Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) - Comoros (Ratification: 1978)

Article 8(1)(b) of the Convention. Posting of notices indicating rest intervals. The Committee recalls its previous comment in which it observed that, although section 4 of Order No. 01/386/MTET provides for the posting of work schedules in a legible and conspicuous manner at the workplace, it does not however refer to the rest intervals accorded during working hours. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that section 131(2) of the draft revised text of the Labour Code addresses the rest intervals accorded to workers during their working hours. The Government adds in its report that it undertakes to submit to the Advisory Labour and Employment Council at its next session a draft order explicitly requiring the posting of notices indicating the rest intervals accorded to workers, in accordance with this Article of the Convention. The Committee recalls in this regard that, in accordance with Article 8(1)(b) of the Convention, employers shall notify by means of the posting of notices only such rest intervals as are not reckoned as part of the working hours, that is the periods during which the employed person is not at the disposal of the employer. As the Committee explained in paragraph 47 of its 2005 General Survey on hours of work, there is a need to differentiate between “hours of work” and “hours of rest”, based on a determination of whether, during rest periods, workers have either a duty to perform work assigned by the employer, or alternatively to be at the employer’s disposal until such work is required or assigned. If the answer to either question is yes, such periods should be considered as “hours of work”. In contrast, if the workers are not “at the disposal of the employer” during such rest periods, such periods do not have to be included in hours of work. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any progress made in this respect and to provide a copy of the new Labour Code and the order when they have been adopted.

Article 8(2) and Part VI of the report form. Enforcement of the provisions of the Convention. In its previous report, the Government indicated that the labour inspection services were encountering problems of organization and operation, as well as the inadequacy of resources, particularly in relation to the number of labour inspectors entrusted with supervising the application of the law. In its latest report, the Government indicates that problems relating to human and material resources still persist in the field of labour inspection, but that it undertakes to reinforce the capacity of labour inspectors and provide their inspection services with the necessary resources to enable them to supervise more effectively the enforcement of labour regulations. The Committee once again recalls that the financial penalties for violations of the provisions respecting hours of work set out in section 235 of the Labour Code are not sufficient in themselves to ensure compliance with the rules respecting hours of work, but that it is also necessary for the inspection services to be allocated adequate personnel, material and financial resources so that they can discharge their functions adequately and in depth inspections are carried out regularly. The Committee therefore requests the Government to continue providing information, particularly on the application of the Convention in practice, including, for example, extracts from the reports of the inspection services, statistical data on the number of workers covered by the legislation and the number of contraventions reported in relation to hours of work.