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

Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14) - Saint Lucia (Ratification: 1980)

Article 2 of the Convention. Day of weekly rest. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the new Labour Code of 2006 has not yet come into force and that the document is presently with the Attorney-General’s office for modification. Regarding section 28(1) of the Labour Code which provides that weekly rest must be taken on a day agreed upon between the employer and the employee, the Government confirms that this provision reflects actual practice since in many industries weekly rest constitutes an employee’s day off and as such may differ from one employee to another. The Committee is obliged to recall, in this respect, that the Convention requires that the period of weekly rest, wherever possible, be granted simultaneously to the whole of the staff of each undertaking and be fixed so as to coincide with the day already established by tradition or custom. In fact, the Convention is articulated around three main principles, that is continuity (a period of rest comprising at least 24 consecutive hours), regularity (weekly rest to be enjoyed in every period of seven days), and uniformity (weekly rest to be granted as far as possible simultaneously to the whole of the staff). Noting that section 28(1) of the – not yet enacted – Labour Code of 2006 does not fully reflect the principles outlined above, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that the text of the new labour legislation, once finalized, fully reflects the letter and the spirit of the Convention.

Article 5. Compensatory rest. The Committee notes that the Labour Code does not make any provision for compensatory periods of rest to be granted in the case of total or partial exceptions to the ordinary weekly rest. The Committee recalls, however, that performing work on the day of weekly rest should involve, as far as possible, compensatory rest independently of any extra payment, as prescribed by this Article of the Convention. It also recalls that weekly rest being essential to the workers’ health and well-being, recourse to such exceptions should be limited to what is strictly necessary. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to consider appropriate action in order to give full effect to this provision of the Convention.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply general information on the application of the Convention in practice, including, for instance, statistics on the number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, extracts from reports of the labour inspection services showing the number of violations observed and sanctions imposed in matters related to weekly rest, copies of any collective agreements containing clauses on weekly rest, etc.

Finally, the Committee once again recalls the ILO Governing Body’s decision to include the Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14), and the Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106), among the instruments which are up to date and the ratification of which should therefore be promoted. The Committee accordingly invites the Government to contemplate ratifying Convention No. 106 – especially since the relevant legislation is of general application and covers equally industry and commerce – and to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this respect.