Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Forty-Hour Week Convention, 1935 (No. 47) - Uzbekistan (Ratification: 1992)

The Committee notes the observations of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) received in 2019.

Article 1 of the Convention. Forty-hour week. Averaging of hours of work. Overtime. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that: (i) normal hours of work are set at 40 hours per week in section 115 of the Labour Code; (ii) section 123 of the Labour Code allowed the averaging of hours of work over a reference period of up to one year; and (iii) section 124 regulated the question of overtime. Noting that sections 123 and 124 may lead to excessively long working hours, it requested the Government to supply information on the application of these provisions.

On the issue of averaging, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report, in particular that: (i) section 123 was established because it is not always possible to ensure a 40-hour working week every week for each worker in industries that operate on a 24-hour schedule and in shift work; and (ii) the duration of shifts is set out in an internal staff regulation approved by the employer in agreement with a workers’ representative body or by collective agreement. Recalling that calculating hours of work as an average over a reference period of up to one year allows for too many exceptions to normal hours of work and can result in highly variable working hours over long periods, long working days and the absence of compensation (2018 General Survey on working time instruments, paragraph 68), the Committee request the Government to review section 123 in this regard. It also asks the Government to provide information on the usual length of the reference period determined in collective agreements and internal staff regulations as well as concrete examples of the variations observed in the number of hours worked on a weekly basis over the corresponding reference period in cases where averaging is applied.

On the issue of overtime, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report, in particular that: (i) under section 124, overtime is not allowed in certain circumstances (notably when the duration of the working shift is twelve hours, as well as in very hazardous working conditions) and for certain categories of workers (such as persons under 18 years of age); and (ii) section 125 sets clear limits to overtime, both on a daily (4 hours in two consecutive days) and yearly basis (120 hours per year). The Committee also notes that IUF denounces that employees would regularly work beyond the statutory limit of 40 hours per week. IUF refers to a number of specific allegations including cases of forced overtime and reports of very long daily and weekly working hours performed on a regular basis. For IUF, without an appropriate effective mechanism of state monitoring and control, legal provisions limiting working time are purely declaratory. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that, while the principle of a 40-hour week applies to all employed in the formal economy, it may be supposed that it does not apply, or applies to a limited extent, in the informal sector. The Government also indicates that in order to ensure the implementation of the legislation on the principle of the 40 hour working week, the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations approves each year the Annual Working Time Balance, disaggregated by month, quarter and semester of the calendar year. Finally, the Government refers to the following enforcement mechanisms: (i) the State Labour Inspectorate of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (according to section 9 of the Labour Code, which also provides that trade unions play a role in ensuring compliance with labour legislation); and (ii) the Office of the Prosecutor General. The Committee requests the Government to provide more information on the system of annual working time balance to be approved by the Ministry as well as on the measures taken to ensure that the Labour Code is respected in practice, including information on the activities of the labour inspectorate to monitor the respect of working time provisions and the sanctions imposed in case of non-compliance. It also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the principle of a forty-hour week applies in all sectors of the economy, including the informal sector.