Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30) - Egypt (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report, in particular the adoption of the new Labour Law (Act No. 12 of 2003) and its implementing regulations, namely, Decree No. 113 of 2003 determining the preparatory and complementary works and the guard and cleaning works; Decree No. 115 of 2003 determining the works that are intermittent by their nature; Decree No. 122 determining continuous processes and hard and exhausting works; Decree No. 970 of 2003 concerning the establishment of the Labour Consultative Council; and Decree No. 185 of 2003 concerning the model statute of sanctions and work regulations.

Article 1 of the Convention. Scope of application. Public servants. The Committee notes that section 4 of the Labour Law exempts public servants of government agencies, including local government units, from the scope of its application. While recalling that the Convention applies to persons employed in the establishments enumerated in its Article 1, both public and private, and also recalling the Government’s indication in one of its early reports that orders issued by each ministry regulate the working hours of employees engaged in the government agencies (six hours a day and 36 hours a week), the Committee would appreciate if the Government would specify the legal instruments currently in force regulating working hours of public servants, and transmit copies of any relevant text which may not have been previously communicated to the Office.

Article 7, paragraph 1. Permanent exceptions. Intermittent work. The Committee notes that, under section 62 of the Labour Law, workers engaged in works intermittent by nature are exempted from the ordinary limits on hours of work provided that their period of stay at the workplace does not exceed 12 hours a day. It also notes that Decree No. 115 of 2003 defines works that are intermittent by their nature to include, among others, such general categories of work as all road, rail and air transport, storekeeping and work in pharmacies. In this connection, the Committee wishes to refer to paragraph 126 of its General Survey of 2005 on hours of work, in which it noted that the “expression ‘inherently intermittent work’ 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” (for instance doorkeepers, guards and firefighters). It accordingly requests the Government to consider taking appropriate action in order to ensure that the workers in question may not be requested to be present at the workplace outside their normal hours of work and that the categories of workers listed in Decree No. 115 of 2003 be strictly limited to those whose duties are essentially intermittent within the meaning of the Convention.

Article 7, paragraph 2. Temporary exceptions. The Committee notes that, under section 85 of the Labour Law, the normal limits on hours of work do not apply in cases of unusual work exigencies or exceptional conditions, subject to prior authorization of the administrative authorities. The Committee considers that this provision – contrary to section 139 of the previous Labour Law of 1981 – is worded in such broad terms that it risks to go beyond what is permitted under this Article of the Convention, that is temporary exceptions only in cases of: (i) accident, force majeure or urgent work; (ii) risk of loss of perishable goods; (iii) special work such as stocktaking; and (iv) abnormal work pressure due to special circumstances. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate how it is ensured in law and practice that temporary exceptions authorized under section 85 of the Labour Law remain limited to the specific circumstances set out in this Article of the Convention.

Article 7, paragraph 3. Regulations on exceptions. Annual limit of authorized overtime. Concerning temporary exceptions from the basic standard of eight hours per day and 48 hours per week, the Committee notes that section 85 of the Labour Law provides that, in all cases of overtime, the actual working hours may not exceed ten hours per day. Recalling that the Convention requires that regulations made by public authorities after consultations with employers’ and workers’ organizations determine also the number of additional hours of work which may be allowed in the year, the Committee requests the Government to explain how the Convention is given effect in this regard.

Article 11, paragraph 2(c). Record-keeping of additional hours. The Committee notes that section 77 of the Labour Law provides for a file to be established and maintained by employers for each of their employees, which must contain the data on the worker’s name, profession, skill level at commencement of the work, home address, social status, the date of the start of service, wage, a statement of the developments made, sanctions imposed, leaves taken, and the date and reasons for the termination of employment. It requests the Government to clarify whether the file provided for in section 77 of the Labour Law must also contain the information on overtime performed by each worker, as required under this Article of the Convention and, if so, to provide a specimen copy of that form.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the statistical data provided by the Government concerning inspection results for the first semester of 2008, according to which 1,337 inspection visits were carried out covering 27,969 establishments and 76,238 workers, 389 warnings were issued and 698 contraventions of the working time legislation were recorded. It would be grateful if the Government would continue providing up to date information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, the approximate number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, labour inspection results showing the number and nature of working time-related offences observed and sanctions imposed, copies of collective agreements containing clauses on working time arrangements, official surveys and studies addressing working time issues, etc.