CHAPTER I - Work time
Section 1 - Duration of work time
Art. 108. - The time an employee uses for meeting his/her job duties shall represent the work time.
Art. 109. - (1) For full-time employees, the normal duration of work time shall be 8 hours/day and 40 hours/week.
(2) As far as young people whose ages do not exceed 18 years are concerned, the duration of work time shall be 6 hours/day and 30 hours/week.
Art. 110. - (1) The distribution of work time throughout the week shall, as a rule, be equal, with 8 hours/day for 5 days, and with two rest days.
(2) Depending on the typical features of the company or the work performed, one may also choose an unequal distribution of the work time, provided the normal duration of the work time is 40 hours/week.
Art. 111. - (1) The maximum lawful duration of the work time shall not exceed 48 hours/week, including extra hours.
"(2) As an exception, the duration of work time may be extended to over 48 hours/week, including extra hours, provided the average number of work hours, calculated for a reference period of one calendar month, does not exceed 48 hours/week.
(21) For certain sectors of activity, units, or professions listed in the national sole collective labour contract, under the applicable collective labour contract in that field of activity reference periods may be negotiated that exceed one month, without, however, exceeding 12 months.
(22) When establishing the reference periods stipulated under paragraphs (2) and (21), the length of one's annual rest leave and the instances when the individual labour contract is being suspended shall not be taken into account.
(3) The provisions of paragraphs (1), (2), and (21) shall not apply to young people who have not turned 18 years of age yet."*)
Art. 112. - (1) For certain sectors of activity, companies, or professions, one may establish, following collective or individual negotiations, or by means of specific laws, a daily duration of the work time lower or higher than 8 hours.
(2) A daily duration of the work time of 12 hours shall be followed by a rest period of 24 hours.
Art. 113. - (1) The actual manner for establishing an uneven work time during the 40-hour work week, as well as during the compressed work week, shall be negotiated by means of the collective labour contract at the level of the employer, or, in its absence, it shall be stipulated in the internal regulations.
(2) An uneven work schedule shall only operate if expressly stated in the individual labour contract.
Art. 114. - The work schedule and its distribution shall be notified to the employees and posted at the employer's head office.
Art. 115. - (1) An employer may establish individualized work schedules, with the consent or at the request of the employee in question, if such provision is made in the collective labour contracts applicable at the level of the employer, or, in their absence, in the internal regulations.
(2) Individualized work schedules shall suppose a flexible organisation of the work time.
(3) The daily duration of the work time shall be divided into two periods: a fixed period during which the personnel are all at their work places, and a variable, mobile period, where the employee selects his/her arrival and departure times, provided the daily work time is observed.
(4) An individualized work schedule may only operate in compliance with the provisions of articles 109 and 111.
Art. 116. - The employer shall be under the obligation to keep records of the number of work hours performed by each employee and to submit such records to the labour inspection control whenever required.
Section 2 - Extra work
Art. 117. - (1) The work performed outside the normal duration of the weekly work time, as stipulated under article 109, shall be considered extra work.
(2) The extra work may not be performed without the employee's consent, except for a force majeure or urgent works meant to prevent accidents or to remove the consequences of an accident.
"Article 118. - (1) At the employer's request, the employees may perform extra work provided the provisions of article 111 or 112, as applicable, are observed.
(2) Performance of extra work beyond the limit set forth under the provisions of articles 111 or 112, as applicable, shall be prohibited, except for cases of force majeure or other urgent works meant to prevent accidents or to remove the consequences of an accident."*)
Art. 119. - (1) Extra work shall be compensated for with time off paid during the next 30 days after the work has been performed.
(2) Under these terms, an employee shall benefit from the adequate wages for the hours performed beyond the normal work schedule.
Art. 120. - (1) If compensation with paid time off is not possible within the delay stipulated under article 119 (1) during the next month, the extra work shall be paid to the employee by adding a benefit corresponding to its duration to the wages.
(2) The benefit for extra work, granted under the terms stipulated by paragraph (1), shall be established by negotiation, within the collective labour contract or, as applicable, the individual labour contract, and may not be lower than 75 % of the basic wages.
Art. 121. - Young people under 18 years of age may not perform extra work.
Section 3 - Night work
Art. 122. - (1) Work performed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. shall be deemed night work.
(2) The normal duration of night work shall not exceed 8 hours over a 24-hour period.
(3) An employer who frequently uses night work shall notify this to the territorial labour inspectorate.
Art. 123. - The employees who perform at least 3 hours of night work shall benefit either from a work schedule an hour shorter than the normal duration of the workday, without this leading to a decrease in the basic wages, or a wage benefit of at least 15% of the basic wages for each night work hour performed.
Art. 124. - (1) The employee who are to perform at least 3 hours of night work shall be subject to a free medical examination before starting activity and afterwards, periodically.
(2) The terms for carrying out the medical examination and its periodicity shall be set forth by the regulations approved by joint order of the minister of labour and social solidarity and the minister of health and family.
(3) The employees who perform night work and have health problems recognised as being connected with this kind of work shall be transferred to a day work they are fit for.
Art. 125. - (1) Young people who have not turned 18 years of age shall not perform night work.
(2) Pregnant, lately confined, or nursing women may not be obliged to perform night work.
Section 4 - Work rate
Art. 126. - A work rate shall express the amount of work needed for operations or works being performed by an adequately skilled person, who works at a normal pace, under the conditions of determined technological and work processes. The work rate shall comprise the productive time, the time for interruptions caused by the progression of the technological process, and the time for lawful breaks during the work schedule.
Art. 127. - The work rate shall be expressed, depending on the characteristics of the production process or other rated activities, as time rates, production rates, personnel rates, attribution spheres, or other forms corresponding to the features of each activity.
Art. 128. - Work rating shall apply to all employee categories.
"Article 129. - (1) Work rates shall be drawn up by the employer, under the regulations in force or, if such regulations do not exist, work rates shall be drawn up by the employer based on the consent of the trade union or, as applicable, the employees' representatives.
(11) If a disagreement occurs regarding work rates, the parties shall resort to a mutually agreed arbitration."*)
(2) If work rates no longer meet the technical conditions under which they were adopted or they no longer provide a full occupancy of the normal work schedule, they shall be subject to a reexamination.
(3) The re-examination procedure as well as the actual conditions under which one can intervene shall be set forth in the applicable collective labour contract or the internal regulations.
CHAPTER II - Periodical rests
Section 1 - Lunch break and daily rest
Art. 130. - (1) If the daily duration of the work time exceeds 6 hours, employees shall be entitled to a lunch break and other breaks, under the terms set forth in the applicable collective labour contract or the internal regulations.
(2) Young people under 18 years of age shall benefit from a lunch break of at least 30 minutes, if the daily duration of the work time exceeds 4 and a half hours.
(3) Unless otherwise stipulated in the applicable collective labour contract and the internal regulations, breaks shall not be included in the normal daily duration of work time.
Art. 131. - (1) Employees shall be entitled, in between two workdays, to a rest, which may not be less than 12 consecutive hours.
(2) As an exception, as far as work in shifts is concerned, this rest may not be less than 8 hours between shifts.
Section 2 - Weekly rest
Art. 132. - (1) The weekly rest shall be granted on two consecutive days, usually on Saturday and Sunday.
(2) If the rest on Saturdays and Sundays should cause prejudice to the public interest or the normal progression of the activity, the weekly rest may also be granted on other days set forth in the applicable collective labour contract or the internal regulations.
(3) Under the circumstance stipulated under paragraph (2), the employees shall benefit from a wage benefit set in the collective labour contract or, as applicable, the individual labour contract.
(4) Under exceptional circumstances, the days of weekly rest shall be granted on a cumulative basis, after a period of continuous activity which may not exceed 15 calendar days, based on the authorisation of the territorial labour inspectorate and the consent of the trade union or, as applicable, the employees' representatives.
(5) The employees whose weekly rest is granted under paragraph
(4) shall be entitled to twice the compensations due under article 120 (2).
Art. 133. - (1) In the event of urgent works, the immediate performance of which is necessary for the organisation of rescue measures for persons or goods of the employer, for preventing imminent accidents, or for removing the effects that such accidents may have had on the company's materials, equipment or buildings, the weekly rest may be suspended for the necessary personnel so that they can perform such works.
(2) The employees whose weekly rest has been suspended under paragraph (1) shall be entitled to twice the compensations due under article 120 (2).
Section 3 - Lawful holidays
Art. 134. - (1) The lawful holidays on which no work is performed shall be as follows:
- the 1st and 2nd of January;
- the first and second days of Easter;
- the 1st of May;
- the 1st of December;
- the first and second days of Christmas;
- two days for each of the two annual religious holidays, declared as such by the lawful religions other than the Christian ones, for persons belonging to such religions.
(2) The days off shall be granted by the employer.
Art. 135. - A Government decision shall set up adequate work schedules for sanitary and public-catering institutions, with a view to ensuring sanitary care and the people's supply with strictly necessary food products, respectively; the implementation of such schedules shall be mandatory.
Art. 136. - The provisions of article 134 shall not apply at work places where activity may not be interrupted due to the characteristics of the production process or typical features of the activity.
Art. 137. - (1) The employees who work in the institutions stipulated under article 135, as well as at the work places stipulated under article 136, shall be compensated with adequate time off during the next 30 days.
(2) If, for justified reasons, no days off are granted, the employees shall benefit, for the work performed on lawful holidays, from a benefit added to their basic wages which may not be less than 100% of the basic wages corresponding to the work performed in a normal work schedule.
Art. 138. - The applicable collective labour contract may also set forth other days off.
CHAPTER III - Leaves
Section 1 - Annual rest leave and other employee leaves
Art. 139. - (1) The right to an annual paid rest leave shall be guaranteed to all employees.
(2) The right to an annual rest leave shall not make the object of any transfers, waivers, or limitations.
Art. 140. - (1) The minimum duration of the annual rest leave is 20 workdays.
(2) The actual duration of the annual rest leave shall be established in the applicable collective labour contract, stipulated in the individual labour contract, and granted in proportion to the activity performed in a calendar year.
(3) The holidays on which no work is performed, as well as the paid days off set forth in the applicable collective labour contract shall not be included in the duration of the annual rest leave.
(4) Repealed.*)
Art. 141. - (1) A rest leave shall be taken each year.
(2) As an exception to the provisions of paragraph (1), taking one's rest leave the next year shall only be permitted in the cases expressly stipulated by the law or those stipulated in the applicable collective labour contract.
(3) An employer shall be under the obligation to grant leaves, by the end of the next year, to all employees who, during a calendar year, have not taken all the rest leaves they were entitled to.
(4) The cash compensation of a rest leave not taken shall only be permitted in the event of the termination of the individual labour contract.
Art. 142. - The employees who work under difficult, dangerous, or harmful conditions, blind persons, other disabled people, and young people less than 18 years old shall benefit from an additional rest leave of at least 3 workdays.
Art. 143. - (1) Taking one's rest leave shall be based on a collective or individual scheduling drawn up by the employer after having consulted the trade union, or, as applicable, the employees' representatives, as far as collective scheduling is concerned, or the employee, as far as individual scheduling is concerned. The scheduling shall be done by the end of the calendar year for the coming year.
(2) The collective scheduling may establish leave periods, which shall not be less than 3 months per categories of personnel or positions.
(3) The individual scheduling may establish the date of leave commencement or, as applicable, the period during which the employee is entitled to the leave, which period shall not exceed 3 months.
(4) Within the leave periods set forth under paragraphs (2) and (3), an employee may apply for a leave at least 60 days before its commencement.
(5) If leave scheduling is divided into fractions, the employer shall be under the obligation to do the scheduling so that each employee benefits, in one calendar year, from at least 15 workdays of uninterrupted leave.
Art. 144. - The employee shall be under the obligation to take, in kind, the rest leave during the period he/she was scheduled for, except for the situations expressly stipulated by the law, or when the leave may not be taken due to objective reasons.
"Art. 145. - (1) For the rest leave period, an employee shall benefit from a leave emolument, which may not be lower than his/her basic wages, emoluments and permanent additions due for that period, as stipulated in the individual labour contract.
(2) The rest leave emolument shall represent the daily average of the wages stipulated under paragraph (1) in the last 3 months prior to the one when the leave is taken, multiplied by the number of leave days."*)
(3) The rest leave emolument shall be paid by the employer at least 5 workdays before the date of leave commencement.
Art. 146. - (1) The rest leave may be discontinued, at the employee's request, for objective reasons.
(2) The employer may call back an employee from his/her rest leave in the event of a force majeure or for urgent interests making the employee's presence necessary at his/her work place. In this case, the employer shall cover all the expenses incurred by the employee and his/her family because of coming back to his/her work place, as well as all possible prejudice caused to him/her as a result of the interruption of the rest leave.
Art. 147. - (1) If special family events should occur, employees shall be entitled to paid days off, which shall not be included in the duration of the rest leave.
(2) The special family events and the number of paid days off shall be set forth by the law, the applicable collective labour contract, or the internal regulations.
Art. 148. - (1) Employees shall be entitled to unpaid leaves for solving certain personal problems.
(2) The applicable collective labour contract or the internal regulations shall set forth the duration of an unpaid leave.
Section 2 - Vocational training leaves
Art. 149. - (1) Employees shall be entitled to benefit, on request, from vocational training leaves.
(2) Vocational training leaves may be either paid or unpaid.
Art. 150. - (1) Unpaid vocational training leaves shall be granted at an employee's request, for the duration of the vocational training the employee is attending on his/her initiative.
(2) The employer may only reject the employee's request based on the consent by the trade union or, as applicable, by the employees' representatives, and only if the employee's absence could cause serious prejudice to his/her activity.
Art. 151. - (1) The application for vocational training unpaid leave shall be submitted to the employer at least one month before its commencement and it shall state the date of commencement of the vocational training term and its duration, as well as the denomination of the vocational qualification institution.
(2) The vocational training unpaid leave may also be taken in fractions in the course of one calendar year, with a view to taking the examinations for graduating some education institutions or taking examinations for passing in the next year of higher education institutions, in compliance with the terms stipulated under paragraph (1).
"Article 152. - (1) If the employer has not met his/her obligation to ensure, at his/her own expense, an employee's participation in vocational training classes under the law, that employee shall be entitled to a vocational training leave, paid by the employer, of up to 10 workdays or up to 80 hours."*)
(2) In the instance stipulated under paragraph (1), the leave emolument shall be established according to article 145.
(3) The period during which an employee benefits from the paid leave stipulated under paragraph (1) shall be mutually agreed upon with the employer. The application for vocational training paid leave shall be submitted to the employer under the terms stipulated under article 151 (1).
Art. 153. - The duration of the vocational training leave shall not be deducted from the duration of the annual rest leave, and shall be deemed similar to an actual work period as regards the rights due to the employee other than the wages.
