Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106) - Aruba

Article 7, paragraph 2, and Article 8, paragraph 3, of the Convention. Permanent and temporary exemptions. Compensatory rest. Further to its previous comments relating to section 2(1)(a)–(d) of Labour Decree I (1990 No. GT58), the Committee notes the Government’s indication that in practice it leaves it to the discretion of the employer to award rest periods in accordance with the needs of the enterprise. It also notes that, in view of the contradictions that have emerged between the provisions of the above Decree and those of the 1990 Labour Ordinance, the labour legislation and the relevant part of the Civil Code have been under review since July 2004. The Government indicates that new legislative texts should soon be submitted to Parliament. While noting the Government’s will to introduce a certain degree of flexibility into working time arrangements and rest periods for certain sectors or enterprises, the Committee is bound to recall the basic principles of the Convention, which are intended to ensure a minimum period of rest and relaxation to workers, which is essential for their health and well-being. It therefore requests the Government to: (i) indicate the manner in which it is ensured that, in accordance with Article 7(2) of the Convention, all persons to whom special schemes apply shall be entitled, in respect of each period of seven days, to rest of a total duration at least equivalent to the period provided for in Article 6, that is 24 hours; (ii) indicate the manner in which it is ensured that, in accordance with Article 8(3) of the Convention, where temporary exemptions are made, compensatory rest of a total duration at least equivalent to the minimum period provided for under Article 6 is granted; and (iii) provide copies of the new legislative texts as soon as they have been adopted.

The Committee also notes that, according to the Government’s report submitted under the Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14), the policy followed in respect of the application of Labour Decree I is to grant the workers concerned the fourth Sunday off in a period of four weeks. It further notes that, under the terms of a collective agreement for the hotel sector, which had been provided previously by the Government, a Sunday rest day is granted for each period of six weeks. The Committee recalls that, although the Convention does not establish a precise period within which the compensatory rest period shall be granted, compliance with the spirit of the Convention requires that this should be within a reasonably short period. In this respect, it wishes to draw the Government’s attention to Paragraph 3 of the Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Recommendation, 1957 (No. 103), which indicates that special weekly rest schemes should be such as to ensure that the persons to whom they apply do not work for more than three weeks without receiving the rest periods to which they are entitled. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide clarifications on this subject.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide general information on the application of the Convention in practice, including statistical data on the number of workers covered by the legislation giving effect to the Convention, extracts from reports of the inspection services indicating the number of contraventions reported to the regulations respecting the weekly rest period and the penalties imposed, copies of recent collective agreements containing clauses relating to the weekly rest period (such as the collective agreements in the hotel sector and the theatres and places of public entertainment sector), etc.