Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Burundi

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) (Ratification: 1971)
Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14) (Ratification: 1963)
Holidays with Pay Convention, 1936 (No. 52) (Ratification: 1971)
Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948 (No. 89) (Ratification: 1963)
Holidays with Pay (Agriculture) Convention, 1952 (No. 101) (Ratification: 1971)

In order to provide a comprehensive view of the issues relating to the application of the ratified Conventions on working time, the Committee considers it appropriate to examine Conventions No. 1 (hours of work), No. 14 (weekly rest), Nos 52 and 101 (annual holiday with pay) and No. 89 (women’s night work) together.

Legislative developments. The Committee notes that in 2019, the Office provided technical comments on the revised draft Labour Code sent by the Government. It requests the Government to provide information on developments relating to the reform of the Labour Code, to which the Government refers in its reports. In the hope that this reform will ensure full compliance with the provisions of the ratified Conventions, the Committee requests the Government to take its comments, set out below, into account when finalizing the current legislative reform.

Weekly rest

Article 2 of Convention No. 14. Period of weekly rest. Further to its previous comments on the need to amend section 114 of the Labour Code, which contains a material error as currently worded, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the committee appointed in 2016 to propose amendments has proposed an amendment to section 114.

Annual holiday with pay

Articles 2(3)(a) and 7 of Convention No. 52 and Articles 5(c) and 7 of Convention No. 101. Days not counted as annual holiday. Qualifying period. Record keeping. Further to its previous comments on these matters, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that section 130 of the Labour Code establishes the minimum period of paid annual holiday; in this respect, the Committee notes that every day of the week is considered a working day, with the exception of the weekly rest day and public holidays (section 15(g) of the Labour Code). The Government also indicates that section 130, under which the minimum period of service giving entitlement to paid annual holiday is one year, will be amended as part of the current revision of the Labour Code so that annual holiday is granted on a pro rata basis in relation to length of service. The Government adds that, in practice, workers have holiday in proportion to their length of service even before completing one year of service. Lastly, the Government indicates that the records specified in section 168 of the Labour Code contain a field with the date and the number of days of holiday for each worker.

Women’s night work

Article 3 of Convention No. 89. Prohibition of night work by women. Further to its previous comments, the Committee recalls that the national legislation does not prohibit night work by women and that the Government indicated in previous reports that it had initiated the procedure for the denunciation of the Convention. Recalling that the Convention will be open for denunciation between 27 February 2021 and 27 February 2022, the Committee encourages the Government to finalize its denunciation. It also draws the Government’s attention to the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), which is not devised as a gender specific instrument, but focuses on the protection of all those working at night.