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Holidays with Pay Convention (Revised), 1970 (No. 132) - Iraq (RATIFICATION: 1974)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no reply to previous comments. It must therefore repeat its previous observation which reads as follows:

1.  The Committee has taken note of the Government’s last report and of the information given in it in answer to its previous observation. It notes with regret that the Government once again confines itself to repeating the information provided in earlier reports. The Committee trusts that the Government will provide fuller and more detailed information in its next report on the following points on which the Committee has commented for many years.

2.  With regard to the need to bring Act No. 24 of 1960 concerning the public service into conformity with the provisions of the Convention:

(a)  Article 2, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the Convention.  The Committee notes that the Government did not indicate in its first report whether it intended to avail itself of the possibility provided under paragraph 2 of the Convention of excluding public service employees from the application of the Convention. The Committee also notes that the Government has for a number of years simply stated, without providing any other information, that in the view of the competent authority (the Ministry of Finance), the Convention is not applicable to officials in the public service covered by the provisions of Act No. 24 of 1960. In this regard, the Committee recalls that the possibility of excluding from the application of the Convention limited categories of employed persons carries with it, under the terms of paragraph 3, an obligation to specify the extent to which effect has been given or is proposed to be given to the Convention in respect of such categories. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate how it proposes to apply this provision of the Convention.

(b)  Article 9, paragraph 1.  The Committee notes that sections 43(3) and 48(3) of Act No. 24 of 1960 allow officials to accumulate up to 180 days of leave, and other public servants 100 days of leave. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that, under the terms of this Article of the Convention, a part of the holiday consisting of at least two uninterrupted working weeks must be taken no later than one year, and the rest of the holiday no later than 18 months, from the end of the year in which the holiday entitlement arises.

(c)  Article 11.  The Committee notes that, upon termination of the employment relationship following dismissal or resignation (sections 45(1) and 49 of Act No. 24 of 1960), officials do not appear to have any paid leave entitlement proportional to their length of service or any entitlement to financial compensation. The Committee notes that the same principle applies to school employees who terminate their service during the first half of the school year (section 48(10) of Act No. 24 of 1960). The Committee wishes to recall that, under the terms of the present Article of the Convention, any employed person who has completed a minimum period of service should, on termination for any reason, receive a holiday with pay proportional to the length of service for which he or she has not received such a holiday, or compensation in lieu thereof, or the equivalent holiday credit.

3.  With regard to the need to bring the leave provisions contained in the Labour Code (Act No. 71 of 1987) into conformity with the Convention:

(a)  Article 6, paragraph 1.  There appear to be no national laws or regulations giving effect to this provision of the Convention, under which public and customary holidays are not counted as part of the three weeks’ annual holiday with pay prescribed in Article 3, paragraph 3. In this respect, the Government has indicated that, in the absence of a relevant provision in the Labour Code, section 150 of the Code provides that the provisions of other laws and of ratified Arab and international labour Conventions shall apply. The Committee wishes to call the Government’s attention to the fact that the provisions of the Convention are not self-executing. It would therefore be better to bring national legislation explicitly into harmony with the provisions of the Convention in order to avoid any uncertainty regarding the state of the law.

(b)  Article 8, paragraph 2.  The Committee notes that, under the terms of article 69(2) of the Labour Code, only six continuous days of leave must be taken at one time when the leave has been divided. The Committee recalls that, under Article 8, paragraph 2, when the annual holiday with pay is broken into parts, one of the parts must consist of a minimum of two uninterrupted working weeks, unless otherwise provided in an agreement between the employer and the employee.

(c)  Article 9, paragraph 1.  The Committee notes that, in the event of the deferral of a part of the holiday under the conditions set out in section 73(3) of the Labour Code, the worker is entitled to compensation. In this respect, the Committee reiterates that this provision is not in conformity with Article 9, paragraph 1, of the Convention, according to which the remainder of the holiday should be granted and taken no later than 18 months from the end of the year in which the holiday entitlement arises.

4.  The Committee trusts that the Government will take the necessary measures in the near future to bring all its legislation into conformity with the fundamental provisions of the Convention and asks the Government to keep the ILO informed of any relevant developments.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.