Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2004, published 93rd ILC session (2005)

Working Conditions (Hotels and Restaurants) Convention, 1991 (No. 172) - Cyprus (Ratification: 1997)

The Committee takes due note of the Government’s report and the attached documentation. It notes, in particular, the adoption of the Hotel Employees (Conditions of Service) Amendment Regulations P.I.254/2002 and the Catering Employees (Conditions of Service) Amendment Law No. 65(I)/2002 which provide for an annual leave with pay of at least four weeks for all hotel and catering employees. It also notes that the latter enactment has reduced the weekly working hours of catering employees from 50 to 48 and the daily working hours from nine to eight.

Article 5, paragraph 3, of the Convention. The Committee recalls its previous comments in which it asked the Government to specify the requirements for granting of paid leave to hotel and catering employees whose period of service is not of sufficient duration to qualify them for full annual leave, and to indicate whether those employees are entitled to payment of wages in lieu in case they do not meet such requirements. In its reply, the Government indicates that following the adoption of the Hotel Employees (Conditions of Service) Amendment Regulations P.I.254/2002 and the Catering Employees (Conditions of Service) Amendment Law No. 65(I)/2002, employees whose period of service is not of sufficient duration to qualify them for full annual leave will be entitled to a proportional period of leave or to payment of wages in case of termination of their contract of employment, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Annual Holidays with Pay Laws of 1967-2001. The Government further adds that when payment of annual leave is made by the Central Holiday Fund workers are entitled to be paid from the Fund for the proportionate length of annual leave provided that they have completed 13 weeks of service whereas no payment is made for those with less than 13 weeks of service. While noting with interest the legislative amendments outlined above, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would clarify whether and how the workers’ entitlement to paid leave irrespective of their period of service, as required under this Article of the Convention, is protected in the case of holiday pay claims administered by the Central Holiday Fund.

Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the average number of inspections during the period 1997-2000 was approximately 300 per year and that a number of grievances were settled at the workplace, while in 2001 four grievances were examined and settled by the tripartite Committee on Employment Conditions in Hotels set up under section 3(1) of the Hotel Employees  (Conditions of Service) Regulations. The Committee trusts that the Government will continue to supply up-to-date information on the practical application of the Convention, including for instance statistics on the number of workers employed in the hotel, restaurants and catering industry, labour inspection results, difficulties encountered in the enforcement of relevant legislation, extracts from officials reports and recent surveys addressing questions related to the employment conditions in the tourism sector in general and any other particulars bearing on the effect given to the requirements of the Convention in national law and practice.