Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106) - Ukraine (RATIFICATION: 1968)

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The Committee notes the information provided by the Government, which answers the points raised in its previous direct request and has no further matters to raise in this regard.

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Article 8(3) of the Convention. Temporary exemptions – Compensatory rest. The Committee notes that section 71 of the Labour Code provides that working on weekends is prohibited, except in exceptional circumstances (for instance, to prevent effects of natural disasters, accidents, loss or damage to property or to perform urgent unforeseen work) and with the consent of the workers’ representatives. It also notes that section 72 provides that work performed on a weekend may be compensated, if the parties so agree, either by another day of rest or by cash payment at double the normal hourly or daily wage rate. The Government indicates, in this connection, that if an employee is required to work on a Saturday, they will still have a rest period of 24 consecutive hours, as prescribed by the Convention. The Government also indicates that due to the inadequate levels of salaries in Ukraine, employees generally prefer the extra pay for work on a weekly rest day. The Committee is bound to recall that considering the importance of weekly rest for the worker’s health and well-being, the Convention requires compensatory rest to be granted in all cases of authorized exceptions to the normal weekly rest scheme – irrespective of any monetary compensation. The Committee therefore considers that as it currently reads, section 72 of the Labour Code gives only partial effect to the requirements of this Article of the Convention. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to take appropriate action to bring the national legislation into line with the Convention on this point.

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Article 6 of the Convention. Right to weekly rest. The Committee notes the observations made by the National Forum of Trade Unions of Ukraine (NFTUU) concerning a new draft Labour Code that is expected to be examined shortly by the Parliament of Ukraine. The NFTUU refers to draft section 160 of the Code, which provides that public servants may be called on duty at any time by order of the director, and considers that this provision may deprive public servants of their right to weekly rest as no provision is made for compensatory rest. In addition, the NFTUU observes that draft section 232 of the Code provides that work performed on the day of rest may not be considered as working time in case the employee refuses to take an alternative rest day. The Committee requests the Government to provide any comments it may wish to make in response to the observations of the NFTUU and recalls that the Government may avail itself of the advisory services of the Office concerning the drafting of new legislation having due regard to relevant international labour standards.

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Article 7, paragraph 2, and Article 8, paragraph 3, of the Convention. Compensatory rest. Further to its previous comment concerning section 72 of the Labour Code, which is not fully consistent with Articles 7 and 8 of the Convention since it provides that work performed on a day of weekly rest may be compensated either by another rest day or by supplementary payment at double the normal rate, as the parties may agree, the Committee recalls that the Convention requires in all cases of permanent or temporary exemptions from the normal weekly rest scheme a compensatory rest period of a total duration at least equivalent to 24 hours. It therefore hopes that, in the ongoing process of the revision of the Labour Code, the Government will not fail to take the necessary steps in order to bring its legislation into full conformity with the requirements of the Convention in this regard.

In addition, the Committee notes that the Labour Code does not seem to regulate when the compensatory rest is to be taken or whether it should be continuous. It recalls that in the absence of specific rules in this connection, the compensatory rest risks to be unduly postponed or be divided into short periods. It is in this sense that Paragraph 3(a) of the Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Recommendation, 1957 (No. 103), provides that special weekly rest schemes must be established in such a way that it would ensure that persons to whom such schemes apply do not work for more than three weeks without receiving the rest periods to which they are entitled. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide in its next report additional explanations as to how the compensatory rest is implemented in practice, and to specify whether any rules have so far been issued concerning the regularity and continuity of such rest.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide up to date information on the practical application of the Convention, including for instance, statistics on the number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, labour inspection results showing the number of offences observed and penalties imposed in connection with weekly rest, copies of collective agreements containing provisions on weekly rest schemes, etc.

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Article 8, paragraph 3, of the Convention. Compensatory rest. Section 72 of the Labour Code states that compensation for working on a day of weekly rest may take the form of an extra day of rest or supplementary payment. The Committee reminds the Government that the Convention does not allow remuneration in lieu of compensatory periods of rest for work carried out on a day of weekly rest. It requests the Government to undertake the necessary steps in the near future to amend this section of the Labour Code in order to bring it into conformity with Article 8, paragraph 3, of the Convention, and to supply information on the progress achieved in its next report.