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

Night Work (Women) Convention, 1919 (No. 4) - Nicaragua (Ratification: 1934)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Repetition

Article 3 of the Convention. Prohibition of night work for women. The Committee notes the Government’s report which makes renewed reference to the national Constitution, general labour legislation and the recently adopted Act No. 648 on equality of rights and opportunity of March 2008 as guaranteeing and promoting gender equality and non-discrimination in the country. The Government adds that no special protective measures exist for women restricting in any manner their right to engage in either daytime or night work, except for pregnant workers, who may not be assigned to a night shift as from the sixth month of pregnancy, in accordance with section 52 of the Labour Code. In the interest therefore of maintaining coherence between the obligations arising out of ratified ILO Conventions on the one hand and national law and practice on the other, the Committee has suggested that the Government should proceed to formally terminate its obligations under Convention No. 4. However, the Government has not yet given any indication as to its intentions in this regard. Under the circumstances, the Committee wishes to refer once again to the explanations given in its comments formulated in 2003 and recalls that the instrument of denunciation of Convention No. 4 may be communicated at any time (the rule of one-year intervals, or denunciation “windows”, every ten years not being applicable to Convention No. 4) on condition that the representative organizations of employers and workers are fully consulted in advance. The Committee hopes that the Government will take the necessary action without further delay to formally put an end to its obligations under this obsolete instrument. The Committee asks the Government to keep the Office informed of any progress made in this respect. At the same time, the Committee strongly encourages the Government to give favourable consideration to the ratification of the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), which breaks away from gender specific standards and addresses the issue of night work for both men and women in its occupational safety and health dimension.