Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) - Portugal (Ratification: 1928)

Previous comment

The Committee notes the observations of the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers-National Trade Unions (CGTP-IN) communicated with the Government’s report.

Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention. Exceeding normal hours of work. Calculating hours of work as an average. Compressed working week. Time banking. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government that the Labour Code implemented the provisions of the Working Time Directive 2003/88/EC, issued by the European Parliament and Council on 4 November 2003, which anticipates various mechanisms for organizing working time that diverge from the eight-hour per day and 40-hour per week framework, allowing for the adjustment of work schedules to meet the needs of the undertaking. The Government also informs that flexibility and time-banking arrangements are schemes for the redistribution of working hours, aimed at simplifying the organization of work schedules, with a specific number of hours designated as the standard daily and/or weekly working hours, while not altering the overall average of the standard working time. The Committee notes the observation of the CGTP-IN which points out that these systems fail to adhere to the provisions of the Convention, particularly when considering the limited scenarios in which the Convention permits deviations from the prescribed maximum working time limits. CGTP-IN further asserts that national legislation does not confine the application of these systems to exceptional situations, nor does it restrict their implementation through collective agreements. Additionally, CGTP-IN indicates that these systems typically pose a substantial impediment to balancing the professional and personal/family lives of employees. The Committee wishes to emphasize that going beyond the daily and weekly limits established by the Conventions is likely to affect the health and well-being of workers and their work–life balance (2018 General Survey on working-time instruments, paragraph 74). Therefore, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the implementation of flexible working-time arrangements, such as averaging hours of work, compressed work-weeks or time banking, is in compliance with the provisions of the Convention and the limits to daily and weekly working hours established by the Convention.