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

Libya

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) (Ratification: 1971)
Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14) (Ratification: 1971)

In order to provide a comprehensive view of the issues relating to the application of the ratified Conventions on working time, the Committee considers it appropriate to examine Conventions Nos 1 (hours of work in the industry) and 14 (weekly rest in the industry) together.

Hours of work (industry)

Article 2 of Convention No. 1. Daily and weekly limits on normal hours of work. In previous comments, the Committee noted that under section 13 of the Labour Relations Act (No. 12 of 2010), hours of work may not exceed 48 hours a week and ten hours a day. The Committee notes that under section 17 of the same Act, daily hours of work include prayer, rest and meal times of not more than one hour. Noting the Government’s indication that in drafting the revised Labour Relations Act, consideration is being given to the requirements of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged, including the reform of current legislation, to ensure that daily and weekly limits to normal hours of effective work in public or private industrial undertakings do not exceed eight in the day and 48 in the week, as established by Article 2 of the Convention.

Article 6(1)(a) and 6(2). Permanent exceptions. Limits to additional hours and compensation for overtime. The Committee notes that under section 15 of the Labour Relations Act, cleaning staff at the workplace and watchmen are exempted from the normal hours of work foreseen under section 13. The Committee also notes that no provision of the Act seems to fix a limit to additional hours nor a rate of pay for overtime for these categories of workers. The Committee recalls that the permanent exceptions allowed by the Convention are of a limited nature and only relate to cases where attendance at the workplace must necessarily exceed normal hours (2018 General Survey concerning working-time instruments, paragraph 96). It requests the Government to indicate how it ensures that limits to additional hours and a rate of pay for overtime not less than one and one-quarter times the regular rate are foreseen for these categories of workers, as required by Article 6(2) of the Convention.

Weekly rest (industry)

Articles 4 and 5 of Convention No. 14. Total or partial exceptions to the principle of weekly rest. Compensatory rest. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that sections 14 (excessive deferral of weekly rest), 15 (exceptions to weekly rest for which no compensatory rest is foreseen) and 16 (possibility of monetary compensation instead of compensatory rest) are not in conformity with the requirements of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government does not provide any relevant information on this issue. Recalling that Article 5 of the Conventionrequires workers who are deprived of their weekly rest to be granted compensatory rest irrespective of any monetary compensation, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that compensatory rest is granted to workers who are required to work on their weekly rest day and to provide information on any progress made in this respect.