Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) - Romania (Ratification: 1921)

Articles 2(b), 2(c), 4 and 5 of the Convention. Variable distribution of working hours within a week and over periods longer than a week. The Committee notes that under section 113, paragraph 2 of the Labour Code (Law No. 53/2003), according to the specific features of the organization or activity performed, an unequal distribution of the working hours is possible provided that the 40 hours work week limit is respected. It also notes that under section 116 of the Labour Code, the unequal work schedule in the framework of the 40 hours work week and/or the compressed work week needs to be negotiated and established in collective labour agreements at the level of the employer or, in its absence, it will be provided in the internal regulations. In this respect, the Committee observes that neither section 113 nor section 116 set a precise daily limit in case of variable distribution of working hours within a week. The Committee recalls that the averaging of hours of work over a reference period of one week is authorized in the Convention provided that a daily limit of nine hours is required (Article 2(b)).

Furthermore, the Committee takes note of the Government’s indication that under section 114 of the Labour Code, the uneven distribution of hours of work over reference periods of up to 4, 6 and 12 months is authorized. It also notes that the circumstances under which recourse to averaging over periods longer than a week are authorized are not clearly specified. The Committee recalls that according to the Convention, in all the cases in which the averaging of working hours is allowed over reference periods longer than a week, the circumstances and modalities are clearly specified, as follows:

• (i) in case of shift work, it shall be permissible to employ persons in excess of 8 hours in any one day and 48 hours in any one week, if the average number of hours over a period of three weeks or less does not exceed 8 per day and 48 per week (Article 2(c));
• (ii) in those processes which are required by reason of the nature of the process to be carried on continuously by a succession of shifts, the daily and weekly limit of hours of work may be exceeded subject to the condition that the working hours shall not exceed 56 in the week on the average (Article 4); and
• (iii) in exceptional cases where it is recognized that the limits of 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week cannot be applied, agreements between workers’ and employers’ organizations may fix a longer daily limit of work, provided that the average number of hours worked per week, over the number of weeks covered by any such agreement, shall not exceed 48 (Article 5).

Therefore, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to bring sections 113, 114 and 116 of the Labour Code in conformity with the regulations of the Convention.The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which the above provisions of the Labour Code are applied in the practice, including categories of workers concerned and the number of daily and weekly hours effectively worked.

Articles 3 and 6(1) and (2). Permanent and temporary exceptions to normal working hours. Circumstances. In previous comments, the Committee has noted that neither section 115 nor sections 120 and 121 of the Labour Code, which allow for permanent and temporary exceptions to normal hours of work, precisely define the circumstances under which recourse to these exceptions is authorized. The Committee regrets to note that in its report the Government limits itself to reiterate the contents of the above-mentioned sections. The Committee recalls that temporary and permanent exceptions to normal hours of work are authorized in Articles 3 and 6 of the Convention in very limited and well-circumscribed cases (accident, actual or threatened, urgent work to be done to machinery or plant, “force majeure”, preparatory or complementary work, intermittent work and exceptional cases of pressure of work). Recalling the impact that long hours of work can have on workers’ health and work–private life balance, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to define the exceptional circumstances under which normal hours of work may be permanently/or temporarily increased in industrial establishments, in accordance with these Articles of the Convention.

Article 6(2). Overtime pay. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that additional hours are compensated by paid free hours within the 60 days following the performance of the extra work (section 122, paragraph 1 of the Labour Code); and that if compensation by paid free hours is not possible within the period provided for in the Labour Code, additional hours will be paid in the amount of money established by collective negotiation, and cannot be less than 75 per cent of the base salary. Recalling that Article 6(2) of the Convention requires a rate of pay for overtime hours that is 25 per cent higher than the normal pay in all circumstances,whether or not compensatory rest is granted to the worker concerned, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to comply with this provision of the Convention.