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

Holidays with Pay Convention, 1936 (No. 52) - Albania (Ratification: 1957)

Article 1 of the Convention. Scope of application. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s explanations concerning the annual leave entitlement of those categories of employees who are excluded from the scope of application of the Labour Code, such as members of the judiciary, the armed forces and police, the Internal Inspection Service, the State Information Service, the judicial police or the Prosecutor’s Office. The Committee requests the Government to specify whether any special rules on annual paid holidays have so far been issued for those categories of workers enumerated in section 97(1) of the Labour Code, for instance, workers employed in hotels and restaurants, agricultural enterprises, car transport companies, education institutions, or construction sites, and if so, to transmit copy of any relevant legal text.

Article 2(3). Public holidays not included in the annual holiday. The Committee notes that neither the Labour Code nor the Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 511 of 24 October 2002 concerning duration of working time and annual leave in the state institutions appear to contain any specific provision expressly excluding public holidays from the duration of annual leave. The Committee therefore again requests the Government to indicate any legal provision giving effect to this requirement of the Convention.

Article 4. Relinquishment of the right to annual holidays. The Committee recalls that the Convention requires the prohibition of any agreement to relinquish the right to annual leave, it being understood that for social and health reasons it should not be open to the worker to abandon his holidays, in return of monetary compensation or otherwise. The Committee therefore again requests the Government to specify how the prohibition to forgo holidays is given effect in law and practice.

Part V of the report form. Practical application. The Committee notes that according to the statistical information provided by the Government, only 1,640 workers, or 5.5 per cent of the workforce, are not entitled to the statutory minimum of 28 days of annual paid leave whereas the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania estimate that approximately 30 per cent of workers in the private sector do not enjoy the statutory annual leave. The Committee requests the Government to provide further clarifications in this respect. It also requests the Government to continue providing up to date information on the practical application of the Convention, including labour inspection results showing the number of infringements observed and sanctions imposed as well as copies of collective agreements containing provisions on annual holidays with pay.

The Committee once more recalls the ILO Governing Body’s decision that Convention No. 52 is an outdated instrument and consequently States parties to this Convention should be invited to consider ratifying the more recent Holidays with Pay Convention (Revised), 1970 (No. 132) (see GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraph 12). The Committee therefore requests the Government to favourably consider the possibility of ratifying Convention No. 132, and to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.

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 annual leave, part-time and night work, remain relevant in the 21st 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.