Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14) - Mauritius (Ratification: 1969)

Article 2(3) of the Convention. Weekly rest day established by tradition or custom. The Committee recalls its previous comment, in which it noted that providing in general terms for the workers’ entitlement to Sunday rest at least twice a month, unless otherwise agreed, might be inconsistent with the principle of uniformity underlying this Article of the Convention (that is weekly rest to be granted whenever possible simultaneously to all the persons concerned and to coincide wherever possible with the traditional day of rest). The Committee notes with satisfaction that, following the latest amendments to the Employment Rights Act (Act No. 6 of 2013), section 14(5) has been modified and now provides that a worker shall be entitled to a rest day of at least 24 consecutive hours during every period of seven days, and that the rest day shall be a Sunday, except where by nature of its operational requirements, an employer operates on a seven-day week, in which case the rest day shall, at least twice a month, be a Sunday. The Committee considers that as it now reads, the Employment Rights Act clearly makes it sufficiently clear that Sunday is the ordinary weekly rest day and that workers may be obliged to perform Sunday work on an exceptional basis and only for specific reasons related to the continuous operation of the enterprise. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that the weekly rest provisions in all remuneration order regulations issued by the Minister of Labour are redrafted along the lines of the amended section 14(5) of the Employment Rights Act.

Article 5. Compensatory rest. The Committee recalls an earlier comment in which it requested the Government to indicate whether the Employment Rights Act contains a general provision guaranteeing compensatory rest in the case of total or partial exceptions to the ordinary weekly rest period. The Committee understands that no such provision has as yet been introduced to the Employment Rights Act. Recalling the importance of compensatory rest periods for the protection of the health and well-being of workers, the Committee requests the Government to consider the possibility of taking appropriate action in this respect.