Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) - Pakistan (Ratification: 1921)

Article 6 of the Convention. Permanent exceptions. The Committee notes that section 43(2)(b), (c) and (d) of the Factories Act, 1934, authorizes the Provincial Government to determine exceptions to the rules governing the duration of the working week with regard respectively to those workers engaged in work of a preparatory or complementary nature; those whose work is necessarily intermittent; and those whose work must, for technical reasons, be carried out continuously. The Committee also notes that, by virtue of section 25(5) of the Mines Act, 1923, the appropriate government may, by order, grant permanent exceptions to a class of workers engaged either in preparatory or complementary work, which must necessarily be carried out outside the mines, or work which is essentially intermittent. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether such exceptions have been established. If so, the Government is requested to provide copies of the relevant regulations and to specify whether they were adopted after consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned, as prescribed by Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention.

Moreover, the Committee notes that section 71C(2) of the Railways Act, 1890, states that a railway servant whose employment is essentially intermittent must not be employed for more than 84 hours in any week. By virtue of section 71E(b), of the same Act, the Federal Government may make rules prescribing the authorities who may declare that the employment of any railway servant or class of railway servants is essentially intermittent. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that Article 6 of the Convention requires that the introduction of permanent exceptions to working hours for certain categories of persons whose work is essentially intermittent must involve the adoption of regulations by the public authority following consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned. It requests the Government to specify how consultation with these organizations is ensured.

Temporary exceptions. The Committee notes that section 44(2) of the Factories Act allows the Provincial Government to introduce exceptions to the rules related to the duration of the working week where the exception is required to enable the factory or factories to deal with an exceptional pressure of work. It further notes that section 25(4) of the Mines Act also allows the Chief Inspector of Mines to grant temporary exceptions in exceptional cases of pressure of work. Finally, the Committee notes that such an exception may also be introduced in the case of an exceptional increase in the workload, by virtue of section 71C(3)(b), of the Railways Act. The Committee recalls that, as with the case of permanent exceptions, Article 6 of the Convention requires that the granting of temporary exceptions must involve the adoption by the public authority of regulations, following consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned. It requests the Government to supply information on the exceptions which have been effectively authorized under the above provisions and the prior consultations held on this subject with organizations of employers and workers.

Article 10. Weekly working hours. The Committee notes that, by virtue of section 71C(1) of the Railways Act, railway servants, other than those whose work is essentially intermittent, may not be employed for more than 60 hours a week on average in any month. However, Article 10 of the Convention requires the principle of a 60-hour week to be respected and does not allow for the averaging of the maximum weekly hours of work. A 60-hour working week, permitted by this Article of the Convention in respect of certain States, including Pakistan, is already far longer than the general standard of 48 hours provided for by the Convention. The Committee accordingly considers that averaging of working hours in this case, leading to a figure higher than 60 hours a week for certain weeks, would not offer sufficient protection to workers and would be contrary to the provisions of the Convention. The Committee hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to amend its legislation with regard to this point, in order to give full effect to the Convention.

While noting that for the time being the Convention is only binding on Pakistan to the extent prescribed by Article 10, the Committee hopes that the Government will continue its efforts to progressively bring national standards into line with all the requirements set out in the Convention and that, in due course, it will be in a position to formally accept the Convention in its entirety.

Part VI of the report form. The Committee requests the Government to supply general indications on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including where possible, statistics on the number of workers protected by the relevant legislation, as well as reports by the inspection services and information on the number and nature of violations recorded.