Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2004, Publicación: 93ª reunión CIT (2005)

Convenio (revisado) sobre el trabajo nocturno (mujeres), 1948 (núm. 89) - Serbia (Ratificación : 2000)

The Committee takes note of the information supplied in the Government’s report. It notes, in particular, that the new Labour Law of 21 December 2001 does not provide for a general prohibition against the employment of women at night with the exception of section 68(1) which does not allow pregnant women to work at night during the last eight weeks of pregnancy. In addition, under section 68(2) and (3) of the Labour Law, a female employee with a child up to 3 years of age, or a single parent of a child of up to 7 years of age, or of a seriously disabled child, may work at night only upon her written consent. The Committee is therefore bound to conclude that the Convention has for all practical purposes ceased to apply. In this connection, the Government’s attention is drawn to paragraphs 191-202 of the 2001 General Survey on the night work of women in industry in which the Committee referring to the continued relevance of the ILO instruments on women’s night work concluded that there can be no doubt that the present trend is clearly in support of lifting all restrictions on women’s night work and formulating gender-sensitive night work regulations offering safety and health protection to both men and women. The Committee further indicated that the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), was drafted for those countries which would be prepared to eliminate all women-specific restrictions on night work (except for those aimed at protecting women’s reproductive and infant nursing role) while seeking to improve the working and living conditions of all night workers. Considering, therefore, that effect is no longer given to the provisions of the Convention in either law or practice, and also recalling the need for an appropriate legal framework addressing the problems and hazards of night work in general, the Committee invites the Government 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. It asks the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken in this regard.