Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 82nd ILC session (1995)

Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106) - Sri Lanka (Ratification: 1983)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in reply to its previous comments, as well as the observations made by the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC).

Article 8, paragraph 1, of the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that section 5(2) of the Shop and Office Employees Act permits the Commissioner of Labour to authorize the accumulation of weekly rest days for four consecutive weeks by reason of "unforeseen circumstances", whereas under Article 8, paragraph 1, temporary exemptions from weekly rest provisions are only allowed in the limited circumstances of accident or force majeure, abnormal pressure of work, and prevention of loss of perishables. The Government indicates in its latest report that an example of "unforeseen circumstances" is the occurrence of religious festivals where large crowds gather which may cause public inconvenience, if a temporary exemption to the weekly rest provisions is not granted. The Committee must once again observe that the condition of "unforeseen circumstances" in order to grant accumulation of weekly rest, apparently is broader than the very limited cases provided for under Article 8, paragraph 1. It therefore hopes that the Government will take the necessary steps in the near future to amend section 5(2) of the Shop and Office Employees Act in order to ensure that the permitted temporary exemptions to weekly rest are solely limited to the conditions set out in this Article of the Convention. It also requests the Government to indicate the progress achieved in this respect and to supply a copy of the relevant text when it is adopted.

Article 10. The CWC draws attention to the problem of enforcement of weekly rest provisions with regard to workers who migrate to urban areas to work in shops, restaurants and other retail establishments, and are bound to reside at their places of employment. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the inspection system in relation to weekly rest granted to these residential retail workers, as well as the penalties which may be imposed to ensure the proper administration of the legislation which gives effect to the Convention.