Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 1993, publiée 80ème session CIT (1993)

1. With reference to the requests addressed directly to the Government in 1991 and 1992, the Committee notes the Government's report and the comments made by the General Union of Workers (UGT), which it transmits with the report.

2. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Government referred mainly to section 22 of the Workers' Charter, which provides for the right of workers to take certain forms of educational leave, but leaves it to collective bargaining to determine the conditions under which this right is exercised. It also noted that, according to the UGT, it was rare for collective agreements to provide for paid educational leave, and that none of them establish the right to leave for trade union purposes. The Committee requested the Government to specify the measures which have been taken to promote paid educational leave for the purposes set out in the Convention, and the terms under which such leave is granted, and to supply any statistics available on the number of beneficiaries of such leave.

3. The Government confirms in its report that section 22 of the Workers' Charter remains the principal legal basis for the granting of educational leave. It also mentions the measures which have been taken, in the context of the National Vocational Training and Integration Plan, with a view to promoting training during employment in enterprises in sectors which are undergoing restructuring or reconversion. The Government also states that the agreement for the modernization of the administration and the improvement of working conditions concluded between the administration and the trade unions on 16 November 1991 includes a series of measures through which the public administration undertakes to develop the granting to its employees of educational leave, with explicit reference to the Convention.

4. The Committee notes that the UGT reiterates its previous criticisms of a policy which, by placing emphasis on the vocational training and integration of the unemployed, omits to provide for paid educational leave as a means of training workers during employment. This trade union organization emphasizes that, in practice, the use of paid educational leave is intended to respond to the needs of enterprises rather than to pursue the educational objectives set out in Article 3 of the Convention, and that even section 22 of the Workers' Charter does not guarantee the payment of wages in the event of such leave. In reply to the UGT's comments, the Government considers that the Convention does not oblige the ratifying State to immediately establish the right of all workers to paid educational leave, but sets out its commitment to apply progressively a policy for the promotion of paid educational leave, taking into account national conditions, which only the Government is in a position to evaluate.

5. The Committee wishes to recall, as it emphasized in its 1991 General Survey, that being a party to the Convention does not imply that all the objectives set out therein are already achieved or have to be achieved immediately, but involves a commitment to implement them progressively, by methods appropriate to national conditions and practice. Article 2 of the Convention lays down the fundamental obligation to formulate and apply a policy designed to promote the granting of paid educational leave for the purposes stipulated, "by stages as necessary", and taking into account "the stage of development and the particular needs of the country and of different sectors of activity", in accordance with Article 4. It is therefore possible for the Government to concentrate first on granting paid educational leave for one of the purposes set out in the Convention or in certain sectors of activity, while promoting gradually in the longer term the granting of paid educational leave for the other purposes and in other sectors of activity.

6. The Committee notes with interest in this context the Government's commitment, as set out in the agreement between the administration and the trade unions, to develop the granting of paid educational leave to its own employees. It would be grateful if the Government would supply detailed information on the implementation of this commitment in practice, with an indication of the number of workers who have benefited from paid educational leave, and the conditions under which it was granted, the duration of the leave and the level of benefits provided. The Committee also notes the information concerning the role of collective bargaining in determining entitlement to paid educational leave. It trusts that the Government's next report will describe positive developments in this respect such as to permit the extension of the granting of paid educational leave under conditions which conform, in particular, with the provisions of Articles 1 and 11.