Shiftwork bill to be discussed

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In late May 2001, draft legislation on shiftwork was due to be discussed in the Portuguese parliament. The bill seeks to regulate this type of work more fully, with special provisions on working time, holidays, health and safety and early retirement.

Companies in Portugal do not use shiftwork (trabalho por turnos) very extensively. The Third European survey on working conditions conducted in 2000 by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EFILWC) found that the proportion of employees working in shifts is below the European average - see table below.

Source: Third European survey on working conditions, EFILWC, 2000

Despite shiftwork being relatively uncommon in Portugal there has been pressure for some time to regulate the issue more fully. The current legislative provisions regulating shiftwork, set out in Articles 27 and 28 of Decree-Law 409/71 of 27 September 1971, cover the organisation of shifts and the formalities concerned. At the end of 2000, trade unions handed a petition to the speaker of parliament requesting the protection of shiftworkers, and calling for the physical and psychological effects on night and shiftworkers and the disruption of their family life to be debated. In early 2001, the opposition Left-Wing Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda, BE) submitted a bill that was due to be discussed in parliament at the end of May.

The new legislative proposal

The Left-Wing Bloc's proposed draft law No. 420/VIII deals with organising night work, shiftwork and rotas for days off and lowering the retirement age for those involved (with a bonus added to their number of years of social security contributions).

The draft includes a number of measures for regulating shiftwork, which, according to the backers of the bill, endangers workers' health. The preamble lists a number of adverse effects of this type of work: sleep disturbances; gastrointestinal and cardio-vascular problems; mood swings; chronic fatigue; metabolic, social and family problems; industrial accidents; absence; reduced work capacity; and early ageing. The preamble also mentions the growing numbers of women performing shiftwork and says that 43.2% of the people working on Sundays are women, in activities such as agriculture, stockbreeding, forestry, the retail trade, hotels, catering, and health and social services.

With the aim of reducing or preventing the health risks associated with shiftwork, the bill proposes:

• lowering the retirement age for shiftworkers;
• reducing their working hours; and
• providing more efficient healthcare.

The bill includes concrete proposals for measures in the following areas:

• reduced working hours. In a three-shift system, the normal number of working hours would be progressively reduced to 34 hours a week by 2005. Each shift should include a 45-minute break, which would count as work time. Workers would have a daily rest period of 12 consecutive hours between the end of work on one day and the beginning of normal work the next day;
• increased holidays for shift and night workers. Workers would be entitled to a minimum of 25 working days' annual leave, with extra days being awarded according to the shifts worked;
• shift bonuses. The bonus would vary according to the number of shifts and whether the worker's days off follow a rota or are fixed on Saturdays and Sundays;
• occupational health and safety. The employer should organise the company's occupational health, safety and hygiene activities so that shiftworkers enjoy the degree of protection appropriate to their work. Shift or night work should not be performed by children aged under 16, adults over 50, pregnant women and temporary or part-time workers. Shift or night workers should be given medical examinations before being assigned to this type of work, then every year subsequently, or twice a year in case of very strenuous or high-risk work. The bill provides for psychological and social counselling programmes for shiftworkers and their families. Furthermore, workers should be able to have hot meals, while the employer should provide first-aid training and ensure that shift or night workers do not work alone; and
• special retirement conditions. Night and shift workers and those with rotating days off should have access to a special social security pension, within the general system, provided they are aged 55 or over, fulfil the established guarantee period for access to an old-age pension and have worked in this type of work system for at least 10 years running, or 13 non-consecutive years.

Commentary

According to the EFILWC's Third European survey on working conditions, Portugal has the lowest level of flexibility in working time in Europe. However, there is increasing variety in working patterns in Portugal, and shiftwork is one of the many possible arrangements for working time in old and new sectors such as personal services (hospitals and health care) and information and communication technology. The Left-Wing Bloc's legislative draft reflects a belief that the organisation of workplace safety and health must be tackled, together with work intensification and stress. New forms of organisation of work and health at work should be regulated. However not only legislation but also collective bargaining and participation schemes in this area should be improved. (Ana Almeida, UAL)