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

Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106) - Iraq (Ratification: 1960)

Article 8, paragraph 3, of the Convention. Temporary exemptions. Compensatory rest. The Committee notes that section 61 of the 1987 Labour Code provides that the employer may, with the agreement of the workers, require them to work on the weekly rest day subject to them receiving either a wage increase of 100 per cent or being granted collectively compensatory rest days. However, it notes that section 64(3) of the same Code provides that where a worker works on the weekly rest day, the worker shall be granted a compensatory day of rest on another day of the week. Recalling that, in accordance with Article 8(3) of the Convention, compensatory rest of a total duration of at least 24 hours shall be granted in all cases of temporary exemptions to the weekly rest period, irrespective of any financial compensation, the Committee requests the Government to provide clarifications concerning the divergences in the above provisions.

Furthermore, the Committee notes that section 62(3) of the new draft Labour Code, which is currently being reviewed and is under consultation, provides that an employer may, according to the collective agreement, oblige workers to perform work on the weekly day of rest provided that they are paid in accordance with the rules of overtime and are granted a compensatory day off in the following week. As this provision is fully in conformity with Article 8(3) of the Convention, the Committee hopes that it will be adopted without modification and requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any developments relating to the finalization of the new Labour Code.

Article 11. Permanent exemptions. List of exemptions. While recalling that there is an inherent need to keep certain establishments open on the day of weekly rest (such as airports, hospitals, hotels, press undertakings, etc.), the Committee requests the Government to provide with its next report, in accordance with this Article of the Convention, lists of the categories of persons and the types of establishment subject to special weekly rest schemes.