Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948 (No. 89) - Bangladesh (Ratification: 1972)

Article 3 of the Convention. Prohibition of night work for women. The Committee notes that following the adoption of the new Labour Act 2006, the general prohibition against the employment of women during the night has been removed. According to section 109 of the Labour Act, women may not be employed without their consent between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., which of course implies that female workers can henceforth make their own free decisions as to whether they wish to perform night work. The Committee is therefore obliged to conclude that the Convention is no longer given effect in either law or practice.

Under the circumstances, and while noting that the Government is currently in the process of finalizing the Rules under the new Labour Act, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), which is not devised as a gender-specific instrument but focuses on the protection of all night workers in all branches and occupations. The Committee once again invites the Government to consider the possibility of ratifying Convention No. 171 and to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.

In addition, the Committee notes that the Government remains bound by the provisions of the Night Work (Women) Convention, 1919 (No. 4), and, therefore, action needs also to be taken in this regard. In its General Survey of 2001 on the night work of women in industry, the Committee concluded that Convention No. 4 was a rigid instrument, ill-suited to present-day realities and manifestly of historical importance only (paragraph 193). Similarly, the ILO Governing Body, based on the recommendations of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards, decided to retain Convention No. 4 as a candidate for possible abrogation considering that it no longer corresponded to current needs and had become obsolete (see GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraphs 31–32 and 38). The Committee takes this opportunity to recall that contrary to most other Conventions which may be denounced after an initial period of five or ten years but only during an interval of one year, the denunciation of Convention No. 4 is possible at any time provided that the representative organizations of employers and workers are fully consulted in advance. The Committee, therefore, strongly encourages the Government to take appropriate action in respect of obsolete Convention No. 4.