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

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) - Saudi Arabia (Ratification: 1978)

1. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government on the application of Article 4 of the Convention. It takes note of the Government's statement that, since shift work is governed by section 147 of the Labour Code, working hours in establishments where work is carried out in shifts may not exceed eight hours per day or 48 hours per week.

2. With regard to Article 6, paragraph 2, the Committee notes Ministerial Order No. 16 of 18.13.1397 H, of which the Government provided a copy. It notes the Government's explanations concerning the determination of maximum amount of overtime and the information to the effect that recourse is made to such overtime only in exceptional situations where there is a heavy workload and is subject to supervision by the competent labour office, and that, in practice, there has been no abuse of overtime.

3. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes with interest the Government's indication that a circular has recently been issued reminding employers that they are required to post working hours in accordance with Article 8, paragraph 1.

4. Lastly, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the practical effect given to the Convention, particularly Article 4 and Article 6, paragraph 2 including extracts of the reports of the inspectorate and the labour offices, as requested in Part VI of the report form, and any other relevant information or statistics that are available.