Hotels; catering; tourism: Standards and rights at work

The ILO promotes decent work in the Hotels, catering and tourism (HCT) sector by assisting ILO constituents in developing appropriate policies and programmes. They are guided by the Working Conditions (Hotels and Restaurants) Convention, 1991 (No. 172) and associated Recommendation (No. 179). These instruments are geared towards issues such as working time (overtime regulations and rest periods as well as reconciliation of working time with family life), regular remuneration (wages v. tips), and on the promotion of training schemes in cooperation with employers' and workers' organizations. Through advisory services, the ILO promotes tripartite consultation and help to strengthen appropriate modalities to achieve respect for these standards.

In 1997, the ILO organized a Tripartite Sectoral Meeting on the Effects of New Technologies on Employment and Working Conditions in the Hotel, Catering and Tourism Sector.

In April 2001, another Tripartite Meeting was held in Geneva on Human Resource Development, Employment and Globalization in the Hotel, Catering and Tourism Sector with the purpose of exchanging views between representatives from governments and employers' as well as workers' organizations on policies and methods of human resource development, employment creation and globalization in the hotel, catering and tourism sector. The meeting used a report prepared by the Office as the basis for its discussions.

The outcomes and a report on the discussion are included in the Meeting's Note on the Proceedings.

International labour standards

Core international labour standards central to fundamental principles and rights of all workers in hotel, catering and tourism are:

• Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948
• Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949
• Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951
• Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958

Core international labour standards relating to child labour in tourism are:

• Minimum Age Convention, 1973
• Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999

Other international standards:

• UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism

National labour legislation (NATLEX database)

• National legislation dealing with tourism

Committee of Freedom of Association

• Cases related to the HCT sector