Decent Working Time
ILO substantive element DECENT WORKING TIME includes indicators:
Excessive hours
Usual hours worked
Annual hours worked per employed person
Time-related underemployment rate
Paid annual leave
Related SA 8000 topics
The SA8000 Standard is based on internationally recognized standards of decent work, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ILO conventions, and national laws. SA8000 applies a management-systems approach to social performance and emphasizes continual improvement—not checklist-style auditing. Since 1997, when it was launched, the SA8000 Standard has become the world’s leading social certification program for all types of organizations, in any industry, and in any country to conduct business in a way that is fair and decent for workers to demonstrate their adherence to the highest social standards. The Standard covers topics like child labour, forced labour, health and safety, freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours, remuneration / wages and references to how to include or set up a management system.Why linking ILO elements to the SA8000 Standard:
First of all the Standard includes definitions and gives implementation guidance and is generally seen as the ‘gold standard’’, a level to aspire towards to. ILO elements are linked to the four pillars of decent work and provide a monitoring framework and indicators to measure progress towards decent work. Linking the two provides toolbox users with inspirational guidance how to work on decent work, even in low-income and fragile contexts and can be used to reach ‘more decent’ employment.
Click on the name of the element to get the full definition + all related SA 8000 reqruiments and guidance.
7 WORKING HOURS
1. Collective bargaining agreement: A contract specifying the terms and conditions for work, negotiated between the organisation (e.g. employer) or group of employers and one or more worker organisation(s).
2. Worker organisation: An autonomous voluntary association of workers organised for the purpose of furthering and defending the rights and interests of workers.
1. Working Hour Recording System
The organisation should maintain time cards or another record of working hours, including overtime for all workers (permanent, contracted, or temporary), whether they are paid by the piece or by the hour, to ensure accurate monitoring of workers’ working hours. Workers should personally record time they begin and end their workday (e.g. punch in and out) to ensure that the inputs for working hours records are accurate and they understand their working hours. The organisation can then monitor hours to ensure they are within the limits, and can calculate wages accurately.
2. Voluntary Overtime
Voluntary overtime is a key tenet of this requirement of SA8000. The organisation should, therefore, ensure that agreements related to working hours between management and workers and communication about overtime are clear about this requirement.
3. Hours Averaging
Work time averaging is permitted to address irregular working hour requirements only when allows by national law and a collective bargaining agreement. In these cases, hours may be averaged over a selected period of two or more weeks and can add up to more than 48 hours in a particular week, and less than 48 hours in another week. Some countries and some industries allow for the averaging of overtime hours, such that monthly or weekly limits can be extended, provided the monthly or weekly average over a specified period of time does not exceed the prescribed limits. SA8000 7.1 and 7.3 limit working time to a maximum regular working week of 48 hours plus 12 hours overtime per week. The exception in 7.2 only provides flexibility on whether or not workers will work more than six days in a row without a day off.
4. Non-Voluntary Overtime
Only when prescribed national law and collective bargaining agreement requirements of 7.4 are met may the organisation demand non-voluntary overtime. Even in such cases, the organisation is still subject to regular and overtime hours requirements set by other clauses of SA8000 (per law, but not to exceed 48
and 12 hours per week respectively).
7.1 Compliance with applicable laws
The organisation shall comply with applicable laws, collective bargaining agreements (where applicable) and industry standards on working hours, breaks and public holidays. The normal work week, not including overtime, shall be defined by law but shall not exceed 48 hours.
7.2 Weekly day off
Personnel shall be provided with at least one day off following every six consecutive days of working. Exceptions to this rule apply only where both of the following conditions exist: a. National law allows work time exceeding this limit; and b. A freely negotiated collective bargaining agreement is in force that allows work time averaging, including adequate rest periods.
7.3 Overtime work is voluntary
All overtime work shall be voluntary, except as provided in 7.4 below, shall not exceed 12 hours per week and shall not be requested on a regular basis.
7.4 Overtime work in relation to collective bargaining agreement
In cases where overtime work is needed in order to meet short-term business demand and the organisation is party to a freely negotiated collective bargaining agreement representing a significant portion of its workforce, the organisation may require such overtime work in accordance with such agreement. Any such agreement must comply with the other requirements of this Working Hours element.