Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171) - Portugal (Ratification: 1995)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and the detailed information it contains in reply to the previous direct request.

Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government regarding the categories of workers excluded from the scope of the Convention and the reasons for such exclusion. As regards dockers, the Committee notes the Government’s statement in its report that the latter are not subject to the provisions of Legislative Decree No. 409/71 of 27 September 1971. The Committee observes, however, that section 3(1) of Legislative Decree No. 409/71 refers to special provisions. It would therefore appear that Legislative Decree No. 280/93 is the text governing dockers. Furthermore, according to section 1(3) of Legislative Decree No. 409/71, the provisions of this Legislative Decree are to be adopted to the specificities of dock work through the conclusion of collective agreements. The Committee therefore asks the Government to indicate whether the collective agreements regulating dock work have been adopted in respect of working hours and night work in particular, and, if so, to provide copies to the Office.

Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee notes that section 8 of Act No. 73/98 of 10 September 1998 provides for night workers to undergo a health assessment, to be free of charge and confidential, before taking up an assignment and thereafter at regular intervals. It asks the Government to provide additional information on the right of night workers to undergo a health assessment whenever they experience health problems which are not caused by factors other than the performance of night work.

Article 9. The Committee recalls that in its previous comments it noted that, according to the Government’s report, a law was being drafted which would establish appropriate social services for night workers and, where necessary, for workers performing night work. The Committee notes that the draft legislation has not yet been adopted. The Committee notes that the Government in its last report indicates that according to Act No. 34446 of 17 March 1945, enterprises, including those which employ night workers, must set up canteens. While noting this information, the Committee considers that this Article of the Convention is much broader, providing for the establishment of appropriate social services for night workers. It therefore asks the Government to take the necessary steps to bring the legislation into line with the Convention in this respect and, in the meantime, to supply information on the collective agreements under which services such as those stipulated in this Article of the Convention are to be provided.

Article 11. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee recalls that it asked the Government to provide information on the collective agreements giving effect to the provisions of the Convention. The Committee notes that, in addition to giving detailed information on legislative measures adopted to give effect to various Articles of the Convention, the Government states that these Articles are applied by collective agreements, a case in point being Article 2 of the Convention in respect of dockers, and Article 9, as concerns appropriate social services for night workers ensured by collective agreement. The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will provide in its next report copies of collective agreements relating to the various subjects mentioned above.

Lastly, the Committee asks the Government to supply, in accordance with Part V of the report form, information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, particularly statistics on night workers, extracts of official reports, information on inspection visits and the number and nature of contraventions reported.