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

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) - United Arab Emirates (Ratification: 1982)

Article 1 of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee notes that, under section 3(a) of Federal Law No. 8 of 20 April 1980 on regulation of labour relations (Labour Relations Law), this law is not applicable to officials employed in public companies and institutions if they are subject to the staff regulations or statutes of the latter. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether public industrial undertakings within the meaning of the Convention are excluded from the scope of this law pursuant to the abovementioned section and, if so, to supply a copy of the legal provisions regulating the hours of work of the workers concerned.

Article 2. Daily and weekly hours of work. The Committee notes that section 65 of the Labour Relations Law provides that normal working hours may not exceed eight hours per day or 48 hours per week. It requests the Government to confirm that both these limits are applicable on a cumulative basis, as required by the Convention. Moreover, the Committee notes that working time may be extended to nine hours per day in certain cases, particularly for persons involved in caretaking work. It draws the Government’s attention to the fact that Article 2(b) of the Convention only allows the normal eight-hour limit on daily working time to be exceeded if the hours are reduced on one or more other days of the week, so that the 48-hour weekly limit is not exceeded. The Committee requests the Government to supply further information on limits on working hours applicable to persons involved in caretaking work pursuant to section 65 of the Labour Relations Law.

Article 6, paragraph 1(a). Permanent exceptions. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report concerning the draft Ministerial Order on preparatory and complementary work in industrial undertakings. It notes that the technical committee which issued a report on this matter in 1996 also recommended the adoption of an amendment to the Labour Relations Law, aimed at limiting the cases in which permanent exceptions to normal limits on working hours would be authorized, referring in this connection to the cases listed in the Ministerial Order. It requests the Government to indicate whether it still plans to amend the Labour Relations Law and, if so, to provide information on progress made on the procedure for the adoption of this amendment. With regard to the Ministerial Order itself, the Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report, this text is still under examination, and consultations within the administration, followed by tripartite consultations, must still be held. In view of the considerable amount of time which has passed since the publication of the technical committee’s report, the Committee requests the Government to complete without delay the process for the drawing up of this Ministerial Order. It requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any developments in this respect.

Articles 3 and 6, paragraph 1(b). Temporary exceptions. The Committee notes that, according to the information contained in the Government’s report of 1998, a study on temporary exceptions to the normal limits on working hours had been undertaken. It notes that the Government has made no further reference since then to the work undertaken in this field, particularly the possible drawing up of a draft Ministerial Order regulating these temporary exceptions. The Committee hopes that the Government will take the necessary steps in the near future to authorize the adoption of temporary exceptions to the limits of eight hours per day and 48 hours per week, except in cases of accident, urgent work or force majeure referred to in Article 3 of the Convention, only to enable establishments to deal with exceptional cases of pressure of work, as provided for by Article 6(1)(b) of the Convention. The Government is requested to supply information on the progress made in this field and on consultations held in this context with employers’ and workers’ organizations.

Article 8, paragraph 1(c). Record-keeping. The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain any reply to its previous comment on this point. It therefore requests the Government once again to take the necessary steps to impose the obligation on employers to keep a record of all additional hours worked by their employees.

Part VI of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide a general description of the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including, for example, extracts from the reports of the inspection services and, if possible, statistics on the number of workers covered by the legislation, the number of overtime hours worked in the context of permanent or temporary exceptions, the number and nature of reported infringements of the legal provisions regarding working time, and also any remedial measures taken in this regard.