Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30) - Syrian Arab Republic (RATIFICATION: 1960)

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The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 7 of the Convention. Permanent and temporary exceptions. The Committee notes the Government’s report and requests it to refer to its comments relating to Article 6 of the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1).

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Article 7 of the Convention. Permanent and temporary exceptions. The Committee notes the Government’s report and requests it to refer to its comments relating to Article 6 of the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1).

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The Committee notes the general human rights situation in the country as referred to in its comments under Convention No. 105. It aslo notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Repetition

Article 7 of the Convention. Permanent and temporary exceptions. The Committee requests the Government to refer to its comments relating to Article 6 of the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1).

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Article 7 of the Convention. Permanent and temporary exceptions. The Committee requests the Government to refer to its comments relating to Article 6 of the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1).

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With reference to the Government’s last three reports, the Committee wishes to draw its attention to the following points.

Article 7, paragraph 1, of the Convention. Permanent exceptions - Inherently intermittent work. The Committee understands that Order No. 243 of 8 May 1966, which was issued under section 117 of the Labour Code and which enumerates the types of work classified as inherently intermittent, has not yet been amended to take into account the revision of the Labour Code of 10 December 2000. The Committee recalls that the types of work covered by Order No. 243 go beyond those which may be considered as being inherently intermittent within the meaning of the Convention. As the Committee emphasized in its General Survey of 2005 on hours of work, the "expression ‘inherently intermittent work’, as used in the Conventions [Nos. 1 and 30], means work which is not concerned with production properly called, and which, by its nature, is interrupted by long periods of inaction, during which the respective workers have to display neither physical activity nor sustained attention, and remain at their post only to reply to possible calls" (paragraph 126). In this respect, Article 7, paragraph 1(a), of the Convention refers by way of illustration to caretakers and persons employed to look after working premises and warehouses. Furthermore, the Committee considered in its General Survey of 1967 on hours of work that, "although the provisions of the [ILO] instruments in question do not give a precise definition of intermittent work which could be subject to this exception, the interpretations and opinions given in this respect indicate that its application should be restrictive in nature. Such an interpretation is all the more necessary, since this work (…) is generally subject to quite flexible rules as regards both the number of hours of work and the question of a higher rate of pay, and is sometimes even excluded from regulations on the hours of work" (paragraph 175). Accordingly, it would appear that certain of the types of work enumerated in Order No. 243 cannot be considered as inherently intermittent within the meaning of the Convention. These are the following types of work: transport of persons and goods by land, rail or air, including work in airports; work relating to the docking of ships, beacons and lighthouses; work in ports, on tugs and pilot vessels; repair work on ships; and manual work for the distribution of water in irrigation networks. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures in the near future to amend Order No. 243 and bring it into conformity with the provisions of the Convention. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate whether the provisions of laws or regulations establish a daily limit for the extension of working hours in the case of inherently intermittent work, as required by Article 7, paragraph 3, of the Convention.

Preparatory or complementary work. The Committee notes that certain types of work referred to in Order No. 135 of 3 February 1981, which determines, among other types of work, preparatory or complementary work within the meaning of section 123 of the Labour Code, appear to go beyond the exceptions allowed by Article 7, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee recalls, in this respect, that this provision only covers "work which must necessarily be carried on outside the limits laid down for the hours of work of the rest of the persons employed in the establishment". The following types of work do not appear to be included in this definition: preparatory work for projects; administrative work related to projects; preparatory work related to sales operations in export processing zones; and work as drivers of vehicles and their assistants engaged on transport routes of over 200 kilometres from their point of departure. The Committee requests the Government to amend the Order so as to limit its coverage to the preparatory and complementary work in respect of which the Convention allows the adoption of permanent exceptions. Furthermore, the Committee notes that section 5 of the Order only establishes a weekly limit to the allowed extension of working hours. It requests the Government to indicate whether a daily limit is also applicable in this case, as required by Article 7, paragraph 3, of the Convention.

Article 7, paragraph 2. Temporary exceptions. The Committee notes that Order No. 720 of 1973, as amended by Order No. 775 of 1974, issued under section 120 of the Labour Code, authorizes temporary exceptions to the rules with respect to hours of work in certain cases of abnormal pressure of work (section 1(a) of the Order). The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether, in addition to the annual limit of 520 hours established by the Order, a daily limit to the additional hours allowed in such cases has been established. The Government is also requested to indicate whether the rate of pay for such additional hours is increased by at least 25 per cent in relation to the regular rate of pay, as required by Article 7, paragraph 4, of the Convention.

Part V of the report of form. Recalling that the Government last provided general information on the practical application of the Convention in 1984, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on this subject in its next report including, for instance, information concerning the number of workers covered by the legislation on hours of work, extracts from the reports of the inspection services and, where possible, statistics on the number and nature of the contraventions reported.

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The Committee notes with satisfaction the adoption, by Act No. 24 of 10 December 2000, of the amended section 117 of the Labour Code, under the terms of which workers are no longer obliged to be present at the workplace beyond the statutory or contractual working hours.

The Committee is also raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.

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The Committee notes the indications contained in the Government’s latest report concerning the re-examination of the new draft Labour Code by the Committee for Consultation and Tripartite Dialogue in order to take fully into account its comments on the application of the Convention and of the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919, (No. 1). It trusts that the Government will shortly be in a position to adopt the draft as modified and will not fail to inform the ILO accordingly.

The Committee wishes to recall that, for many years, it has been drawing the Government’s attention to the fact that the provisions of section 117 of the current Labour Code, which provide that "hours of work and breaks must be organized in such a fashion that the presence of the worker at the workplace does not exceed 11 hours a day", are liable to result in abuse and should be amended so as not to require the presence of the worker at the workplace beyond the limits of normal working hours which, in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention, must not exceed eight hours in the day.

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The Committee notes the Government's latest report on the application of the Convention. It notes that section 117 of the Labour Code, which was the subject of its previous comments, has still not been amended to bring it into conformity with the Convention. The Committee has been drawing the Government's attention for many years to the fact that the provisions of this section, which provide that "hours of work and pauses must be organized in such a fashion that the presence of the worker at the workplace does not exceed 11 hours a day", are liable to result in abuse and wishes to remind it once again of the need to amend these provisions so as not to require the presence of the worker at the workplace beyond the limits of normal working hours which, in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention, must not exceed eight in the day. In this connection, the Committee takes cognizance of a communication transmitted by the Government to the ILO in July 1999, and notes the indication that, taking account of the comments formulated by the Committee on the application of the Convention on Hours of Work (Industry), 1919 (No. 1), it has begun preparation of a new draft Legislative Decree to amend the Labour Code accordingly. The Committee requests the Government to inform the ILO on the progress achieved in this respect.

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See the comments made in the observation concerning the application of Convention No. 1, as follows:

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report to the effect that the draft Legislative Decree to amend certain provisions of Labour Code, No. 91 of 1959, including section 117 which the Committee has been commenting on for many years in terms of its conformity with Article 6 of the Convention, has been revised and again submitted to the President of the Council of Ministers. The provision currently in force provides that working hours and pauses must be organized in such a way that the workers presence at the place of work does not exceed 11 hours per day. The Committee has observed that such a situation could lead to abuse and has asked the Government several times to amend this section so that, except where work is "of a specially intermittent nature," the presence of the worker is not required at the workplace outside the authorized hours of work. In this connection, it recalls that Article 2 stipulates that working hours shall not exceed eight in the day and 48 in the week.

The Committee trusts that the above-mentioned draft Legislative Decree will be adopted in the very near future and that it will bring the legislation fully into conformity with the above-mentioned provisions of the Convention, in the light of the Committee's repeated comments.

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See the comments made under Convention No. 1, as follows:

Article 6 of the Convention. The Committee notes the indications in the Government's report that a draft Legislative Decree has been submitted to the President of the Council of Ministers with a view to amending certain sections of the Labour Code, No. 91 of 1959.

For very many years, the Committee has been referring to section 117 of the Labour Code which establishes that working hours and rest periods must be organized in such a way that the presence of the worker at the workplace does not exceed 11 hours per day. The Committee pointed out that such a situation could lead to abuse and has asked the Government on several occasions to amend the above section in such a way that, except where work is "of a specially intermittent nature", the presence of the worker shall not be required at the workplace outside the authorized hours of work. In this connection, it recalls that Article 2 of the Convention specifies that working hours shall not exceed eight in the day and 48 in the week.

The Committee trusts that the Government will take the necessary measures in the near future to bring its legislation into full conformity with the provisions of the Convention.

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See comments under Convention No. 1, as follows:

Article 6 of the Convention. The Committee takes note of the information supplied by the Government to the effect that a Tripartite Committee has been established to examine the question of follow-up to the Committee's comments on the application of the Convention.

With reference to its previous observation, the Committee recalls that, in its 1984 report, the Government provided a draft legislative decree, amending section 117 of the Labour Code, which allows the worker to be present at the workplace for up to 11 hours daily. As the Committee has already pointed out several times, this situation is liable to result in abuses since any worker may, in practice, be subject to employment conditions that should only be applicable to workers whose work is particularly intermittent.

The Committee trusts that the necessary measures will be taken in the very near future to amend section 117 of the Labour Code in such a way that, with the exception of cases of intermittent work, the presence of the worker shall not be required at the workplace outside the authorised hours of work. It requests the Government to inform the Office of any new developments in this regard.