Can employees working in an institution ask for part time payment even though they didn’t pass the 48 hour per week limit but have worked more than the 48 hours per day limit stipulated in the proclamation?

Framing the above issues, the Cassation bench has passed a judgment on October 4, 2000. The suit initiated in the Federal First Instance Court between the applicants Meta Abo Beer factory and defendants Ato Samuel Teferi. The defendants claim that the applicant refused to pay them part time for the work they did.

The First Instance Court reached the conclusion that the claim cannot be supported by law since it is proved that the employees worked only 48 hrs per week and in cases where they work on Sundays they got 24 hrs rest the coming day.  Giving the above reasons it rejected the claim of the defendant. 

The suit was then appealed to the High Court. The court stated that as per Art. 61(1) of the labor proclamation normal hours of work shall not exceed eight hours per day or forty eight hours a week. The claim the defendants in this case was that they were working 16 hrs a day and since it is not mandatory to work more than 8 hrs per day the court ordered the employer to arrange the duration of work to a maximum of 8 hours. 

The Cassation bench came to see that the defendants agreed to working according to the company’s time line and have been working thereto. There is no law forbidding any company, with out trespassing the regulations set out in the law, to modify the working hours. 

Thus, after the defendants have been working with the company’s time line but not exceeding the 48 hrs per week limit. They cannot have any solid ground for claming for compensation. 

Hence, the bench enforced the First Instance Court decision and denied any claim on compensation of the defendants. 

So, any employee working under a specific regulation of a company can not ask for any mode of compensation for work done not exceeding 48 hours per week.

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Any pertinent information on the subject can be available from an Ethiopian Employment Lawyer, Ethiopian Labour Relationships Lawyer.