Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30) - Nicaragua (Ratification: 1934)

Articles 3 and 11 of the Convention. Limits on daily and weekly hours of work – Adequate inspection. The Committee notes the Government’s reply to the comments made by the Trade Union Unification Confederation (CUS) alleging extensive practices of workers being obliged to perform additional hours of work without remuneration and also denouncing the Government’s failure to monitor or control working time violations. In its response, the Government indicates that whenever workers are found to work in excess of the normal eight-hour daily limit, labour inspection services are instructed to verify that any additional hours of work are performed on a voluntary basis, that extra hours are fully paid at the overtime rate, and that any infringement of the relevant provisions of the Labour Code is properly sanctioned in accordance with the Labour Inspection Act No. 664 of 2008. The Government also refers to the Technical Guide on Inspection (Ministerial Agreement JCHG-003-08) that establishes a checklist to facilitate inspectors in ensuring compliance with the labour legislation, especially as regards hours of work and payment of wages. While noting these explanations, the Committee asks the Government to provide more detailed information on: (i) inspection results – including any relevant statistics – showing the number and nature of infringements of the working time legislation and the sanctions imposed; and (ii) any studies or inquiries undertaken in “call centres”, in response to the allegations that workers are constrained to work more than eight hours a day without being paid overtime in exchange of employment stability, and the results obtained.

In addition, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to the situation of an enterprise established in an export processing zone which operates a compressed working time arrangement of four consecutive 12-hour working days followed by four consecutive days of rest. The Government has concluded that such arrangement was irregular and requested remedial action but the enterprise concerned has challenged the Government’s decision as unconstitutional before the Supreme Court. The Committee wishes to refer, in this regard, to paragraphs 207–213 of its 2005 General Survey on hours of work in which it took the view that special attention would have to be paid to ensure that the implementation of compressed work-week arrangements complies with standards prescribed by Convention No. 30 and also that in order to be compatible with Convention No. 30, compressed work-weeks in commerce and offices should ensure that the daily working day does not exceed ten hours, as required under Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any further developments in this regard and to transmit a copy of the Supreme Court decision once it is published. Finally, the Committee would appreciate receiving the Government’s response to the points raised in an earlier comment concerning the application of Article 7(1) (persons who carry out types of work that are intermittent or which require only their physical presence) and Article 7(2) (additional hours performed by workers to repair errors attributable to them).