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Standards & rights at work:
Equal opportunities
Most countries have enacted equal opportunities legislation - for example there were 164 ratifications of the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) and 166 for the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) by November 2007. However, there were only 39 for the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) and 11 for the Part-Time Work Convention, 1994 (No. 175).
Equal opportunities policies in postal and telecommunications services can be found on all continents, regarding gender, race, ethnic origin, disability and/or age. The postal sector has traditionally been a major employer of women in many countries, usually on a common pay scale to men, and perhaps thereby has some advantages over other sectors in developing equal opportunities policies. Some examples may be considered as good practices, such as the clear commitment to equal opportunities in the US Postal Service.
While the legislation may encourage at least minimal compliance, some telecommunications firms have gone beyond this, despite certain structural issues that make it more difficult to enhance equality. For example, in periods of dramatic technological change, women who had left their jobs for a few years to have a family found it difficult to return to work when their skills became outmoded. Many telecommunications firms introduced policies to make the workplace more conducive to women, to attract women back to work after a career break.
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