Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Working Conditions (Hotels and Restaurants) Convention, 1991 (No. 172) - Fiji (Ratification: 2008)

Article 4(2) of the Convention. Reasonable normal hours of work and overtime. The Committee notes that, although section 9 of the Wages Regulation (Hotel and Catering Trades) Order 2008 provides for overtime pay rates (i.e. 150 per cent of the worker’s normal rate of remuneration for the first four hours worked in excess of eight hours each day, and double the worker’s normal rate for all overtime worked thereafter on such day), there seems to exist no overall limit on the maximum number of additional hours that a worker may be requested to perform per day or week. The Committee is of the opinion that the absence of specific limits on the maximum number of permissible overtime, together with the lack of specific provisions on minimum daily rest, may be deemed problematic as it carries a certain risk of abuse. The Committee recalls, in this connection, that the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1), and the Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30), clearly establish that, apart from being remunerated at a higher rate, overtime should only be authorized within prescribed limits. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to provide additional explanations in this regard.

Article 4(3). Minimum daily and weekly rest periods. The Committee notes that neither the Employment Relations Promulgation 2007 (No. 36 of 2007), nor the Wages Regulation (Hotel and Catering Trades) Order 2008, appear to regulate the minimum period of daily rest. The Committee requests the Government to clarify how the Convention is given effect on this point.

In addition, with respect to weekly rest, the Committee notes that under section 5(2) of the Wages Regulation (Hotel and Catering Trades) Order 2008, workers employed in outer islands are entitled to three consecutive days off after having worked for 12 consecutive days, or five consecutive days off after having worked for 24 consecutive days. The Committee considers that an arrangement whereby workers are granted a period of “weekly” rest nearly once a month may not be consistent with the letter and the spirit of the Convention which seeks to ensure that workers enjoy a minimum of rest and leisure in every seven-day period. In this connection, the Committee wishes to refer to Paragraph 3 of the Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Recommendation, 1957 (No. 103), which indicates that persons to whom special weekly rest schemes apply should not work for more than three weeks without receiving the rest periods to which they are entitled. The Committee, therefore, requests the Government to provide additional explanations in this respect.

Article 4(4). Advance notice of working schedule. The Committee notes that, apart from section 5(1) of the Wages Regulation (Hotel and Catering Trades) Order 2008, which expressly provides for advance notice (ranging from one week to one month) to be given with respect to weekly rest, there seems to exist no other provision guaranteeing that workers are notified sufficiently in advance of the working schedule applicable to them. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate how effect is given to this requirement of the Convention.

Parts IV and V of the report form. Court decisions and practical application. The Committee notes the copies of decisions of the Employment Tribunal concerning employment grievances of hotel and restaurant employees. It also notes the statistical information according to which, since the entry into force of the Employment Relations Promulgation in 2008, 93 complaints have been filed by workers covered by the Convention with the Standards and Compliance Unit of the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment. These complaints concern in particular the non-payment of annual leave pay, payment below the minimum rates prescribed by the Wages Regulation (Hotel and Catering Trades) Order 2008, and unfair and unjustified dismissal, of which 84 have been amicably resolved by the labour inspectors. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide up-to-date information on the manner in which the Convention is applied and enforced in practice.