Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

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

Article 6 of the Convention. Permanent and temporary exceptions. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the new communication of the Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF), dated 30 July 2010, which essentially reproduces earlier observations regarding the need for the Government to engage in consultations for the purpose of reviewing section 43(2) of the Factories Act, 1934, section 25(5) of the Mines Act, 1923 and section 71C(2) of the Railways Act, 1890, that according to the Federation, introduce permanent and temporary exceptions to working hours without conforming to the conditions set out by the Convention, i.e., adoption of regulations by the public authority following consultations with the organizations of employers and workers concerned. The Committee requests the Government to communicate any comments it may wish to make in reply to the latest observations of the PWF. In addition, the Committee requests the Government to provide – in accordance with Article 7 of the Convention – full information concerning any provisions which may have been adopted under Article 6 of the Convention, and also to specify how consultations with organizations of employers and workers were ensured on this subject.

Finally, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the conclusions of the ILO Tripartite Meeting of Experts on Working Time Arrangements, held in October 2011, according to which the provisions of existing ILO standards relating to daily and weekly hours of work, weekly rest, paid annul leave, part-time and night work, remain relevant in the twenty-first century, and should be promoted in order to facilitate decent work. The Experts also emphasized the importance of working time, its regulation, and organization and management, to: (a) workers and their health and well-being, including opportunities for balancing working and non-work time; (b) the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises; and (c) effective responses to economic and labour market crises.