Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106) - North Macedonia (Ratification: 1991)

The Committee notes with concern that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 6 of the Convention. Entitlement to weekly rest. The Committee notes that, under section 121 of the Labour Relations Law of 22 July 2005 (Official Gazette No. 62/2005), a full-time employee may, as an exception, conclude a part-time employment contract with another employer for not more than ten hours a week. It also notes that section 121(2) of the Labour Relations Law requires such a contract to include agreed provisions on the manner in which the employee is expected to exercise the rights and obligations arising from the full-time employment contract. The Committee therefore understands that section 121(2) of the Labour Relations Law seeks to guarantee the worker’s entitlement to weekly rest in case the additional part-time employment would impact on that entitlement.The Committee requests the Government to clarify whether this understanding is correct.

Articles 7, 8 and 11. Permanent and temporary exceptions. In reply to the Committee’s previous comment, the Government indicates that, under section 134(3) of the Labour Relations Law, work on the weekly rest day – which in principle is Sunday – may be rendered necessary by objective, technical or organizational reasons, that is, whenever the work process cannot be interrupted without impacting negatively on the enterprise’s work.Recalling that permanent and temporary exemptions to the ordinary weekly rest scheme may be authorized only under the limited circumstances specified in Articles 7 and 8 of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to provide further clarification on the categories of workers and the types of establishments subject to special weekly rest schemes and to indicate how it is ensured that temporary exemptions granted under section 134(3) of the Labour Relations Law do not go beyond the circumstances provided for in Article 8(1) of the Convention. In addition, referring to section 136(3) of the Labour Relations Law, the Committee again requests the Government to indicate the steps taken or envisaged to re-examine the appropriateness of special weekly rest schemes providing for the averaging of weekly rest over a reference period of up to six months, and to consider the possibility of amending the relevant provisions of the Labour Relations Law accordingly.

Article 8(3). Compensatory rest. The Committee requests the Government to indicate how it is ensured in law and in practice that, where temporary exemptions are authorized, compensatory rest of at least a 24-hour duration is granted, as required under Article 8(3) of the Convention.