Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) - Colombia (Ratification: 1933)

1. According to the information given by the Government, Law No. 789 of 2002 amends the Labour Code in the following points.

Daytime is defined as the time from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Shift work of six hours per day and 36 hours per week is permitted during the whole week (section 161 (c) of the new Labour Code). Flexible working time consisting of at least four hours and as a maximum ten hours per day, may be carried out without overtime pay during 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on up to six days of the week, on condition that 48 hours per week as an average are not exceeded (section 161(d) of the new Labour Code). The Committee requests the Government to furnish a copy of the relevant provisions of Law No. 789 of 2002.

Articles 2, 4, 5 and 6 of the Convention. Flexibilization of working time is subject to certain restrictions of the Convention, with which the amended Labour Code does not fully comply. Thus, under Article 5 of the Convention, calculation as an average may be authorized over a period longer than a week in exceptional cases only where the limits set out in Article 2 of the Convention are recognized to be inapplicable. Furthermore, the authorization by public authority should be based on an agreement between the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned.

Article 2(b) of the Convention makes provision for the distribution of hours of work over a week on condition that the daily limit of eight hours is not exceeded by more than one hour. In the case of shifts, Article 2(c) of the Convention, in addition to the weekly limit of 48 hours as an average, imposes a daily average of eight hours over a period of three weeks or less.

In addition to the system of averaging, regular and temporary extensions of the normal limits of working hours may only be permitted under the specific circumstances enumerated under Article 6 of the Convention, including overtime pay.

The Committee requests the Government to bring its legislation into conformity with these requirements of the Convention and to keep it informed on all progress made.

2. The observation communicated by the National Trade Union of Workers and Public Servants employed in the health and social security system (ANTHOC) concerns working conditions of the staff of a university hospital, such as shifts of 6-12 continuous hours of work per day or a reduction of the salaries because the staff refused to work on Sundays and public holidays. However, these observations will not be dealt with under this Convention, because hospitals are not covered by its scope.