Council of Europe: ECSR, on Social Charter “in some countries the law does not guarantee the right to reasonable weekly working hours for certain categories of workers”

“In some countries the law does not guarantee the right to reasonable weekly working hours for certain categories of workers” and “in some jobs, the working day may exceed 16 hours and even be as long as 24 hours”. This is what emerges from the 2022 conclusions published today by the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) on compliance of 33 States with the articles of the European Social Charter relating to Labour Rights. The ECSR adopted 611 conclusions: 255 of non-conformity with the Charter and 245 of conformity. In 111 cases, the ECSR was unable to assess the situation. The worst results were recorded in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Azerbaijan. Work performed on a public holiday “is not adequately compensated” in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Italy, the Republic of Moldova, Portugal, and Greece. In the UK, by contrast, the right of workers to public holidays with pay is not guaranteed. Also, in some countries, “workers who suffer from illness or injury while on holiday are not entitled to take the days lost at another time”. In Italy, it was not possible to declare compliance with “the risks in inherently dangerous or unhealthy occupations” for “it has not been established that they have been sufficiently eliminated or reduced”. Moreover, not “all workers performing dangerous or unhealthy work” in Italy and Spain “are entitled to appropriate compensation measures, such as reduced working hours or additional paid leave”. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is no evidence that workers exposed to risks are entitled to adequate compensation measures.
Valentina Bombelli