Preamble
The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its 78th Session on 5 June 1991, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to working conditions in hotels, restaurants and similar establishments, which is the fourth item on the agenda of the session, and
Having determined, following adoption of the Working Conditions (Hotels and Restaurants) Convention, 1991, that these proposals shall take the form of a supplementary Recommendation;
adopts this twenty-fifth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-one the following Recommendation, which may be cited as the Working Conditions (Hotels and Restaurants) Recommendation, 1991:
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
- 1. This Recommendation applies to workers, as defined in paragraph 3, employed within:
- (a) hotels and similar establishments providing lodging.
- (b) restaurants and similar establishments providing food, beverages or both.
- 2. Members may, after consulting the employers' and workers' organisations concerned, extend the application of this Recommendation to other related establishments providing tourism services.
- 3. For the purpose of this Recommendation the term the workers concerned means workers employed within establishments to which this Recommendation applies pursuant to the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, irrespective of the nature and duration of their employment relationship.
- 4.
- (1) This Recommendation may be applied by or through national laws or regulations, collective agreements, arbitration awards or judicial decisions, or in any other appropriate manner consistent with national practice.
- (2) Members should:
- (a) provide for the effective supervision of the application of measures taken in pursuance of this Recommendation through an inspection service or other appropriate means;
- (b) encourage the employers' and workers' organisations concerned to play an active part in promoting the application of the provisions of this Recommendation.
- 5. The general objective of this Recommendation is, with due respect to the autonomy of the employers' and workers' organisations concerned, to improve the working conditions of the workers concerned in order to bring them closer to those prevailing in other sectors of the economy.
II. HOURS OF WORK AND REST PERIODS
- 6. Unless otherwise determined by the methods referred to in paragraph 4(1), the term hours of work means the time during which a worker is at the disposal of the employer.
- 7.
- (1) The implementation of measures fixing normal hours of work and regulating overtime should be the subject of consultations between the employer and the workers concerned or their representatives.
- (2) The term workers' representatives means persons who are recognised as such by national law or practice, in accordance with the Workers' Representatives Convention, 1971.
- (3) Overtime work should be compensated by time off with pay, by a higher rate or rates of remuneration for the overtime worked, or by a higher rate of remuneration, as determined in accordance with national law and practice and after consultations between the employer and the workers concerned or their representatives.
- (4) Measures should be taken to ensure that working hours and overtime work are properly calculated and recorded and that each worker has access to his or her record.
- 8. Wherever practicable, split shifts should be progressively eliminated, preferably through collective bargaining.
- 9. The number and length of meal breaks should be determined in the light of the customs and traditions of each country or area and according to whether the meal is taken in the establishment itself or elsewhere.
- 10.
- (1) The workers concerned should, as far as possible, be entitled to a weekly rest of not less than 36 hours which, wherever practicable, should be an uninterrupted period.
- (2) The workers concerned should be entitled to an average daily rest period of 10 consecutive hours.
- 11. Where the length of paid annual holiday for the workers concerned is less than four weeks for one year of service, steps should be taken, through collective bargaining or other means consistent with national practice, to bring it progressively to that level.
III. TRAINING
- 12.
- (1) Each Member should, in consultation with the employers' and workers' organisations concerned, establish or, where appropriate, assist employers' and workers' organisations and other institutions in the establishment of policies and programmes of vocational education and training and of management development for the different occupations in hotels, restaurants and similar establishments.
- (2) The principal objective of training programmes should be to improve skills and the quality of job performance and enhance the career prospects of the participants.
