Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2009, publiée 99ème session CIT (2010)

Articles 7 and 8 of the Convention. Permanent and temporary exemptions. Further to its numerous comments concerning section 152 of the Labour Code – which does not give full effect to the provisions of the Convention regarding exemptions relating to weekly rest – the Committee notes the Government’s statement that in the case of trading establishments required to constantly provide their services to the public, the competent authorities recommend that enterprises increase their workforce and introduce a system of rotation so that all workers can enjoy a weekly rest day, since Sunday is no longer considered as the sole day of rest. It also notes that workers who are subjected to any infringement have the possibility, through implementing regulations, of reporting it to the labour inspection services. The Committee also notes that the Government has formally requested technical assistance from the ILO Subregional Office in San José in order to designate a specialist for the drawing up of draft legislation which would enable the national legislation to be harmonized with the practice and provisions of the Convention regarding exemptions relating to weekly rest.

In this regard, the Committee recalls that the Convention is based on three basic principles, namely: regularity (a rest period of 24 hours in each seven-day period), continuity (a rest period of at least 24 consecutive hours) and uniformity (the same rest day, in principle, for everyone). It stresses that the Convention only authorizes exemptions in exhaustively-listed circumstances, which are clearly regulated by the competent authority and which do not allow the relinquishment of weekly rest or an agreement between employer and employee to forgo such rest. However, the situation that the Government describes in its report suggests an increasing relaxation of the rules concerning weekly rest which is not in line with the three principles mentioned above. The Committee hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to report on progress in this area and requests it to send copies to the Office of any legislative texts adopted in connection with section 152 of the Labour Code and the exemptions relating to weekly rest granted to workers.