C140 Paid Educational Leave Convention, 1974

The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,

Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Fifty-ninth Session on 5 June 1974, and

Noting that Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that everyone has the right to education, and

Noting further the provisions contained in existing international labour Recommendations on vocational training and the protection of workers' representatives concerning the temporary release of workers, or the granting to them of time off, for participation in education or training programmes, and

Considering that the need for continuing education and training related to scientific and technological development and the changing pattern of economic and social relations calls for adequate arrangements for leave for education and training to meet new aspirations, needs and objectives of a social, economic, technological and cultural character, and

Considering that paid educational leave should be regarded as one means of meeting the real needs of individual workers in a modern society, and

Considering that paid educational leave should be conceived in terms of a policy of continuing education and training to be implemented progressively and in an effective manner, and

Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to paid educational leave, which is the fourth item on the agenda of the session, and

Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention,

adopts the twenty-fourth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and seventy-four, the following Convention, which may be cited as the Paid Educational Leave Convention, 1974:

Article 1

In this Convention, the term paid educational leave means leave granted to a worker for educational purposes for a specified period during working hours, with adequate financial entitlements.

Article 2

Each Member shall formulate and apply a policy designed to promote, by methods appropriate to national conditions and practice and by stages as necessary, the granting of paid educational leave for the purpose of:

1. training at any level;
2. general, social and civic education;
3. trade union education.

Article 3

That policy shall be designed to contribute, on differing terms as necessary:

1. to the acquisition, improvement and adaptation of occupational and functional skills, and the promotion of employment and job security in conditions of scientific and technological development and economic and structural change;
2. to the competent and active participation of workers and their representatives in the life of the undertaking and of the community;
3. to the human, social and cultural advancement of workers; and
4. generally, to the promotion of appropriate continuing education and training, helping workers to adjust to contemporary requirements.

Article 4

The policy shall take account of the stage of development and the particular needs of the country and of different sectors of activity, and shall be co-ordinated with general policies concerning employment, education and training as well as policies concerning hours of work, with due regard as appropriate to seasonal variations of hours of work or of volume of work.

Article 5

The means by which provision is made for the granting of paid educational leave may include national laws and regulations, collective agreements, arbitration awards, and such other means as may be consistent with national practice.

Article 6

The public authorities, employers' and workers' organisations, and institutions or bodies providing education and training shall be associated, in a manner appropriate to national conditions and practice, with the formulation and application of the policy for the promotion of paid educational leave.

Article 7

The financing of arrangements for paid educational leave shall be on a regular and adequate basis and in accordance with national practice.

Article 8

Paid educational leave shall not be denied to workers on the ground of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.

Article 9

As necessary, special provisions concerning paid educational leave shall be established:

1. where particular categories of workers, such as workers in small undertakings, rural or other workers residing in isolated areas, shift workers or workers with family responsibilities, find it difficult to fit into general arrangements;
2. where particular categories of undertakings, such as small or seasonal undertakings, find it difficult to fit into general arrangements, it being understood that workers in these undertakings would not be excluded from the benefit of paid educational leave.

Article 10

Conditions of eligibility for paid educational leave may vary according to whether such leave is intended for:

1. training at any level;
2. general, social or civic education; or
3. trade union education.

Article 11

A period of paid educational leave shall be assimilated to a period of effective service for the purpose of establishing claims to social benefits and other rights deriving from the employment relation, as provided for by national laws or regulations, collective agreements, arbitration awards or such other means as may be consistent with national practice.

Article 12

The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration.

Article 13

1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of the International Labour Organisation whose ratifications have been registered with the Director-General.
2. It shall come into force twelve months after the date on which the ratifications of two Members have been registered with the Director-General.
3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member twelve months after the date on which its ratifications has been registered.

Article 14

1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an Act communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation should not take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered.
2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year following the expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right of denunciation provided for in this Article, will be bound for another period of ten years and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under the terms provided for in this Article.

Article 15

1. The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall notify all Members of the International Labour Organisation of the registration of all ratifications and denunciations communicated to him by the Members of the Organisation.
2. When notifying the Members of the Organisation of the registration of the second ratification communicated to him, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of the Organisation to the date upon which the Convention will come into force.

Article 16

The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall communicate to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for registration in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations full particulars of all ratifications and acts of denunciation registered by him in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Articles.

Article 17

At such times as may consider necessary the Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this Convention and shall examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its revision in whole or in part.

Article 18

1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new Convention otherwise provides:
   1. the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 14 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall have come into force;
   2. as from the date when the new revising Convention comes into force this Convention shall cease to be open to ratification by the Members.
2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and content for those Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.

Article 19

The English and French versions of the text of this Convention are equally authoritative.

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