Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) - Argentina (Ratification: 1933)

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

Article 2 of the Convention. Daily and weekly limits on hours of work. The Committee requests the Government to refer to the comments made under Article 3 of the Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30).

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Article 2 of the Convention. Daily and weekly limits of hours of work. The Committee requests the Government to refer to its comments made under Articles 3 and 4 of the Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30).

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

Article 2 of the Convention. Daily and weekly limits of hours of work. The Committee requests the Government to refer to its comments made under Article 3 of the Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30).

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Articles 2 and 4 of the Convention. Hours of work in ports. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that port workers’ individual rights in respect of working time have been protected by the Office for the supervision of work in ports, at sea, on rivers and on lakes since it reopened in December 2005, in collaboration with the Occupational Risks Supervisory Authority (SRT). It also notes the information that properly registered collective agreements establish the system for calculating hours of work where they exceed eight hours a day. The Committee notes in this connection that the collective agreements on port work supplied by the Government – namely collective labour agreements No. 441/06 of 30 November 2005 and No. 457/06 of 8 August 2006 – provide for the possibility of extending the maximum daily hours of work by up to four hours and eight hours respectively. The Committee points out that the Convention allows the limit of eight hours a day and 48 hours a week to be exceeded only in very limited and clearly defined circumstances. In shift work in general, the Convention allows workers to exceed eight hours a day and 48 hours a week provided that the average hours of work calculated over a period of three weeks or less does not exceed eight per day and 48 per week (Article 2(c)); in the case of shift work in processes which are required to be carried on continuously (for example blast furnaces, refineries, chemical industry, cement industry, salt mines, etc.), the Convention allows these limits to be circumvented provided that the hours of work do not exceed 56 a week on average (Article 4). The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that any authorization of overtime in the port sector complies fully with these requirements. It also asks the Government to indicate whether work in ports is treated as a process which is required to be carried on continuously within the meaning of Article 4 of the Convention.

Part VI of the report form. Practical application. The Committee requests the Government to provide general information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice including, for instance, statistics on the number of workers covered by the legislation, the number of contraventions reported in respect of hours of work and the penalties imposed, extracts from reports on the work of the Office for the supervision of work in ports, at sea, on rivers and on lakes and of the SRT, copies of relevant collective agreement, etc.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Article 2 of the Convention. Working hours in ports. The Committee notes that section 17 of Decree No. 2284/91 of 31 October 1991 on the deregulation of the domestic trade in goods and services and foreign trade abolishes all restrictions on working hours and workdays concerning loading and unloading, and other tasks necessary for the uninterrupted operation of ports "without prejudice to the individual rights of the worker". The Committee requests the Government to indicate in what way, in the context of the application of this provision, the protection of the individual rights of port workers is ensured with regard to limits to the length of daily and weekly working hours.

Moreover, in its previous comment, the Committee requested the Government to indicate whether the Superintendency of Work-related Risks (Superintendencia de Riesgos del Trabajo) was competent to deal with complaints relating to excessively long working hours. The Government is invited to provide information in this regard and, as appropriate, to supply copies of any texts governing the activities and competence of this body.

Finally, the Committee requests the Government to provide general indications on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, in particular in the context of the ongoing serious economic crisis which has affected Argentina for the last few years. The Committee requests, for example, extracts from inspection services reports; statistical data on the number of workers covered by the legislation, if possible; the number and nature of contraventions reported; the exemptions authorized under the terms of section 4 of Act No. 11544 of 12 September 1929 on working hours, etc.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

The Committee notes the Government's report for the period ending June 1998 and the information provided in reply to its previous observation. With reference to the 1993 communication from the Congress of Argentine Workers (CAT) alleging that draft legislation provided for daily working hours which could reach a maximum of ten hours, the Government states that no draft legislation provides for changes in the current legal provisions concerning working hours contained in Act No. 11.544 and Decree No. 13.943/44.

Furthermore, the Government states that the National Directorate of Occupation Safety and Health, which forms part of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, ceased its activities at the end of 1995 and that certain of its functions have been taken over by the Superintendency of Work-related Risks. This body has not registered the complaint which the Single Trade Union of Argentine Dock Workers (SUPA) submitted to the above National Directorate and which covered, among other matters, the fact that daily working hours in the port sector could sometimes exceed 12 continuous hours. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the Superintendency of Work-related Risks is competent to deal with complaints of the nature of the one submitted in August 1995 by the SUPA to the General Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health and to supply any texts governing its activities and competence.

The Committee notes the information to the effect that the current working hours arrangements in the port sector are established by the Decree governing hours of work for loading operations in the Port of Buenos Aires (No. 6284 of 3 June 1960), which was extended to all national ports under the terms of Decree No. 3457 of 18 November 1966. It requests the Government to indicate the consequences on the above arrangements of the adoption of the Act respecting port activities (No. 24093 of 24 June 1992). Finally, it requests the Government to indicate whether effect is given to sections 17 and 18 of the Decree respecting the deregulation of the economy (No. 2364 of 31 October 1991) and, where appropriate, to indicate the impact of the implementation of the above provisions on working hours arrangements in the above sectors.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 83rd ILC session (1996)

1. In a direct request that it made in 1994, the Committee noted a communication from the Congress of Argentinian Workers (CTA) alleging that a draft text of the labour legislation envisaged that daily working hours could be extended to up to ten hours, while under Article 2 of the Convention, working hours shall not exceed eight in the day. The Committee requested the Government to make its own observations on this matter.

2. Furthermore, the Union of United Argentine Dockworkers (SUPA), in a communication dated 5 September 1995, refers to cases referred to the National Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health which, among other matters, raise the issue of working days that at times are longer than 12 continuous hours. In a letter dated 2 October 1995, the Office requested the Government to make its own comments which would be brought to the notice of the Committee.

3. The Committee trusts that the Government will refer, in its next detailed report on the application of the Convention, to the above issues and that it will provide the information required by the report form on the Convention, with an indication of the legislation respecting hours of work governing port activities and other sectors affected by sections 17 and 18 of Decree No. 2364/91 of 31 October 1991 respecting economic deregulation.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

The Committee notes the Government's report for the period 1988-1992.

It also notes the communication from the Congress of Argentinian Workers (CTA) alleging that the draft text to reform the labour legislation envisages increasing daily working hours to ten. If that were the case, such a provision would be incompatible with Article 2 of the Convention, under which working hours shall not exceed eight in the day.

The Committee would be grateful if the Government would make its own observations on this matter, as it was invited to do by the Office in a communication dated 29 June 1993.