Private sector establishments will be allowed to have a five-day week in terms of a new agreement.
The National Labour Advisory Council (NLCA) has agreed that the arrangement, particularly in factories, will be implemented if the employees and the management concur. If this happens, companies or factories will need to formulate extended work hours from Monday to Friday. The talks were presided over by Labour Minister Gamini Lokuge.
Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees Union General Secretary Anton Marcus said some employers had already introduced a five-day week in keeping with the international labour conventions. This was done on a mutual agreement between the management and the employees.
He said that since regulations had to be introduced to formalize the five-day week, the NLAC decided that for three months, the companies (with the consent of employees) could apply to the Commissioner General of Labour for permission to have a five-day week.
Under the Wages Board Ordinance, a normal working week cannot exceed 48 hours and all work over and beyond that period is considered overtime.
The Shop and Office Employees Act stipulates that working hours on any one day shall not exceed eight hours, and in any one week shall not exceed 45 hours.
In the case of the Factories Ordinance Section 67, the total hours worked, exclusive of intervals for meals and rest, shall not exceed nine hours in any day or 48 hours in any week. |
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