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

Working Conditions (Hotels and Restaurants) Convention, 1991 (No. 172) - Germany (Ratification: 2006)

The Committee notes the Government’s first report. It wishes to raise the following points concerning the application of the Convention.

Article 3 of the Convention. Adoption of a national policy. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that it is for the social partners to adopt a policy designed to improve the working conditions of workers employed in hotels and restaurants. However, it draws the Government’s attention to the importance of the adoption of a national policy on this subject with a view to ensuring the effective protection of the workers concerned. In this respect, it recalls that Article 3(2) of the Convention explicitly provides that the general objective of such a policy shall be to ensure that the workers concerned are not excluded from the scope of any minimum standards adopted at the national level for workers in general, including those relating to social security entitlements. The Committee considers that the adoption by the public authorities, at the federal level or at the level of the federated Länder, of a national policy in this field takes on particular importance and could usefully supplement the protection afforded by the collective agreements negotiated freely by the social partners. It requests the Government to keep the Office informed of the measures that may be adopted for this purpose.

Article 4. Hours of work. The Committee notes that, under the terms of section 7 of the Hours of Work Act, exceptions may be made, by a written agreement concluded between the employer and the worker concerned, from the rules established by the Act or by a collective agreement with regard to hours of work. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the extent of the exceptions which may be introduced on the basis of this provision and, in so far as possible, to specify their impact on the conditions of work of workers employed in hotels and restaurants. The Committee also notes that section 14 of the Hours of Work Act allows the introduction of temporary exceptions to the limits that it determines in relation to hours of work in a number of exceptional cases. It requests the Government to indicate whether legal provisions limit the number of additional hours and provide that they shall be paid at a higher rate. With regard to the obligation, in so far as possible, to inform workers in advance of their hours of work, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to section 241(2) of the Civil Code. However, it notes that this provision covers the law of obligations in general and does not relate to industrial relations. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide copies of the legal provisions requiring the employer to bring to the notice of the workers concerned their working schedules sufficiently in advance to enable them to organize their personal and family life accordingly.

Article 5, paragraph 1. Work on public holidays. The Committee notes that section 11 of the Hours of Work Act provides that workers employed on a Sunday or a public holiday must have a day of rest in compensation. However, it notes that ,under the terms of section 12 of the Act, a collective agreement, or an individual works agreement on the basis of a collective agreement, may eliminate days of rest in compensation. It draws the Government’s attention to the importance of such rest for the protection of the health of workers and recalls that, under the terms of Article 5(1) of the Convention, if workers are required to work on public holidays, they shall be appropriately compensated in time or remuneration, as determined by collective bargaining or in accordance with national law or practice. The Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide information in its next report on the measures adopted or envisaged to give full effect to this provision of the Convention.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that there are no statistics at the federal level on the outcome of inspections carried out in the hotels and restaurants sector. It notes that analysis of the reports of the labour inspection services in the federated Länder shows that in 2006 a total of 10,175 inspections were conducted in hotels and restaurants, as a result of which 29,175 notifications were issued for failure to comply with the legislation. It further notes that in 96 cases injunctions were issued or binding measures ordered, and that in 112 cases the inspection services issued a warning or imposed a fine, or initiated legal proceedings. The Committee observes that the number of violations reported appears to be very high in relation to the number of establishments inspected and it requests the Government to provide the most precise information possible on this subject. The Government is also requested to continue providing general indications of the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including information concerning the number of workers employed in the hotels and restaurants sector and the outcome of the activities of the labour inspection services in this sector. The Government is further requested to provide copies of the principal collective agreements applicable to the hotels and restaurants sector, with an indication of the proportion of workers employed in this sector who are covered by these collective agreements.