Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30) - Ghana (Ratification: 1973)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report merely reproduces the same information contained in its last report of 2008. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous request which concerned the following points.

Article 1 of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee had noted that, according to the Government, task workers in commercial establishments are entitled to a limitation of their working time, as well as to rest periods. It nevertheless draws the Government’s attention to the fact that, in accordance with section 44 of the Labour Act, section 33 of this Act with respect to maximum hours of work does not apply to task workers. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the statutory provisions limiting the hours of work for this category of workers.

Articles 6 and 8. Averaging of hours of work. The Committee notes that the Government has merely reproduced the provisions of section 34(b) of the Labour Act, which allows for the averaging of hours of work over a period of four weeks, without limiting this arrangement, as provided under Article 6 of the Convention, to exceptional cases where the circumstances in which the work has to be carried on make the limits of eight hours in the day and 48 hours in the week inapplicable. Furthermore, the granting of exceptions in accordance with the Articles of the Convention requires the adoption of regulations made after consultation with the workers’ and employers’ organizations, special regard being paid to collective agreements concluded by these organizations. Such regulations are not provided for under article 34(b) of the Labour Act. The Committee asks the Government once again to take the necessary measures to restrict the application of section 34(b) of the Labour Act to the cases envisaged by the Convention, and to make them conditional upon regulations made by the competent and national authority, adopted after consultation with the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned. Furthermore, it requests the Government once again to limit to ten hours the daily working hours for the application of section 34(b) of the Labour Act, as prescribed by this provision of the Convention. The Government is also asked to indicate whether shift work, covered under section 36 of the Labour Act, is a form of organization of work found in commercial establishments or establishments in which the persons employed are mainly engaged in office work. The Committee also notes that section 34(c) of the Labour Act allows for the averaging of hours of work over a period of one year in enterprises with a seasonal activity, without other conditions. The Committee requests the Government to take measures to bring the introduction of such a scheme of averaging hours of work under regulations adopted by the competent national authority, made after consultation with the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned.

Articles 7(2) and 8. Temporary exceptions. The Committee had previously noted the Government’s reference to section 38 of the Labour Act, which allows enterprises to require workers to perform additional hours without extra pay in certain exceptional circumstances, including in the case of “an accident threatening human lives or the very existence of the enterprise”. In this respect, it had noted that, according to the Government, it is up to the employers to specify the circumstances other than an accident under which additional hours of work without pay may be performed. The Committee recalls, however, that Article 7(2) of the Convention only allows the granting of temporary exceptions, apart from accidents, in very specific circumstances: in case of urgent work to machinery or plant; in case of force majeure; in order to prevent the loss of perishable goods or avoid endangering the technical results of the work; in order to allow for special work such as stocktaking and the preparation of balance sheets; or in the case of an abnormal pressure of work. The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will take measures to limit, in a manner that is in conformity with the Convention, the situations in which employers are authorized to ask their employees to do additional hours of work.

Furthermore, the Committee notes that the Government has not replied to its previous comments on section 35(3)(a) of the Labour Act, under which workers may be compelled to do overtime work if they are employed in enterprises the very nature of which requires overtime in order to be viable. The Committee requests the Government once again to provide information on the enterprises covered by this provision; to indicate whether the possibility of demanding workers to do overtime is limited to cases in which such enterprises have to deal with cases of abnormal pressure of work due to special circumstances, in so far as the employer cannot ordinarily be expected to resort to other measures; and to stipulate whether legal provisions establish the number of additional hours of work allowed in the day and in the year. Furthermore, the Committee draws the Government’s attention once again to the fact that the rate of pay of overtime has to be increased by at least 25 per cent in relation to the regular rate, whereas section 35(2) of the Labour Act only provides that the enterprise has to fix rates of pay for overtime work, without establishing the statutory minimum rate. The Committee requests the Government to indicate once again the measures adopted or envisaged to ensure compliance with the increased rate of pay prescribed by the Convention.

Finally, the Committee had previously noted the Government indications that it consults employers’ and workers’ organizations on labour matters at all times. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the consultations previously held which led to the determination of the types of temporary exceptions provided under the Labour Act.

Article 11(2). Posting of hours of work and record of additional hours. The Committee had noted that according to the information provided by the Government, hours of work are generally stipulated in enterprise rules. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether, if there are no such provisions in the enterprise rules, employers are bound – and in which manner – to inform their employees of the hours of work. The Government is also asked to specify whether employers are required to keep records of additional hours worked by their employees.

Article 11(3). Employment of a person outside the hours fixed. The Committee requests the Government once again whether legal provisions stipulate that employing a person outside established working hours or during rest periods is considered an offence, as provided by this provision of the Convention.

Article 12. Penalties. The Committee noted that, in reply to its previous comments, the Government had referred to section 173 of the Labour Act. It nevertheless points out that this section only concerns the responsibility of governing bodies of legal entities and does not contain any provision of substance concerning the penalties to be applied for a violation of regulations on working time. The Committee requests the Government once again to provide information on the system of penalties to ensure the enforcement of the national legislation on hours of work.