text of Ministerial Order No. 183 of 2003 is not available to the Office, the Committee requests the Government to transmit a copy.

While noting that the national legislation appears to be in substantial conformity with the requirements of the Convention, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the fact that general protective measures for women workers, such as blanket prohibitions or restrictions – as contrasted to special measures aimed at protecting women’s reproductive and maternal capacity – are increasingly subjected to extensive criticism as obsolete and unnecessary infringements of the fundamental principle of equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women. The Committee is fully aware, however, that the specific needs of each country vary and that the universal acceptance of non-discrimination in employment and occupation as a fundamental human right may in some situations call for a phased approach. It is in this sense that the Committee concluded in paragraph 201 of its General Survey of 2001 on the night work of women in industry that “Convention No. 89, as revised by the 1990 Protocol, retains its relevance for some countries as a means of protecting those women who need protection from the harmful effects and risks of night work in certain industries, while acknowledging the need for flexible and consensual solutions to specific problems and for consistency with modern thinking and principles on maternity protection”. In light of these observations, the Committee invites the Government, in consultation with the social partners, and in particular with women workers, to consider the possibility of modernizing its legislation by ratifying either the 1990 Protocol to Convention No. 89, which opens up the possibility for women to work at night under certain well-specified conditions, or the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), which applies to all night workers in all branches and occupations. The Committee recalls that the Government may wish to seek the assistance of the Office with a view to better understanding the possibilities and implications of each of these two instruments and revising existing legislation accordingly. Recalling that the Government had indicated in its previous report that both instruments were under consideration, the Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.