Chapter II. National policies

Requirements of the instruments

54. Article 3, paragraph 1, of the Convention provides that with a view to creating effective equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women workers, each Member shall make it an aim of national policy to enable persons with family responsibilities who are engaged or wish to engage in employment to exercise their right to do so without being subject to discrimination and, to the extent possible, without conflict between their employment and family responsibilities. The introductory reference to equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women workers was added to indicate that the measures provided for in Article 3 belong in the context of the broader issue of gender equality. (Endnote 1)

55. According to Article 3, paragraph 2, the term "discrimination" in paragraph 1 means discrimination in employment and occupation as defined by Articles 1 and 5 of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). (Paragraph 8(1) of the Recommendation reproduces this provision.) Thus, national policies adopted pursuant to Article 3 should aim at eliminating any distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of family responsibilities, which has the effect of nullifying or impairing equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation and which is not based on the inherent requirements of a particular job. (Article 1, paragraphs 1 and 2, of Convention No. 111.) Paragraph 7 of the Recommendation goes further in suggesting that measures should be adopted and applied with a view to preventing direct or indirect discrimination on the basis of marital status or family responsibilities. The reference to Article 5 of Convention No. 111 means that special measures of protection or assistance which are designed to meet the particular requirements of persons with family responsibilities shall not be deemed to be discrimination. Paragraph 8(2) of the Recommendation provides more specifically that during a transitional period, special measures aimed at achieving effective equality between men and women workers should not be regarded as discriminatory. Though the reference to Article 5, paragraph 2, of Convention No. 111 already authorized such measures, it was nevertheless considered that it would be useful to include Paragraph 8(2), especially for developing countries where such transitional measures may be necessary. Finally on this point, according to the preparatory work, the term "discrimination" was used in these provisions in a context comparing those persons covered by Article 1 of Convention No. 156 -- that is, men and women with family responsibilities -- and other workers. (Endnote 2)

56. It was also stressed in the discussions leading to the adoption of Convention No. 156 and Recommendation No. 165 that a national policy formulated under Article 3 should apply equally to wage-earning and non-wage-earning workers. To limit the substantive provisions of the Convention to wage-earners alone would, it was pointed out, exclude the many other workers who also had family responsibilities and particularly the self-employed, who constitute the bulk of the active population in most developing countries. (Endnote 3)

57. While Article 3 indicates the goal of a ratifying State's policy, it does not lay down the specific means by which a national policy should be formulated or pursued. This is consistent with the approach taken in other ILO instruments which, though precise in their objectives, allow application by a broad range of action. Article 9 of the Convention provides that Article 3 may be applied in any appropriate manner consistent with national practice, account being taken of national conditions. This means that while the national policy need not take a prescribed form, such as statutory regulation for example, there must obviously be evidence of a commitment to this policy aim.

58. As noted above, the Convention and Recommendation place the matter of equality of opportunity for workers with family responsibilities within the wider framework of measures to promote equality between the sexes. It would therefore appear reasonable to hope that the principles and objectives to be pursued for the benefit of workers with family responsibilities would, as far as possible, form part of the relevant national policy concerning equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women workers. In those countries bound by the provisions of Convention No. 111, it would be appropriate to include such principles in the national policy declared and pursued under Article 2 of that Convention. In this connection, the Committee refers to its 1988 General Survey on Equality in Employment and Occupation where it stated that a declaration of policy may result from constitutional norms or from legal provisions, or be expressed in a declaration of government policy submitted to Parliament or another appropriate body, or in any other manner consistent with national practice. (Endnote 4)

59. The national policy must, in order to meet the objectives of the Convention, be broad enough to encompass the measures and requirements set out in Articles 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the instrument. That is to say, the content of the national policy should draw its inspiration from the principles of the Convention: it is essential, therefore, that the policy be designed not only to eliminate all discrimination against workers with family responsibilities in law and practice, but that active measures should be taken to promote the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment for workers with family responsibilities in all areas of employment and occupation. In this respect, it was pointed out in the preparatory work that the wording "to enable" in Article 3 was tantamount to calling for the creation of the necessary conditions to ensure that the exercise of family responsibilities is, to the greatest possible extent, compatible with the exercise of employment responsibilities. (Endnote 5) The Recommendation suggests that all measures compatible with national conditions and possibilities should be taken so as to enable workers with family responsibilities to exercise their rights to vocational training and to free choice of employment; to take account of their needs in terms and conditions of employment and in social security; and to develop or promote child-care, family and other community services, public or private, responding to their needs. (Paragraph 9 of the Recommendation.)

Objectives of national policies

60. From the information available in the reports, it would appear that relatively few governments have yet adopted and implemented an explicit national policy concerning men and women workers with family responsibilities in line with the Convention, either through having given legal expression to the concept in national provisions or through incorporating the aim of the Convention specifically into government policy -- and by subsequently taking measures to ensure implementation of the policy in all relevant areas.

61. Most governments have referred in their reports to two main types of measures: first and foremost, constitutional, legal and administrative provisions designed to eliminate all forms of discrimination on the basis of sex in employment and occupation and, second, specific measures to guarantee women protection and employment rights during pregnancy and for a specified time after the birth of a child. A number of governments have stated that because no distinction is made in law and practice concerning workers with family responsibilities, national practice is consistent with the provisions of the Convention and Recommendation. In these cases, and particularly in the absence of detailed information concerning the measures being taken or contemplated to apply the substantive provisions of the instruments, the Committee has been unable to determine the extent to which it can be said that a national policy has been formulated or implemented. The Committee has also encountered this problem when examining the application of the Convention in those ratifying States which have not given expression to the concept in legislation or in policy statements: there are certain difficulties in determining compliance with the Convention when the action taken to give effect to its provisions does not appear to have been carried out under the aegis of a coherent, coordinated national policy. In such cases, the Committee has been obliged to assess whether the body of legislative provisions and practical measures concerning employment and the family and social services and benefits in a particular country are sufficient to comprise a national policy under the terms of Article 3. Such an assessment is, of course, necessarily difficult, especially when many of the measures taken in these areas appear to have been inspired by concerns largely irrelevant to the overall objective of creating effective equality of treatment between men and women workers or to the particular aim of promoting equality for workers with family responsibilitis.

62. The Committee wishes to stress the importance of viewing the application of the Convention in a broad perspective. It is evident from the terms of this instrument that its implementation requires measures to be taken in a number of distinct areas, responsibility for which is normally vested in more than one government agency or ministry or indeed, non-governmental organization. In addition to action by the labour ministry or department, some measures lie within the responsibility of those government authorities concerned with, among other things, ensuring and promoting equality between women and men, and establishing policies and programmes in the areas of community services and education and vocational training.

63. Accordingly, it would not be sufficient for the purpose of implementing the Convention to rely on the measures taken only by one authority or agency of a country's administration. This also argues that governments should commit themselves to an explicit national policy in the form most appropriate to national conditions and possibilities. Conversely, in the absence of a specifically stated policy defining objectives and allocating resources, it is difficult to see how the necessary coordination of action could take place. Such a policy would be an essential basis, moreover, for evaluating whether the programmes undertaken by different agencies and organizations are sufficient to meet or promote the objectives of the Convention.

64. Although relatively few governments have adopted an explicit national policy, as called for by the Convention, more and more countries have started to devote attention to measures by which workers might be better assisted to reconcile their work and family obligations. Historically, the Scandinavian and the Eastern and Central European countries were the first to address this issue.

65. In the Scandinavian countries, family policies -- based on enabling both men and women to combine parenthood with economic activity -- have, over some decades, converged with equality policies, which are concerned with ensuring the ability of each individual, irrespective of sex, to achieve economic independence through gainful employment, an aim that presupposes changes in attitudes about the roles of men and women. Emphasis has been placed on strengthening the measures in each area in order to further the promotion of the overall perspective of equality. Accordingly, comprehensive equality legislation has been enacted, measures have been taken to uphold the economic independence of all adults, through, for example, separate taxation for husbands and wives, and child-care facilities and parental leave benefits have been expanded.

66. By contrast, in the context of the Central and Eastern European system of central planning, women were provided with special protection against discrimination during pregnancy and nursing. In addition, marked efforts were made to create, through legislation and practical schemes, conditions conductive to combining employment and motherhood, such as reduced hours of work, special work schedules, assignment to less arduous tasks, special leave, provision of facilities for nursing infants and child care. The measures taken were predicated on the assumption that the main responsibility for family care and the household lay with women. This resulted in women bearing such a heavy burden at home that inequalities between men and women in the workplace were reinforced.

67. Today, various factors have apparently converged to inspire the development and promotion of policies to enable workers to cope effectively with their occupational and family responsibilities. On the basis of information available to the Committee, supplied both by governments and sources within the Office, it has been possible to determine that some fundamental social changes have had a major impact in this regard. Statistical data show that just during the last two decades, women's share of the total paid labour force increased in almost all regions, whereas, by contrast, men's participation in the labour force has fallen everywhere. Forty-one per cent of the world's women, aged 15 years and over, are now said to be economically active. (Endnote 6) As they stand, these statistics are impressive. However, official employment data tend to underestimate, sometimes substantially, the extent of women's economic activity in certain areas, such as in family enterprises, agriculture and in community services, as well as in the informal sector.

68. In many countries, the high rate of female participation in the paid labour force is largely due to the fact that women with young children re-entered the labour force in great numbers over the last three decades or, contrary to past behaviour, maintained their employment after the birth of children. Some governments have supplied information indicating that only a relatively small percentage of families in their countries now fit the traditional image of a wage-earning father and a stay-at-home mother caring for children. This relates also to the marked change in the composition of families seen over the last few decades. For example, women-headed households make up over 20 per cent of all households in Africa, the industrialized countries and in Latin America and the Caribbean; and this phenomenon is increasing worldwide. (Endnote 7)

69. Parallel to these trends, demographic shifts have resulted in rapidly ageing populations. Developed countries have already reached very low levels of fertility and mortality: their populations are considerably older than those in other parts of the world and are projected to become even older. While other countries are still in an incipient or early stage of this demographic transition, it seems inevitable that population ageing will be a significant problem everywhere by the second decade of the next century, only some 30 years from today. (Endnote 8) National economies are therefore depending more and more on women's labour; and will require that labour critically as the ageing phenomenon becomes more pronounced. At the same time, the ageing of populations means that a growing number of workers will be caring for elderly or disabled parents or relatives. A few government reports have referred to the necessity of introducing measures in accordance with the provisions of the Convention and Recommendation specifically in order to attract more women into the labour market at large, or into particular occupations.

70. In the face of these circumstances, some governments and workers' and employers' organizations have become aware of the importance of facilitating the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities, in accordance with the objectives of the Convention and Recommendation. The Committee has been encouraged to note that, increasingly, a clear link is being made between the spheres of equality in family life and equality between women and men in the workplace; and as a result, the issue of harmonizing employment and family commitments between women and men has emerged as a major policy theme in a growing number of countries.

71. While the philosophical basis for adopting policies in this area may differ according to the political, economic, social and cultural circumstances of a given country, the actual policies and programmes introduced may nevertheless be similar in content and effect. Some governments appear to have taken measures consistent with the objectives of the Convention and Recommendation with the overriding aim of furthering the promotion of equality between men and women. In spite of the growth of women's labour force attachment, gender inequality in the labour market has persisted. It has become evident that when working women are also expected to take primary responsibility for the family and household, inequality between the sexes is further reinforced. Because women are forced to adjust their work lives around their other obligations, they have unequal job opportunities, career prospects and job status and consequently, reduced income and job security. Where benefits such as maternity leave and child care are not available or are inadequate, women are either forced to interrupt their paid employment -- a measure which affects negatively their possibilities for advancement -- or couples decide against having children.

72. The priorities may perhaps again be different for individual employers. Surveys of employers who have adopted "family-friendly" policies and established facilities such as child care, have cited positive changes in the workplace, including the increased ability to recruit and retain employees, improved employee morale, lower absenteeism, favourable publicity and improved community relations. There are also many studies indicating that absenteeism, tardiness and low productivity due to family-related causes result in millions of lost workdays every year. One study undertaken by a large company stated that along with the day-to-day productivity losses that result from time spent on the job dealing with family matters, are a number of longer-term strategic costs: when an employee cannot undertake a major project, for example, or turns down a promotion because the organization is unwilling to accommodate his or her family commitments, it is a loss to both the company and the worker. (Endnote 9)

73. The trade union movements in a number of countries have also recognized that their survival and strength will be jeopardized unless they undertake activities relevant to the needs of the changing workforce, and more particularly, working parents, women and part-time workers. In 1990, the Women's Bureau of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) published the organization's policy on work and the family. Considering that 1994 has been proclaimed the International Year of the Family by the United Nations, the policy recommends that there should be a major trade union campaign to press governments to ratify and implement Convention No. 156 for the benefit of all workers. (Endnote 10)

74. Other concerns have also promoted action. According to information provided by governments with their reports, the fatigue and stress involved in juggling work and family demands is not only damaging the health of women themselves but is having repercussions on the emotional well-being of other family members. In this respect, the high incidence of divorce in many countries, instituted increasingly by women, is said to reflect the degree of tension and frustration between the sexes as they attempt to adjust to new roles. To the economic losses sustained by industry must then be added the financial cost to societies of poor health, family dysfunction and the resulting need for increased social services. (Endnote 11)

75. Some governments (for example, Norway and Sweden) have also alluded to the importance of changing the traditional role of men, as well as that of women, a concern expressed in the Preamble to the Convention. Studies undertaken in a few countries have begun to focus on the changing role of men, and particularly on the desirability of adapting work schedules and career patterns to enable men to develop closer relationships with their children. This hitherto neglected field of research emphasizes that equality between the sexes also demands urgent attention to measures which change contemporary expectations of men.

Examples of national policies

76. It is evident that the provisions of Convention No. 156 and Recommendation No. 165 are regarded in some countries as a fundamental and necessary part of the national policy to advance equality between men and women generally. Accordingly, those governments have provided detailed information, relating the measures taken for workers with family responsibilities to action taken under other instruments, notably ILO Conventions Nos. 100 and 111, in a way that highlights the indivisibility of the principle of equality. In Sweden, for example, progress towards equality has been made through consistently pursued reforms in the fields of economic, social and family policy. The substantial influx of women into the labour market in the 1960s and 1970s was met with the introduction of financial benefits for families, parental insurance and child care designed to help parents to combine employment and family life. As at February 1992, slightly more than 84 per cent of all women were gainfully employed (and 90 per cent of all men). Although 41 per cent of women worked part time as against 6 per cent of men in 1989, women have been steadily increasing their hours ever since the 1970s. Of late, more and more fathers are taking parental leave and are doing so for longer periods: about 46 per cent of fathers now take some parental leave. Pay differentials between men and women in Sweden are small compared with many other countries but there is concern about the considerable segregation of the sexes in the labour market. Not only do women and men work in different sectors, they also perform different jobs in the same sectors.

77. Initiatives to promote equality in Sweden are interesting from the point of view of Convention No. 156 in that they comprehend the interrelationship between equality in the family and at work. New equality legislation, which came into force in January 1992, extends the ban on discrimination to more cases where, according to the Government, a person -- most often a woman -- suffers discrimination on account of having, or being presumed to have, principal responsibility for children and the home. The legislation also calls upon employers to make special efforts to bring about an even distribution of men and women in a certain type of work or within a certain category of employees. In addition, employers with more than ten employees are obliged to draw up annual equality plans, which provide an overview of measures needed at the workplace, such as those to facilitate the combination by employees of parental responsibilities and gainful employment. Although the more extensive utilization of paternal leave would appear to indicate that the division of labour in the home has become more equal, the Government believes that a great deal remains to be done in this respect and it has accordingly earmarked funds for special information measures aimed at increasing paternal use of the parent's allowance. There has also been a policy decision that publicly financed public child care in the 1990s will be part of the general welfare system in the country, a facility to which all children are entitled. The Government has stated that child-care programmes have the dual purpose of combining early educational training with social support in a unified system and that they are designed to give both men and women equal opportunities to combine gainful employment with family life.

78. Some reports have also emphasized the importance of taking measures under the Convention in connection with action to promote social development generally and particularly in rural areas. The Government of Greece has committed itself to implementing a specific policy for the social liberation of women and of the Greek family as a whole, which policy forms part of a more general programme for the country's social development. In this regard, statutory measures and positive action programmes in the area of vocational guidance and employment have been promoted by the General Secretariat for the Equality of the Sexes, in association with other agencies such as the Workforce Employment Agency and the Hellenic Productivity Centre. Emphasis has been placed on promoting the training and employment of women in traditionally male occupations and in new technologies. The Government is promoting the setting up of cooperatives with the aim of ending the system under which women farmers work without pay, thereby ensuring economic independence for those workers. Cooperatives are also being established to deal with unemployment problems in urban areas. A 1987 report of the General Secretariat for Equality identified a number of difficulties met in the implementation of the programme. These included tangible problems concerning the lack of a social infrastructure (day-care, counselling, family planning and health centres); and the more difficult task of combatting those social prejudices which reinforce the role stereotypes of the two sexes and which manifest themselves in all areas of human activity. The country's Five-Year Economic and Social Development Plan (1988-92) then made provision for the gradual overcoming of these problems by the various responsible agencies and organizations.

79. Some governments which have not yet ratified the Convention have also delineated the elements that are relevant to the pursuance of a national policy under Article 3, in terms which acknowledge the need for interaction between all measures to ensure equality. The Government of Austria has referred to the objective of full employment under its labour market policy. By applying this policy, the federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has endeavoured to make an effective contribution towards ensuring the equality of women and men with family responsibilities. In this respect, the Government has cited a number of measures taken with a view to promoting the employment of women with family responsibilities. The Government has conceded, however, that the target of de facto equality of women and men with family responsibilities has not yet been attained; additional measures are therefore also needed, such as those that might be taken by industry and by the regional and local authorities to create parentfriendly conditions of employment and to establish supporting facilities, like child care. As there is a strict division of roles in society, a socially modified consciousness towards ensuring that a professional career can be pursued without conflicting with family life, is a prerequisite for a labour market policy which would give effect to the Convention. In this regard, reference is also made to the country's social policy, which aims at establishing equality between the sexes. Pursuant to this policy, equality legislation and educational and promotional programmes have been introduced, reviewed and broadened as the need for further measures has become apparent.

80. National policies have been refined or reoriented over the course of some years as the need for different strategies has become obvious. Social pressure, different labour market demands and, sometimes, profound constitutional and political changes seem, in some instances, to have played a part in promoting action in accordance with the aims of the Convention; in others, they have not. (Endnote 12) The Government of Belarus has referred, in its report, to constitutional and legislative provisions enacted both to guarantee women equal rights and opportunities in employment, and to grant pregnant and nursing women comprehensive assistance and facilities conducive to combining employment and motherhood. The Government has stated that, of late, increasing attention has been paid to resolving the many contradictions faced by a woman in her daily life and to changing the traditional roles of men and women in the family and in industry. Campaigns are being undertaken to inform the public of measures that make it easier to combine work and family responsibilities, and to provide information on how state policy is gradually extending to fathers and other members of the family the benefits and privileges hitherto reserved for women. In Belarus, in recent years, scientific research into the problems of the family and women has been expanded. The aim of these studies is to analyse the problems, forecast the trends and determine how the situation of workers with family responsibilities will change during the transition to a market economy. On the basis of this research, possible ways and methods to solve the difficulties will be determined; and economic decision-makers, managers and politicians will be alerted to the problems. It is hoped that the transition to a market economy, alongside the need to strengthen social protection for disadvantaged members of society, may create the conditions to improve the well-being of the family: the development of new forms of ownership will help the expansion of labour activity and promote economic independence and initiative. According to the Government, the creation of small enterprises, including private businesses and individual and cooperative labour activity, is giving families the opportunity to choose the form of employment most beneficial for them in terms of increased income, work schedules and free time to care for children. In addition, a programme of action for the 1990s has been drawn up for the improvement of the situation of women and the family, maternity and child protection.

81. The policy of the Government of Norway, as enunciated in statements presented to Parliament in the early 1980s, was to work for changes in attitude and for practical reforms with a view to a better distribution between men and women of responsibilities in the home, at work and in the life of the community. Legislation designed to promote an equal status between the sexes and particularly to improve the position of women was enacted in 1978; and an Action Plan for Equal Status between the Sexes was approved by the Parliament in 1981. In addition, a general agreement between the Norwegian Employers' Confederation and the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions on Equality between Women and Men in Working Life was concluded, for the period 1982-85. The Government has now indicated, in its report, that national policies and measures to promote equal status between men and women are being readjusted from focusing primarily on women's educational and job opportunities, to being more preoccupied with the male sex role and in particular, with men's potential for caring. A Male Role Committee, set up in 1986 by the Equal Status Minister, concluded its work in 1990 and recommended that increased male engagement in caring for small children ought to be an important policy aim in the future. Accordingly, in a White Paper presented to Parliament in June 1992, it was suggested that four weeks of the paid parental leave available in the country be reserved exclusively for the father. It is considered that a strengthening of male workers' commitment to family responsibilities will contribute both to freeing women's time as well as to reinforcing women's work commitment; and that it may also contribute to eliminating any lingering prejudice against female employees on the grounds of actual or potential family responsibilities. It is also a policy aim of the Government to increase the number of male staff in the caring professions, particularly at the pre-school and primary school level where male role models are considered most important. In this regard, an amendment to the equality legislation is being proposed which will allow positive action in favour of men. At present, such measures are practised only, or mainly, in favour of women.

Means of application

82. Article 9 of the Convention and Paragraph 3 of the Recommendation provide that the provisions of the respective instruments may be applied by laws or regulations, collective agreements, works rules, arbitration awards, court decisions, or a combination of these methods, or in any other appropriate manner consistent with national practice or national conditions. As this report has already reviewed a number of constitutional and legislative provisions which are the primary means both to enunciate and apply a national policy, emphasis is placed here on the ways in which employers' and workers' organizations have participated in devising and applying measures designed to give effect to the provisions of the Convention, as provided for in its Article 11.

83. A number of governments have reported that measures to apply the Convention are included increasingly in sectoral or enterprise collective agreements. A 1992 report of the United States Department of Labor revealed that out of 452 major collective bargaining agreements studied, just over 50 per cent contained one or more work and family provisions, that is, clauses which are specifically concerned with conventional areas of interest, including maternity and parental leave, adoption, child care, leave for family illness, employee assistance programmes, elder care and prohibitions against discrimination because of a worker's, or potential employee's, marital status. (Endnote 13)

84. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) adopted a "Workers with Family Responsibilities Strategy" at its Congress in 1991, in which it endorsed the provisions of Convention No. 156 and Recommendation No. 165 and determined priorities for implementing the instruments. This document stresses that the influx of women into the paid workforce and the ageing of the population have made it increasingly necessary for the trade union movement to address the needs of workers with family responsibilities. In 1992, the ACTU published a booklet containing guidelines for enterprise bargaining on work and family issues, which also contains examples of provisions already included in awards, enterprise agreements, personnel policies and staff handbooks. (Endnote 14) The Council of Equal Opportunity in Employment (a body set up by the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry), which was also involved in this work, has itself recently published a book on the issue of working families, which presents a large number of practical measures taken by businesses to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities.

85. An equal opportunities agreement in Sweden (concluded between the Swedish Employers' Confederation, the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and the Federation of Salaried Employees in Industry and Services in 1983), established goals suitable to conditions in the private sector in accordance with the equality legislation. Among the objectives to be pursued is the goal of ensuring the possibility of combining gainful employment with parental responsibility.

86. Workers' and employers' organizations have considerable possibilities to assess the practical application of national policies and thus to play an active role in tripartite consultations concerning legislative or other reforms designed to increase the effectiveness of those policies. Commenting on the Government of Poland's report, the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union (NSZZ Solidarnosc) has stated that, while it shares the view of the Government on the need for comprehensive reforms of social legislation and policy as well as their adjustment to the new economic circumstances, it has been concerned to note a trend to reduce the operation and scope of several legislative and financial safeguards for workers with family responsibilities since the introduction of measures oriented to a market economy.

87. Among the examples cited by the Union, the Privatization of State Enterprises Act of 1990 has expanded the notion of "liquidation" of an establishment beyond the literal way in which that term was construed in the Labour Code, an interpretation acknowledged by the Supreme Court. Consequently, the legal and organizational transformation of establishments within the privatization process (as opposed to a physical and legal closing down of an establishment) has opened the way for the termination of contracts of pregnant female workers and those on maternity leave. The Union has indicated that in practice, this opportunity for terminating the contracts of women workers is reported to be used on a large scale. However, the Union has also stated that in many other cases, both establishments and the labour courts have construed the provisions of the 1990 Act in such a way that female workers are afforded the relevant protection. In view of confusion over the practical application of the Labour Code and the Privatization Act by different establishments and labour courts, the Union has called upon the Government to take measures to remove the ambiguity. The Union has also noted that female workers are often dismissed immediately or shortly after they return to work from child-care leave, despite the legal requirement that an establishment is obliged to employ such a woman at a similar post or another post corresponding to her skills. Women workers with family responsibilities and, especially those who are single and those who are on child-care leave, have, according to the Union, thus become a group particularly vulnerable to dismissal.

88. The Government of Finland has included in its report, a joint statement of four labour organizations -- the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions, the Confederation of Salaried Employees, the Confederation of Technical Employee Organizations and the Confederation of Unions for Academic Professionals -- which has pointed out, among other things, that there is no way of reducing working hours to care for a family member other than a child. Furthermore, the organizations have stated that the country lacks an effective home-help system to meet the case where the child of working parents falls ill: in such cases, the mother usually has to exercise her right to stay at home and care for her sick child. This has promoted among employers the view that lower rates of pay in predominantly female fields of work are justified, as they claim the indirect labour costs in those areas are higher.

89. In some countries, formal measures have been taken to ensure the participation of trade unions and employers' organizations in improving the implementation of national policies. For example, in Portugal, equality legislation (Endnote 15) established a tripartite Committee on Equality in Work and Employment with the duties of recommending to the Ministry of Labour the adoption of legislative, regulatory and administrative measures aimed at improving implementation of the norms contained in the legislation; to promote studies and inquiries to eliminate discrimination against women in work and employment; to encourage and promote action to spread a knowledge of the purposes of the legislation; to approve opinions submitted to it by its secretariat in connection with equality in work and employment; and to publicize cases in which discrimination under the legislation has occurred.

Information, education and research

90. The Committee is of the opinion that if the measures taken to implement a national policy under Article 3 are to be effective in furthering equality between men and women, they should be accompanied by a major campaign of sensitization in order to promote widespread acceptance of the notion that the family is the concern of each individual, man and woman, and that society must enable all persons with dependants both to exercise their responsibilities and to participate fully in the labour force. Article 6 of the Convention underlines the importance of this requirement by calling upon the competent authorities to take appropriate measures to promote information and education which engender broader public understanding of the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women workers and of the problems of workers with family responsibilities, as well as a climate of opinion conducive to overcoming these problems. Paragraph 11 of the Recommendation suggests that the competent authorities and bodies undertake or promote research into the various aspects of the employment of workers with family responsibilities with a view to providing objective information on which sound policies and measures may be based; and that they promote such education as will encourage the sharing of family responsibilities between men and women and enable workers with those obligations better to meet their employment and family commitments.

91. The Committee has noted a wide variety of innovative measures being taken in many countries to promote acceptance of the overall objective of the instruments, or in some cases, to deal with particular aspects of the problem. Following the ratification of Convention No. 156, the Government of Australia launched a community education programme entitled "Working Families", which was conducted by the Office of the Status of Women in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The educational resource material (including a video and kits providing statistics, speakers' notes, case-studies and information on the requirements of the Convention), is designed to be used in a variety of settings, from parent education classes in maternity hospitals and clinics to workplaces and educational institutions.

92. A number of governments have also prepared guides for employers which describe the strategies taken successfully in some enterprises to offer employees different working patterns and facilities so that they may achieve a satisfactory balance between work and family responsibilities. These publications emphasize the need for firms to develop a wider range of techniques to recruit and retain employees if they are to maintain a competitive edge in the market. In Canada, for example, the Ontario Women's Directorate and the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services co-sponsored a publication entitled "The Crucial Balance" (Endnote 16) which illustrates how leading companies have developed programmes to benefit from the demographic, social and employment changes in the country. Similarly, a booklet prepared by the Employment Department in the United Kingdom, with the participation of a number of large companies, seeks to encourage employers to consider whether their present arrangements will enable them to make the most efficient use of all the skills and talents available to them at a time when the labour force is undergoing significant change. (Endnote 17) The publication stresses that such measures will be especially important towards the end of the present century when a decline in the number of school-leavers will require employers to seek alternative sources of recruitment. A Work and Family Resource Kit was also issued by the Women's Bureau of the United States Department of Labor, prepared in collaboration with the Families and Work Institute, to help employers understand the range of family needs emerging in the workplace and the numerous options for a company response. The Government of New Zealand has committed funding for the promotion of equal employment opportunity practices and programmes in private sector workplaces, including a project to develop a comprehensive company-based policy to respond to the special needs of workers who also fulfil principal care-giving roles.

93. In addition to those activities which focus on encouraging the harmonization of work and family responsibilities for both men and women, a number of reports have described the more general measures being taken to promote equality for women. For the most part, these programmes are undertaken by the specialized agency responsible for implementing or promoting the implementation of the national equality provisions. In Japan, publicity and information activities are concentrated during the month of June every year, a time designated as the Month for Equal Employment Opportunity between Men and Women. The Ministry of Women's Rights, Child Development and Family Welfare in Mauritius has embarked upon an information campaign to remove negative perceptions and attitudes against women, inform women of their rights and encourage them to participate more actively in the affairs of the country. The campaign, undertaken through the organization of talks, seminars, exhibitions and television programmes, aims at projecting a positive image of women as partners in the country's development. In Mozambique, measures to sensitize the public to the principles of equality have been developed by the Government, the social partners and by organizations such as the Mozambique Women's Organization. Over the last two years, a particular effort has been made to ensure that women themselves are aware of their legal rights. In Turkey, the Institute of Family Research was founded with the aim of establishing a better understanding of the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women and of the problems confronting workers with family responsibilities.

94. With active patterns of migration, many countries have populations with multicultural and multilingual origins. The appreciation and acceptance of different social and cultural trends by newly arrived citizens demands special sensitivity. The Government of Sweden has emphasized the importance of entrusting the dissemination of material on social policy, legislation and the promotion of equality to immigrant organizations who receive financial and other support from the State, in order to ensure acceptance of the national policies among those who come from different cultures.

95. Some countries have also considered relevant to the application of the Convention, information and education campaigns concerned with family planning and family welfare. Such programmes are seen as being crucial to creating family structures that are more easily reconcilable with work responsibilities. The Government of Mexico has, for example, referred to programmes aimed at extending and intensifying family planning education and at emphasizing the responsibility of both mothers and fathers in this regard, an approach which is seen as promoting equality between the sexes both in respect of education and as concerns productive employment. In Niger, the Government has reported that the application of the Convention is furthered through the activities of family health and information centres which advise workers on family management and family planning.

Endnotes

Endnote 2

Endnote 3

Endnote 4

Endnote 5

Endnote 6

Endnote 7

Endnote 8

Endnote 9

Endnote 10

Endnote 11

Endnote 12

Endnote 13

Endnote 14

Endnote 15

Endnote 16

Endnote 17

Cross references
Constitution: Article 19
Constitution: Article 22
Constitution: Article 35
Conventions: C111 Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958