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

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) - Paraguay (Ratification: 1966)

Article 4 of the Convention. Necessarily continuous processes. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that, under the terms of section 198 of the Labour Code, in the context of shift work or continuous processes, working hours may not exceed six in the day or 36 in the week. It requests the Government to provide further information on the rules applicable in relation to working time in hydroelectric power stations, to which it referred in its previous report.

Article 6, paragraphs 1(b) and 2. Temporary exceptions. The Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report, no regulations have been issued up to now under section 211 of the Labour Code. It also notes the Government’s indications that such regulations would be adopted after consultations with employers’ and workers’ organizations, in accordance with the practice followed by the Ministry of Labour. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any regulations that may be issued in the future under section 211 of the Labour Code and on the outcome of any consultations held on this subject with the organizations of employers and workers concerned.

The Committee also notes that section 202 of the Labour Code sets out the cases in which a worker may be obliged to work overtime hours. It understands that workers may agree to do overtime in cases other than these, subject to compliance with the limits set out in section 201 of the Labour Code, namely three additional hours a day and a maximum of 57 hours of work in the week. The Committee requests the Government to confirm that this is indeed the case and, if so, to indicate whether there is supervision by the national authorities as to the circumstances justifying overtime work. In this respect, it draws the Government’s attention to the fact that hours of work in excess of the normal limits, namely eight hours in the day and 48 in the week, are only allowed in the specific cases explicitly envisaged by the Convention, and particularly in the case of continuous processes (Article 4), in exceptional cases when so justified (Article 5) and in the case of intermittent, preparatory or complementary work, as well as to allow establishments to deal with exceptional cases of pressure of work (Article 6).

Part V of the report form. Court decisions. The Committee notes with interest the extracts from court decisions reproduced in the Government’s report. It requests the Government to attach the full text of these decisions to its next report. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would provide a copy of ruling No. 9, issued on 19 March 1997 by the labour appeal court, to which the Government refers in its report, but which was not attached thereto.

Part VI of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the outcome of an inspection during which a violation was noted of the provisions of the Labour Code respecting hours of work. It also notes the third report on the human rights situation in Paraguay, adopted in March 2001 by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which notes violations of the legislation on hours of work, particularly in the transport sector. It understands that strikes have been organized in the public transport sector with a view, among other aims, to achieving compliance with the principle of the eight-hour day. The Committee further notes that in January 2009 a project on decent work in public transport was launched under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice and Labour. It notes that this project, the planned duration of which was two weeks, was aimed at reinforcing supervision of compliance with labour legislation, particularly with regard to daily hours of work. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved in the context of the project on decent work in public transport. The Government is also requested to continue providing general information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including, for instance, extracts from the reports of the inspection services and, if such statistics are available, information concerning the number of workers in the industrial sector covered by the legislation respecting hours of work, and the number and nature of the contraventions reported and the measures adopted to resolve them.