Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95) - Albania (Ratification: 2001)

Article 2 of the Convention. Scope of application. Further to its previous comment on categories of workers that are excluded from the scope of application of the Labour Code under section 4, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to civil servants whose employment and working conditions are regulated by Law No. 8549 of 11 November 1999. The Committee understands, however, that the provisions of the Labour Code regarding the protection of wages continue to apply to civil servants to the extent that Law No. 8549 does not address such issues, except for the salary structure.

Article 4. Partial payment of wages in kind. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to the Council of Ministers Decision No. 139 of 14 March 2007, on the limits of determining the wages in kind, which basically establishes a meal allowance for the workers employed at workplaces with no canteen available. As the text of the Council of Ministers Decision No. 139 has not been made available, the Committee would appreciate receiving a copy. Moreover, the Committee notes the Government's indication that, according to paragraph 2 of Decision No. 139, allowances in kind are defined in the collective or individual labour agreement. In this regard, the Committee recalls that the Convention permits the partial payment of wages in kind only to the extent that is authorized by laws or regulations, collective agreements or arbitral awards but not individual agreements. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to modify section 118(2) of the Labour Code and paragraph 2 of the Council of Ministers Decision No. 139 in order to bring them into conformity with this Article of the Convention.

Article 13. Date and place of payment of wages. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to the Council of Ministers Decision No. 230 of 7 April 2010 on the assignment of responsibilities of the central government institutions concerning the procedures of making payments. The Committee observes, however, that this text relates only to public sector employees. The Committee recalls that the Convention requires measures to ensure that wages are paid only on working days and at or near the workplace and also that payment of wages in taverns, places of amusement or commercial shops is prohibited. The Committee again requests the Government to take appropriate action in order to give full effect to this provision of the Convention.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide in its next report up-to-date information on the application of this Convention in practice, including, for instance, extracts from reports of the labour inspection services, statistics on the number of inspection visits carried out and the results obtained in matters covered by this Convention, any difficulties encountered in the regular payment of wages either in the public or the private sector as well as any other particulars which would facilitate the Committee’s task to supervise the observance of the standards set out in this Convention.