Ratified treaties¹

Paid holidays/ Domestic workers/ Direct resolution of a dispute on the basis of international law

In the present case, the employer was ordered to pay outstanding holidays. The employer lodged an appeal, arguing that neither holidays taken nor the accrued holidays were owing to domestic workers.

The Court resolved the issue by applying the provisions of ILO Convention No. 132. Article 4 of that Convention states: “1. A person whose length of service in any year is less than that required for the full entitlement prescribed in the preceding Article shall be entitled in respect of that year to a holiday with pay proportionate to his length of service during that year”, while Article 11 of the Convention states: “An employed person who has completed a minimum period of service corresponding to that which may be required under Article 5, paragraph 1, of this Convention shall receive, upon termination of employment, a holiday with pay proportionate to the length of service for which he has not received such a holiday, or compensation in lieu thereof, or the equivalent holiday credit”. The Court also mentioned that article 5 of Brazil’s Federal Constitution establishes that “[t]he rights and guarantees expressed in this Constitution do not exclude others deriving from the regime and from the principles adopted by it, or from the international treaties in which the Federative Republic of Brazil is a party”.

The Court also observed that “ILO Convention No. 132 aims to institute holidays and seeks to guarantee the quality of life of humans involved in the production process”, independently of the motive for the termination of the labour relation and without distinguishing between categories of workers (excepting seafarers), and therefore, the holiday pay is deemed to be owing to the domestic worker in question”. 

¹ ILO Holidays with Pay Convention (Revised), 1970 (No. 132).