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Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948 (No. 89) - North Macedonia (Ratification: 1991)

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Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Duration of compulsory night rest and exceptions to the prohibition of night work for women. In its previous comment, the Committee drew the Government’s attention to the fact that the Labour Relations Law of 2005 is not fully consistent with the general prohibition against women’s night work set out in Article 3 of the Convention and the definition of the term “night” as a period of at least 11 consecutive hours laid down in Article 2 of the Convention. At the same time, the Committee recalled the need for all member States to progressively eliminate any provisions contrary to the principles of non-discrimination in employment and occupation and equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women, except those connected with maternity protection, and to consider the ratification of the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), which seeks to improve the quality of the working life of all night workers, both men and women, in all branches and occupations. In its latest report, the Government indicates that the ratification of Convention No. 171 will be considered once detailed research and consultations have been carried out to determine whether unrestricted access to night work presents a genuine employment opportunity for women or simply an additional risk of exploitation. The Government adds that it has undertaken the harmonization of the national legislation with EU legislation, including the Working Time Directive 2003/88, and in this context it finds it difficult to accommodate the requirements of the Convention with relevant EU standards. The Committee observes, in this regard, that the Convention has been widely criticized as being contrary to the overriding principle of gender equality and restricting the individual worker’s freedom of choice on working time solely on the basis of sex and, for this reason, it has been denounced by all those EU Member States, except one, who were previously bound by that instrument. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged concerning the ratification of Convention No. 171 and the eventual denunciation of Convention No. 89.

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

Article 2 of the Convention. Duration of compulsory night rest and exceptions to the prohibition of night work of women. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its first detailed report, in particular, the adoption of the Labour Relations Law of 22 July 2005 (Official Gazette No. 62/2005). More concretely, the Committee notes that, under section 131(1) of the Labour Relations Law, female employees in the fields of industry and construction are not allowed to perform night work during a period of seven hours between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. the following day. This provision is inconsistent with Article 2 of the Convention which requires a period of night rest of at least 11 consecutive hours, including an interval of at least seven consecutive hours falling between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.. In addition, section 131(4) of the Labour Relations Law provides that female employees may be assigned to night work “when is required by especially serious economic, social and similar circumstances” on condition that the employer has obtained the prior authorization of the Ministry of Labour. The Committee considers that this provision is also incompatible with the Convention since it goes beyond the exemption possibilities provided for in Article 4 (force majeure and preservation of raw materials), Article 5 (serious emergency such as threat to national security) and Article 8 (women holding managerial positions or employed in health and welfare services). The Committee requests the Government to take appropriate action in order to bring its legislation into conformity with the Convention with respect to the duration of the compulsory night rest for women and authorized exceptions from the general prohibition of night work for women.

Moreover, the Committee takes this opportunity to draw the Government’s attention to paragraphs 191–202 of the General Survey of 2001 on the night work of women in industry in which the Committee referring to the present-day relevance of the ILO instruments on women’s night work concluded that there can be no doubt that the current trend is clearly in favour of lifting all restrictions on women’s night work and formulating gender-sensitive night work regulations offering safety and health protection to both men and women. It also noted that many countries are in the process of easing or eliminating legal restrictions on women’s employment during the night with the aim of improving women’s opportunities in employment and strengthening non-discrimination. The Committee further recalled that member States are under an obligation to review periodically their protective legislation in light of scientific and technological knowledge with a view to revising all gender-specific provisions and discriminatory constraints. This obligation stems from Article 11(3) of the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (to which parenthetically The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is a party since January 1994), as later reaffirmed in point 5(b) of the 1985 ILO resolution on equal opportunities and equal treatment for men and women in employment.

More concretely, 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. In contrast, the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), was drafted for those countries which would be prepared to eliminate all women-specific restrictions on night work (except for those aimed at protecting women’s reproductive and infant nursing roles) while seeking to improve the working and living conditions of all night workers.

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 ratifying the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), which applies to all night workers in all branches and occupations. It requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.

Finally, the Committee would be grateful to the Government for providing, in accordance with Part V of the report form, up to date information concerning the practical application of the Convention, especially as regards the application of the exceptions allowed under the provisions of the Convention.