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Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948 (No. 89) - Montenegro (RATIFICATION: 2006)

Article 3 of the Convention. Prohibition of night work of women. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its first detailed report, in particular, the adoption of the Labour Law of 8 July 2003 (Official Gazette No. 43/03). More concretely, the Committee notes that the Labour Law contains no general prohibition against women’s night work except for pregnant women and nursing mothers of children under the age of 3 years (section 81(1)) even though employed women with children older than 2 years may still be assigned to night work with their written consent (section 81(2)). In addition, the Labour Law provides that women may not be assigned to night work in the industrial or the construction sector unless they have previously exercised the right to a minimum of 12 hours of daily recess (section 76(1)). The Committee is therefore bound to conclude that under the present circumstances the Convention is practically without object and is no longer implemented in either law or practice.

The Committee takes this opportunity to draw the Government’s attention to paragraphs 191–202 of the General Survey of 2001 on the night work of women in industry in which the Committee referring to the present-day relevance of the ILO instruments on women’s night work concluded that there can be no doubt that the present trend is clearly in favour of lifting all restrictions on women’s night work and formulating gender-sensitive night work regulations offering safety and health protection to both men and women. 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 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (to which parenthetically Montenegro is a party since October 2006), as later 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 that the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), was drafted for those countries which would be prepared to eliminate all women-specific restrictions on night work (except for those aimed at protecting women’s reproductive and infant nursing roles) while seeking to improve the working and living conditions of all night workers.

Considering, therefore, that effect is no longer given to the Convention in either law or practice, and also recalling the need for an appropriate legal framework addressing the problems and hazards of night work in general, the Committee invites the Government to give favourable consideration to the ratification of the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), which shifts the emphasis from a specific category of workers and sector of economic activity to the safety and health protection of night workers irrespective of gender in nearly all branches and occupations. As regards Convention No. 89, the Committee recalls that it may be denounced every ten years and will again be open to denunciation for a period of one year as from 27 February 2011. The Committee accordingly asks the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision which might be taken, in full consultation with its social partners, concerning the termination of its obligations arising out of Convention No. 89 and the possible ratification of Convention No. 171.