Holidays with Pay (Agriculture) Convention, 1952 (No. 101) - Belize (RATIFICATION: 1983)

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Article 8 of the Convention. Prohibition to relinquish or forego the right to annual paid holidays. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that in the process of the current labour law reform, the Labour Advisory Board has recommended that a provision be included in the Labour Act (Chapter 297) to specify that any agreement to relinquish or forgo more than one week out of the two weeks’ statutory annual leave entitlement must be void. The Committee recalls, in this respect, that as noted in paragraph 193 of the 1964 General Survey on annual holidays with pay, the voiding of any agreement for the relinquishment of the holiday refers to the whole of the nationally prescribed holiday, whatever its length. The Committee hopes that this point will be given due consideration in the process of revising the labour legislation and accordingly requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any further developments in this regard.

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Article 11 of the Convention and Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government concerning the number of workers covered and the number of labour inspections carried out in agricultural undertakings in the period 2006–07. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply up to date information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, labour inspection results, copies of collective agreements containing clauses on annual leave, etc.

The Committee takes this opportunity to recall that, based on the conclusions and proposals of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards, the ILO Governing Body has decided that Convention No. 101 should be classified as an outdated instrument and consequently States parties should be invited to denounce it and ratify at the same time the more recent Holidays with Pay Convention (Revised), 1970 (No. 132), which may no longer be fully up to date but remains relevant in certain respects (see GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraph 12). The ratification of Convention No. 132 would be all the more advisable as the legislation of Belize is of general scope covering all workers, including agricultural workers. The Committee recalls that the Government may draw on the technical assistance and advisory services of the Office regarding any consequential amendments that might be necessary to introduce in the Labour Act (Cap. 297) and asks the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this respect.