Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30) - Ghana (Ratification: 1973)

The Committee notes the adoption of the Labour Act of 8 October 2003 (Act No. 651). It requests the Government to indicate the date of entry into force of the Act and to provide the Office with a copy of its implementing regulations as soon as they have been adopted. The Committee would also be grateful to be provided with fuller information on the following points.

Article 1 of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee notes that, under the terms of section 1, the Labour Act applies to all workers and to all employers (except the Armed Forces, the Police Service, the Prison Service and the Security and Intelligence Agencies). However, section 44 of the Act provides that sections 33, 34 and 40 to 43, with respect to maximum hours of work and rest periods, do not apply to task workers, who are defined in section 175 of the Act as persons who perform a piece of work for a fee. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether certain workers employed in commercial establishments or establishments in which the persons employed are mainly engaged in office work are paid on a piecework basis. If so, the Government is requested to provide information on any provisions as to hours of work applicable to task workers, and their application in practice.

Article 3. Weekly hours of work. The Committee notes with interest that the new Labour Act reduces the statutory weekly hours of work from 45 to 40 hours.

Article 6. Averaging of hours of work. The Committee notes that section 34(b) of the Labour Act allows for the averaging of hours of work over a period of four weeks, without limiting this possibility to exceptional cases where the circumstances in which the work has to be carried out make the limits of eight hours in the day and 48 hours in the week inapplicable. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to limit the application of this provision to the cases envisaged by the Convention. It also requests the Government to limit to ten hours the daily working hours for the application of section 34(b) of the Labour Act, as prescribed by the Convention. The Committee further notes that, in the context of shift work, section 36 of the Labour Act permits the averaging of hours of work over a period of four weeks or less. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether this form of organization of work is found in commercial establishments or establishments in which the persons employed are mainly engaged in office work.

Article 7, paragraph 2(a). Temporary exceptions - Exceptional circumstances. The Committee notes that, under section 38 of the Labour Act, workers may be required to perform additional hours without additional pay in certain exceptional circumstances, including an accident threatening human lives or the very existence of the enterprise. It requests the Government to specify the circumstances other than an accident in which this provision may be applied.

Article 7, paragraphs 2(d), 3 and 4. Temporary exceptions - Abnormal pressure of work. The Committee notes that, under section 35, subsection 3(a), of the Labour Act, workers may be compelled to do overtime work if they are employed in enterprises the very nature of which requires overtime in order to be viable. It requests the Government to provide information on the enterprises covered by this provision. The Government is also requested to indicate whether, as required by the Convention, legislative measures limit the authorization of overtime hours to cases in which such enterprises have to deal with cases of abnormal pressure of work due to special circumstances, in so far as the employer cannot ordinarily be expected to resort to other measures, and whether the number of additional hours of work which may be allowed in the day and in the year has been determined. Finally, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that the rate of pay for overtime has to be increased by at least 25 per cent in relation to the regular rate. However, it notes that section 35(2) of the Labour Act only provides that the undertaking has to fix rates of pay for overtime work, without establishing the statutory minimum rate. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate the measures adopted or envisaged to ensure compliance with the increased rate of pay prescribed by the Convention.

Article 8. Consultation with workers’ and employers’ organizations. The Committee notes that the Labour Act makes provisions for those exceptions allowed under Articles 6 and 7 of the Convention. However, the Government has not indicated the manner in which the consultation of workers’ and employers’ organizations is ensured in this respect. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether such consultations are held in practice.

Article 11, paragraph 2. Posting of hours of work and record of additional hours. The Committee notes that, under section 39 of the Labour Act, the hours at which work begins and ends must be fixed by the rules of each enterprise. It requests the Government to provide additional information on the manner in which employers meet their obligation to notify hours of work and rest periods to workers, for example, by providing them with a copy of the enterprise rules. The Government is also requested to indicate whether employers are legally obliged to keep records of additional hours worked. In this respect, the Committee notes that, according to the information provided by the Government in its report, the information required by Article 11, paragraph 2, of the Convention is contained in collective agreements. The Government refers to section 98 of the Labour Act, under which a sectoral collective agreement may include provisions on, among other matters, the conditions of work, including the hours of work, rest periods, meal breaks, etc. The Committee wishes to emphasize that the existence of sectoral collective agreements is not sufficient to ensure compliance with this provision in relation to all the workers covered by the Convention. Moreover, section 98, referred to above, does not require the inclusion of such provisions in collective agreements but merely provides for this possibility.

Article 11, paragraph 3. Employment of a person outside the hours fixed. The Committee recalls that, under this provision of the Convention, it must be made an offence to employ any person outside the hours fixed or during rest periods. It requests the Government to indicate the legal provisions which give effect to this rule.

Article 12. Penalties. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the penalties established to ensure the enforcement of the provisions of the national legislation on hours of work, as envisaged in the Convention.

Part V of the report form. The Committee notes with interest that a training workshop was organized in September 2004 for labour inspectors to familiarize them with the new Labour Act and to ensure its effective enforcement. It also notes that in 2003 inspections were carried out in 254 establishments employing 8,196 workers. The Committee requests the Government to provide, where possible, data on the number and nature of the contraventions reported during these inspections and to continue providing information of a general nature on the effect given to the Convention in practice.