Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30) - Luxembourg (Ratification: 1958)

Article 3 of the Convention. Hours of work for night workers. The Committee requests the Government to refer to its comment made under Article 2 of the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1).

Article 6. Variable distribution of hours of work over a period longer than a week. The Committee refers to the direct request which it is addressing to the Government concerning the application of Article 5 of Convention No. 1. It draws the Government’s attention to the fact that averaging of weekly hours of work is only authorized by Convention No. 30 in exceptional cases where the normal limits of eight hours per day and 48 hours per week cannot be observed. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to amend the relevant provisions of the Labour Code in order to bring them into conformity with the Convention on this point. Furthermore, taking account of the considerable impact which prolonged working days can have on workers’ health, the Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to abolish in the near future the possibility of extending the working day to 12 hours.

Article 7, paragraph 1. Permanent exceptions. Preparatory or complementary work, and intermittent work. The Committee requests the Government to refer to its comment under Article 6(1)(a) of Convention No. 1.

Article 7, paragraph 2(a). Temporary exceptions. The Committee requests the Government to refer to its comments made under Articles 3 and 6(1)(b) and (2) of Convention No. 1. In this regard, it points out that Article 6(1)(b) of Convention No. 1, to which this comment refers, corresponds to Article 7(2) of Convention No. 30.

Article 7, paragraph 4. Public servants. Higher rate of pay for additional hours of work. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that the draft Grand-Ducal Regulation which was due to abolish section 19 of the General Conditions of Service of the State and Public Service, which stipulates that the first eight additional hours of work in any given month give rise to compensatory leave and do not qualify for a higher rate of pay, has been withdrawn from the roll. It recalls that under the terms of Article 7(4) of the Convention, the rate of pay for additional hours of work carried out in the context of temporary exceptions must be not less than one and a quarter times the regular rate, regardless of whether or not compensatory rest is granted. The Committee also notes the December 2007 conclusions of the European Committee of Social Rights, according to which the report presented by the Government states that in practice only two categories of public servants may work additional hours, namely teachers and police officers. It requests the Government to supply further information on the implementation in practice of the system for the compensation of additional hours for state officials, particularly teachers and police officers. Moreover, the Committee notes that the European Committee of Social Rights concluded that the situation of Luxembourg was not in conformity with section 4(2) of the Charter, regarding the higher rate of pay for additional hours, on the grounds that as of the ninth hour of additional work state officials and employees do not enjoy either increased compensatory rest or a higher rate of pay if the additional hours of work occur between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. or outside weekends and public holidays. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the legal provisions governing the compensation of additional hours worked between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. or outside weekends and public holidays, and to supply a copy of the relevant legal texts.