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Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948 (No. 89) - Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ratification: 1960)

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Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. General prohibition against women’s night work in industrial undertakings. Further to its previous comment, the Committee welcomes the Government indication in its report that section 125 of the Labour Code was amended by Act No. 16/010 of 15 July 2016 amending and supplementing Act No. 015-2002 of 16 October 2002 establishing the Labour Code, to the effect that women are no longer prohibited from working at night in public or private industrial establishments. The Government also indicates that the decree establishing women’s working conditions and defining, inter alia, the nature of the work that they are prohibited from performing under section 128 of the Labour Code has not yet been adopted by the National Labour Council, but that it will be supplied once it has been signed. Recalling that pregnant and breastfeeding women may be particularly vulnerable to night work (see the 2018 General Survey concerning working-time instruments, para. 545), the Committee requests the Government to supply information on the measures taken or envisaged, including any decree adopted under section 128 of the Labour Code, to protect women who work at night, particularly in relation to maternity. Recalling that the Convention will be open for denunciation between 27 February 2031 and 27 February 2032, the Committee encourages the Government to consider its denunciation at that time.

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

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. General prohibition against women’s night work in industrial undertakings. The Committee notes that the Labour Code (Act No. 015/2002 of 16 October 2002) continues to give effect to the basic requirement of the Convention with the exception of section 125 which defines the term “night” as the period of ten hours between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. whereas Article 2 of the Convention requires a period 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 this connection, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the fact that member States are increasingly required to initiate a review process of their protective legislation aiming at the gradual elimination of any provisions contrary to the principle of equal treatment between men and women, except those connected with maternity protection, and with due account being taken of national circumstances. This trend reflects also the growing expectation that the same standards of protection should apply to men and women alike in accordance with the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), and also the widely ratified UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Under the circumstances, the Committee invites the Government to review gender-specific prohibitions or restrictions to night work and to modernize its legislation, in consultation with the social partners, and in particular with women workers, and accordingly encourages the Government to consider the ratification of the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), which seeks to improve the quality of working life of all night workers, both men and women, in all branches and occupations. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged with regard to the possible ratification of Convention No. 171.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Prohibition of night work by women. The Committee notes the adoption of Act No. 015/2002 of 16 October 2002 issuing the Labour Code, and particularly section 125, which prohibits women from working at night in public or private industrial establishments. It also notes that, in accordance with the same section of the Code, the term “night” signifies the period between 7 p.m. in the evening and 5 a.m. in the morning, which represents ten hours. However, the Convention requires a period of at least 11 consecutive hours, including an interval prescribed by the competent authority of at least seven consecutive hours falling between 10 p.m. in the evening and 7 a.m. in the morning. Moreover, the Committee notes that a decree envisaged in section 128 of the Labour Code is to determine the exceptions which may be granted to the prohibition of night work by women, but that the decree has not yet been adopted. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in future reports any further measures adopted to bring the legislation into conformity with the provisions of the Convention.

In more general terms, the Committee refers 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 blanket prohibition against women’s night work and to give the social partners the responsibility for determining the extent of the permitted exemptions. 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 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, to which the Democratic Republic of the Congo became a party in 1986, as 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 the Protocol of 1990 to Convention No. 89 was designed as a tool for the 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 which are still bound by the provisions of Convention No. 89, and which are not yet ready to ratify the new Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), to realize the advantages of bringing their legislation into line with the provisions of the Protocol. The Committee therefore 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 women workers.