Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948 (No. 89) - South Africa (Ratification: 1950)

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:

The Committee notes that the national legislation does not prohibit night work but makes provision for the regulation of night work offering protection especially in matters such as the arrangement of working time, family responsibility and maternity. The Government refers in particular to the Code of Good Practice on the Arrangement of Working Time and the Code of Good Practice on the Protection of Employees during Pregnancy and after Childbirth, both issued under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act of 1997, which contain guidelines concerning the impact of working time on the health, safety and family responsibilities of employees and also the protection of the health of women against potential hazards in their work environment during pregnancy, after the birth of a child and while breastfeeding.

The Committee recalls that the Government had previously announced its intention to formally denounce the Convention in 2001. It notes, however, that the Government has not exercised the right of denunciation during the 12-month interval which ended on 27 February 2002 and therefore remains bound for another period of ten years, in accordance with the provisions of Article 15, paragraph 2, of the Convention. In this connection, the Committee wishes to refer to paragraph 93 of its General Survey of 2001 on the night work of women in industry in which it expressed the view that it is not sufficient for a member State to invoke the principle of equality of non-discrimination in employment and occupation or the principle of equality of treatment in order to nullify its obligations arising from the formal acceptance of an international labour Convention, and that established rules and procedures relating to the acceptance or termination of obligations under international labour Conventions should be respected in the interest of preserving a coherent body of international labour standards and giving full meaning to the Organization’s supervisory machinery.

While noting that the Convention has for all practical purposes ceased to apply in South Africa, and while encouraging the Government to take all necessary measures to ensure that international commitments are consistent with national laws in this regard, the Committee stresses the need for an appropriate legal framework addressing the problems and hazards of night work since it is generally agreed that night work has harmful effects for all workers. Therefore, the Committee once again expresses the hope that the Government will be able, after consulting with its social partners, to give favourable consideration to the ratification of the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), which shifts the emphasis from a specific category of workers and sector of economic activity to the safety and health protection of night workers irrespective of gender in nearly all branches and occupations, and asks the Government to keep the Office informed of any developments in this regard.