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

Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106) - Gabon (Ratification: 1973)

Article 6 of the Convention. Right to weekly day of rest. The Committee notes that, in application of section 183 of the Labour Code, Decrees Nos 726/PR/MTEFP and 728/PR/MTEFP of 29 June 1998 establish specific procedures for fixing weekly hours of rest for certain branches of activity. Furthermore, it notes that the weekly rest period is also regulated under numerous collective agreements. It requests the Government to send the entire text of the collective agreement covering the commerce sector, as only Annex 1 was enclosed with Government’s last report.

Furthermore, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, workers in the public sector, despite their exclusion from the scope of application of Decree No. 728/PR/MTEFP, benefit in practice from a weekly rest period of 48 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. It requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any project to adopt legal provisions or regulations applicable to this group of workers, thereby giving effect to the Convention.

Article 7. Special weekly rest schemes. The Committee notes that sections 3 and 10 of Decree No. 726/PR/MTEFP provide for permanent exemptions to statutory working time in order to make up for hours of work lost or to carry out preparatory or additional work. Given that such exemptions might have an impact on the weekly rest period, for example by establishing a special scheme for certain categories of workers or certain types of establishments, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would clarify how effect is given to the provisions of this Article of the Convention, and especially to the obligation to grant a compensatory rest period.

Article 8. Temporary exemptions. The Committee notes the possibility, provided under sections 3, 8 and 9 of Decree No. 726/PR/MTEFP, of making up for hours of work lost in return for pay at the normal hourly rate. It also notes that, according to section 14 of the Decree, the employer may, inter alia, extend working time without restrictions during one day, in the event of urgent work needed to prevent accidents or do repairs after accidents, for which workers are paid the normal hourly rate; the employer may also ask his/her workers to do overtime of up to 20 hours per week, in the event of work justified by a lack of labour, and the hours of work are considered as overtime. Recalling that Article 8 of the Convention only authorizes temporary exemptions to the weekly rest period in strictly defined circumstances and that it provides for the granting of a compensatory rest period of a total duration of at least 24 hours to all workers whose rest period has been temporarily suspended or reduced, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate whether the weekly day of rest might be affected by these exemptions to the statutory limits on working time.

Part V of the report form. Practical application. The Committee requests the Government to provide general information on the practical application of the Convention, especially statistical data concerning the number of workers covered by the legislation giving effect to the Convention, extracts from reports of inspection services indicating the number of violations of the regulations pertaining to weekly rest which have been recorded and the penalties imposed in this respect, copies of relevant collective agreements, etc.