R165 Workers with Family
Responsibilities Recommendation, 1981
Recommendation concerning Equal Opportunities and
Equal Treatment for Men and Women Workers: Workers with Family Responsibilities
Recommendation:R165
Place: Geneva
Session of the Conference:67
Date of adoption=23:06:1981
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 Sixty-seventh Session on 3
June 1981, and
Noting the Declaration of Philadelphia concerning the Aims
and Purposes of the International Labour Organisation which recognises that all
human beings, irrespective of race, creed or sex, have the right to pursue their
material well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and
dignity, of economic security and equal opportunity, and
Noting the terms of the Declaration on Equality of
Opportunity and Treatment for Women Workers and of the resolution concerning a
plan of action with a view to promoting equality of opportunity and treatment
for women workers, adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1975, and
Noting the provisions of international labour Conventions
and Recommendations aimed at ensuring equality of opportunity and treatment for
men and women workers, namely the Equal Remuneration Convention and
Recommendation, 1951, the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
and Recommendation, 1958, and Part VIII of the Human Resources Development
Recommendation, 1975, and
Recalling that the Discrimination (Employment and
Occupation) Convention, 1958, does not expressly cover distinctions made on the
basis of family responsibilities, and considering that supplementary standards
are necessary in this respect, and
Noting the terms of the Employment (Women with Family
Responsibilities) Recommendation, 1965, and considering the changes which have
taken place since its adoption, and
Noting that instruments on equality of opportunity and
treatment for men and women have also been adopted by the United Nations and
other specialised agencies, and recalling, in particular, the fourteenth
paragraph of the Preamble of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979, to the effect that States
Parties are aware that a change in the traditional role of men as well as the
role of women in society and in the family is needed to achieve full equality
between men and women, and
Recognising that the problems of workers with family
responsibilities are aspects of wider issues regarding the family and society
which should be taken into account in national policies, and
Recognising the need to create effective equality of
opportunity and treatment as between men and women workers with family
responsibilities and between such workers and other workers, and
Considering that many of the problems facing all workers are
aggravated in the case of workers with family responsibilities and recognising
the need to improve the conditions of the latter both by measures responding to
their special needs and by measures designed to improve the conditions of
workers in general, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with
regard to equal opportunities and equal treatment for men and women workers:
workers with family responsibilities, which is the fifth item on the agenda of
the session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form
of a Recommendation,
adopts this twenty-third day of June of the year one
thousand nine hundred and eighty-one, the following Recommendation, which may be
cited as the Workers with Family Responsibilities Recommendation, 1981:
This Recommendation applies to men and women
workers with responsibilities in relation to their dependent children,
where such responsibilities restrict their possibilities of preparing
for, entering, participating in or advancing in economic activity.
The provision of this Recommendation should also
be applied to men and women workers with responsibilities in relation to
other members of their immediate family who need their care or support,
where such responsibilities restrict their possibilities of preparing
for, entering, participating or advancing in economic activity.
For the purposes of this Recommendation, the
terms dependent child and other member of the immediate family who needs
care or support mean persons defined as such in each country by one of
the means referred to in Paragraph 3 of this Recommendation.
The workers covered by virtue of subparagraphs
(1) and (2) of this Paragraph are hereinafter referred to as workers
with family responsibilities.
This Recommendation applies to all branches of
economic activity and all categories of workers.
The provisions of this Recommendation 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
manner consistent with national practice which may be appropriate, account
being taken of national conditions.
The provisions of this Recommendation may be applied
by stages if necessary, account being taken of national conditions: Provided
that such measures of implementation as are taken should apply in any case
to all the workers covered by Paragraph 1, subgaragraph (1).
Employers' and workers' organisations should have the
right to participate, in a manner appropriate to national conditions and
practice, in devising and applying measures designed to give effect to the
provisions of this Recommendation.
With a view to creating effective equality of opportunity
and treatment for men and women workers, each Member should 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.
Within the framework of a national policy to promote
equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women workers, measures
should be adopted and applied with a view to preventing direct or indirect
discrimination on the basis of marital status or family responsibilities.
For the purposes of Paragraphs 6 and 7 above, the
term discrimination means discrimination in employment and
occupation as defined by Articles 1 and 5 of the Discrimination
(Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958.
During a transitional period special measures aimed
at achieving effective equality between men and women workers should not
be regarded as discriminatory.
With a view to creating effective equality of opportunity
and treatment for men and women workers, all measures compatible with
national conditions and possibilities should be taken--
to enable workers with family responsibilities to
exercise their right 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.
The competent authorities and bodies in each country
should 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.
The competent authorities and bodies in each country
should take appropriate measures--
to undertake or promote such research as may be
necessary 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
to promote such education as will encourage the
sharing of family responsibilities between men and women and enable
workers with family responsibilities better to meet their employment and
family responsibilities.
All measures compatible with national conditions and
possibilities should be taken to enable workers with family responsibilities
to become and remain integrated in the labour force, as well as to re-enter
the labour force after an absence due to those responsibilities.
In accordance with national policy and practice,
vocational training facilities and, where possible, paid educational leave
arrangements to use such facilities should be made available to workers with
family responsibilities.
Such services as may be necessary to enable workers with
family responsibilities to enter or re-enter employment should be available,
within the framework of existing services for all workers or, in default
thereof, along lines appropriate to national conditions; they should
include, free of charge to the workers, vocational guidance, counselling,
information and placement services which are staffed by suitably trained
personnel and are able to respond adequately to the special needs of workers
with family responsibilities.
Workers with family responsibilities should enjoy
equality of opportunity and treatment with other workers in relation to
preparation for employment, access to employment, advancement within
employment and employment security.
Marital status, family situation or family
responsibilities should not, as such, constitute valid reasons for refusal
or termination of employment.
All measures compatible with national conditions and
possibilities and with the legitimate interests of other workers should be
taken to ensure that terms and conditions of employment are such as to
enable workers with family responsibilities to reconcile their employment
and family responsibilities.
Particular attention should be given to general measures
for improving working conditions and the quality of working life, including
measures aiming at:
the progressive reduction of daily hours of work and
the reduction of overtime, and
more flexible arrangements as regards working
schedules, rest periods and holidays, account being taken of the stage
of development and the particular needs of the country and of different
sectors of activity.
Whenever practicable and appropriate, the special needs
of workers, including those arising from family responsibilities, should be
taken into account in shift-work arrangements and assignments to night work.
Family responsibilities and considerations such as the
place of employment of the spouse and the possibilities of educating
children should be taken into account when transferring workers from one
locality to another.
With a view to protecting part-time workers,
temporary workers and homeworkers, many of whom have family
responsibilities, the terms and conditions on which these types of
employment are performed should be adequately regulated and supervised.
The terms and conditions of employment, including
social security coverage, of part-time workers and temporary workers
should be, to the extent possible, equivalent to those of full-time and
permanent workers respectively; in appropriate cases, their entitlement
may be calculated on a pro rata basis.
Part-time workers should be
given the option to obtain or return to full-time employment when a
vacancy exists and when the circumstances which determined assignment to
part-time employment no longer exist.
Either parent should have the possibility, within a
period immediately following maternity leave, of obtaining leave of
absence (parental leave), without relinquishing employment and with
rights resulting from employment being safeguarded.
The length of the period following maternity leave
and the duration and conditions of the leave of absence referred to in
subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph should be determined in each country
by one of the means referred to in Paragraph 3 of this Recommendation.
The leave of absence referred to in subparagraph (1)
of this Paragraph may be introduced gradually.
It should be possible for a worker, man or woman,
with family responsibilities in relation to a dependent child to obtain
leave of absence in the case of its illness.
It should be possible for a worker with family
responsibilities to obtain leave of absence in the case of the illness
of another member of the worker's immediate family who needs that
worker's care or support.
The duration and conditions of the leave of absence
referred to in subparagraphs (1) and (2) of this Paragraph should be
determined in each country by one of the means referred to in Paragraph
3 of this Recommendation.
With a view to determining the scope and character of the
child-care and family services and facilities needed to assist workers with
family responsibilities to meet their employment and family
responsibilities, the competent authorities should, in co-operation with the
public and private organisations concerned, in particular employers' and
workers' organisations, and within the scope of their resources for
collecting information, take such measures as may be necessary and
appropriate--
to collect and publish adequate statistics on the
number of workers with family responsibilities engaged in or seeking
employment and on the number and age of their children and of other
dependants requiring care; and
to ascertain, through systematic surveys conducted
more particularly in local communities, the needs and preferences for
child-care and family services and facilities.
The competent authorities should, in co-operation with
the public and private organisations concerned, take appropriate steps to
ensure that child-care and family services and facilities meet the needs and
preferences so revealed; to this end they should, taking account of national
and local circumstances and possibilities, in particular:
encourage and facilitate the establishment,
particularly in local communities, of plans for the systematic
development of child-care and family services and facilities, and
themselves organise or encourage and facilitate the
provision of adequate and appropriate child-care and family services and
facilities, free of charge or at a reasonable charge in accordance with
the workers' ability to pay, developed along flexible lines and meeting
the needs of children of different ages, of other dependants requiring
care and of workers with family responsibilities.
Child-care and family services and facilities of all
types should comply with standards laid down and supervised by the
competent authorities.
Such standards should prescribe in particular the
equipment and hygienic and technical requirements of the services and
facilities provided and the number and qualifications of the staff.
The competent authorities should provide or help to
ensure the provision of adequate training at various levels for the
personnel needed to staff child-care and family services and facilities.
Social security benefits, tax relief, or other
appropriate measures consistent with national policy should, when necessary,
be available to workers with family responsibilities.
During the leave of absence referred to in Paragraphs 22
and 23, the workers concerned may, in conformity with national conditions
and practice, and by one of the means referred to in Paragraph 3 of this
Recommendation, be protected by social security.
A worker should not be excluded from social security
coverage by reference to the occupational activity of his or her spouse and
entitlement to benefits arising from that activity.
The family responsibilities of a worker should be an
element to be taken into account in determining whether employment
offered is suitable in the sense that refusal of the offer may lead to
loss or suspension of unemployment benefit.
In particular, where the employment offered involves
moving to another locality, the considerations to be taken into account
should include the place of employment of the spouse and the
possibilities of educating children.
In applying Paragraphs 27 to 30 of this Recommendation, a
Member whose economy is insufficiently developed may take account of the
national resources and social security arrangements available.
The competent authorities and bodies in each country
should promote such public and private action as is possible to lighten the
burden deriving from the family responsibilities of workers.
All measures compatible with national conditions and
possibilities should be taken to develop home-help and home-care services
which are adequately regulated and supervised and which can provide workers
with family responsibilities, as necessary, with qualified assistance at a
reasonable charge in accordance with their ability to pay.
Since many measures designed to improve the conditions of
workers in general can have a favourable impact on those of workers with
family responsibilities, the competent authorities and bodies in each
country should promote such public and private action as is possible to make
the provision of services in the community, such as public transport, supply
of water and energy in or near workers' housing and housing with labour-saving
layout, responsive to the needs of workers.
