Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Working Conditions (Hotels and Restaurants) Convention, 1991 (No. 172) - Curaçao

The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no reply to its previous comments. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments initially made in 2014.

Repetition

Articles 3, 4 and 6 of the Convention. Working conditions in the hotel and catering sector. The Committee notes that according to the Government’s report, the hotel industry and other businesses in the tourism sector are under severe pressure in the current context of economic crisis. The Government adds that due to the fact that the hotels and restaurants are very sensitive to international competition and are very labour intensive, it has decided in the present circumstances to establish special rules on hours of work, weekly rest and overtime for this branch which differ from those applicable in most other sectors under the Labour Decree 2000. The Committee notes, however, that the Government’s report does not reply to the specific points raised in the Committee’s previous comments, in particular as regards: (i) any progress concerning the possible adoption of sector-specific measures on occupational safety and health; (ii) any decision taken regarding the possibility of a phased abolition of the 2000 Labour Decree on Hotels, Restaurants and Casinos to which the Government had alluded in an earlier report; (iii) explanations on the operation of the system of service charges, particularly as a means to complete the payment of the minimum wage paid out to adult workers; and (iv) copies of relevant sectoral collective agreements currently in force. Recalling that a national policy designed to improve the working conditions of the workers in the hotel and catering sector should seek to bring them closer to those prevailing in other sectors of the economy, the Committee requests the Government to indicate any measures taken or planned to that end and to provide in its next report up to date information on any developments regarding the points highlighted above.