Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106) - Gabon (Ratification: 1973)

Article 6 of the Convention. Right to weekly day of rest. The Committee notes that section 1 of the Labour Code stipulates that persons appointed to a permanent post in a public administration are not covered by the Code. The Committee also notes that Act No. 002/2005 establishing the general statute for the public service does not provide for the right to a weekly day of rest. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate whether and how it plans to guarantee that public employees with a permanent contract benefit from weekly rest of at least 24 consecutive hours in each period of seven days. Noting that the Office has not received a copy of the collective agreement for the commerce sector, the Committee again requests the Government to send the entire text of the collective agreement, along with a copy of any other sectoral collective agreement dealing with the weekly day of rest that is currently in force.

Articles 7 and 8. Permanent and temporary exceptions. The Committee notes the adoption of Decree No. 0933/PR/MTEPS establishing the daily distribution of the working week, which provides for a legal working week of 40 hours spread over five days, from Monday to Friday, except in establishments operating round the clock and those where social implications call for a different distribution. The Committee also notes that section 7 of the Decree stipulates that sectoral and/or work agreements must be adopted, as required, to introduce any practical arrangements that may be necessary to comply with the legal provisions regarding the working week. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information on the application of section 7 of Decree No. 0933/PR/MTEPS and to transmit a copy of any sectoral and/or works agreement that may be in force which deals with practical arrangements for the weekly day of rest in commercial establishment.

The Committee further notes that Decree No. 726/PR/MTEFP of 29 June 1998 made under section 165 of the Labour Code, which appears to be still in force, provides for the possibility of permanent and temporary exceptions to the legal hours of work, for example in sectors where there may be normal seasonable reductions in the workload because of the conditions in which they operate so as to permit the execution of preparatory or complementary work, or in the case of urgent work so as to avoid accidents or to cope with an unexpected increase in the workload. Recalling that, according to Articles 7(2) and 8(3) of the Convention, compensatory rest is compulsory and not optional in the case of exceptions, the Committee requests the Government to inform it whether the normal weekly rest of at least 24 consecutive hours in commerce and offices may be affected by these exceptions and, if so, to indicate the steps that have been taken or envisaged to guarantee compensatory rest as required by the Convention.