Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1990, published 77th ILC session (1990)

Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30) - Chile (Ratification: 1935)

The Committee refers to its previous direct request. In two successive communications, the National Federation of Telephone and Telecommunication Workers' Unions, the Administrative and Specialised Workers' Union No. 9 of the Chilean Telephone Company and the National Telephone Union have submitted comments on the application of the Convention. These organisations referred in particular to the unilateral decision taken by the management of the Telephone Company of Chile to change the working hours of its commercial operations staff by increasing them to 50 hours and 15 minutes per week and alleged the violation of section 23 of the Labour Code, which sets the normal duration of a working week at 48 hours, and of Article 3 of the Convention which lays down that the hours of work of persons to whom this Convention applies shall not exceed 48 hours in the week.

These comments were transmitted to the Government by letters dated 6 and 20 December 1988. The Government gave its reply in a communication dated 21 March 1989. It states that in fact the working week for the workers concerned, which was originally 41 hours and 30 minutes distributed over five days, has been increased to 45 hours and 15 minutes distributed over six days, but that the five hours set aside for meals, which the trade union organisations consider to be a part of the working week (which would bring the working week up to 50 hours and 15 minutes), must not be counted in working hours, under section 33 of the Labour Code.

The Committee notes the Government's reply. It points out that Article 2 considers as hours of work "the time during which the persons employed are at the disposal of the employer; it does not include rest periods during which the persons employed are not at the disposal of the employer". It therefore appears to the Committee that, in this particular case, the working hours in the week, which were originally 41 hours and 30 minutes distributed over five days and which have been increased to 45 hours and 15 minutes distributed over six days, remain in conformity with Article 3, which sets the limit of working hours in the week at 48 hours.