Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) - Syrian Arab Republic (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report to the effect that the draft Legislative Decree to amend certain provisions of Labour Code, No. 91 of 1959, including section 117 which the Committee has been commenting on for many years in terms of its conformity with Article 6 of the Convention, has been revised and again submitted to the President of the Council of Ministers. The provision currently in force provides that working hours and pauses must be organized in such a way that the workers presence at the place of work does not exceed 11 hours per day. The Committee has observed that such a situation could lead to abuse and has asked the Government several times to amend this section so that, except where work is "of a specially intermittent nature," the presence of the worker is not required at the workplace outside the authorized hours of work. In this connection, it recalls that Article 2 stipulates that working hours shall not exceed eight in the day and 48 in the week.

The Committee trusts that the above-mentioned draft Legislative Decree will be adopted in the very near future and that it will bring the legislation fully into conformity with the above-mentioned provisions of the Convention, in the light of the Committee's repeated comments.