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

Hours of Work and Rest Periods (Road Transport) Convention, 1979 (No. 153) - Ukraine (Ratification: 2008)

Article 6(1) of the Convention. Hours of work of drivers under non-standard working day system. The Committee notes with interest the first detailed report on the application of the Convention. It also notes the Order of the Ministry of Transport and Communications No. 340 of 7 June 2010 establishing regulations on hours of work and rest periods of drivers of wheeled vehicles. However, the Committee notes that section 2.10 of the Order permits a non-standard working day, i.e. in excess of the normal duration of the hours of work, for drivers of cars (except taxis). It also notes that this work may not be deemed as overtime work and does not give rise to overtime pay. The number of additional hours (which are not considered to be overtime hours) must be specified in a collective agreement. Finally, the Order provides for compensation in the form of additional annual leave for the drivers with a non-standard working day. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional explanations on the extent to which use is made of the non-standard working day for drivers of cars and to transmit copies of any relevant collective agreements specifying the maximum number of hours of work as well as the periods of daily rest and rest breaks for those drivers.

Article 6(2). Averaging of hours of work. The Committee notes that section 2.3 of Order No. 340/2010 permits the use of an aggregate recording of hours of work in order to make sure that the duration of hours of work for a reporting period does not exceed the normal number of working hours. The Order also provides that the decision to use an aggregate recording must be taken with the agreement of a trade union organization concerned. It further provides that in case of aggregate recording, the normal duration of daily work may not exceed ten hours. The Committee requests the Government to specify the reference period (i.e. the number of days or weeks) over which the normal daily and weekly driving times may be averaged. The Committee also wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the fact that the Convention does not allow for the extension of the normal duration of daily work to ten hours in the case of averaging.

Article 8(2). Averaging of daily rest. The Committee notes that section 5.7 of Order No. 340/2010 provides that for drivers to whom an aggregate calculation of hours of work applies (averaging), the duration of the daily rest may be decreased to eight consecutive hours during any 24-hour period. The Order does not require, however, that the daily rest may not be reduced to eight hours more than twice a week, as prescribed by this Article. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide further explanations in this respect.

Articles 10(2)(b) and 11. Enforcement measures. The Committee notes that sections 7.1 and 7.2 of Order No. 340/2010 contain general provisions on State control and inspection for ensuring compliance with established rules on work and rest of drivers. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the measures implementing the requirements set out in these Articles of the Convention, namely record-keeping and communicating records to the competent authority in a prescribed manner, adequate inspection system with verifications at the enterprise level but also on the roads, and appropriate penalties.

Part IV of the report form. Practical application. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of the Convention in practice, including statistical information on the number of workers employed in the road transport sector and covered by the relevant legislation, copies of collective agreements or sample internal regulations containing provisions on hours of work and rest periods of road transport drivers, and extracts from reports of the labour inspection services showing the number and nature of infringements of the relevant legislation reported and the sanctions imposed.