ILO Jordan starts labour rights awareness campaign, launches global report on care at work

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has started with Jordan’s National Committee for Pay Equity (NCPE) an awareness raising campaign on workers’ rights and launched a global report by the ILO on care at work.

The “Waei” (Arabic for aware) campaign, initiated in partnership with the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) and the Ministry of Labour (MoL), is designed to educate workers and employers on rights and responsibilities at work, and prevent workplace violations and discrimination.

Focusing on maternity and paternity leave, the campaign aims to contribute to legal and practical proposals on the implementation of international labour standards for decent work in the country. Campaign messages are disseminated on social media platforms and official websites of government entities, and at public facilities in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

The campaign started as the ILO launched its global report, “Care at work: Investing in care leave and services for a more gender equal world of work,” at a discussion meeting, hosted by the JNCW.

At the meeting, Frida Khan, ILO Jordan Country Coordinator and Senior Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination Specialist, presented main findings of the report, based on an ILO legal survey of 185 countries.

Overviewing legislation and policies on care, maternity, paternity, and childcare services, Khan said the report recommended maternity leave be increased from 14 to 18 weeks, ensuring an adequate rest and recovery time for the mother.
According to the report, 52 countries meet or exceed the ILO 18-week standard, with 3 in 10 potential mothers globally living in these countries. Since 2011, 23 new countries have met or exceeded the ILO 14-week standard.

Promoting awareness

JNCW Secretary General, Maha Al Ali, said “Waei” campaign seeks to educate female workers on their legal rights, especially in light of low female economic participation, gender pay gaps, and high unemployment among women, in Jordan.
The female labour force participation remains low at 14 per cent - 15 per cent, compared to 54 per cent for males, according to the Department of Statistics (DOS). A 2018 DOS report estimated the gender pay gap in the public sector at 12.9 per cent, and in the private sector at 7.7 per cent. The he national estimate of unemployment for Jordanian women is 30.8 per cent, compared to 21.2 per cent for men.

Al Ali added that the NCPE, jointly headed by the JNCW and MoL, contributed to Labour Law amendments, including on paternity leave, childcare and nursery services, flexible work arrangements, and gender pay equality.

“We need to address the challenge of enforcing these amendments. The campaign is a step towards that, helping us create a safe and enabling work environment for women,” she added.

For MoL Secretary General, Farouq Al Hadidi, “Waei” raises awareness of labour market relations among the government, employers, and workers.

“The campaign also disseminates key messages on the importance of women’s economic empowerment, and workers’ rights, particularly female workers,” Al Hadidi said.

He emphasised the need for improved collaboration between the government and the private sector, ensuing the rights of all stakeholders are protected.

“The government requires enterprises with 10 workers or more to adopt internal bylaws, in line with good international practices about workers’ rights and duties, including pay equity, and women’s empowerment,” he added.

Women’s empowerment

President of the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions, Mazen Maaytah, spoke about federation efforts to establish a “Waei” centre and a legal clinic in a bid to raise workers’ awareness of their rights.
“Women experience rights violations and inequalities. Their awareness of their labour rights is key to retaining women in the workforce and to improving the economy,” Maaytah said. “It is crucial to keep women in the labour market, especially that some sectors are highly feminised, such as education, where women make up 70 per cent of the workforce.”

Reem Aslan, ILO Chief Gender Technical Specialist, Decent Work for Women Programme, called for tackling gender inequality and for investing in the care sector, “which will create job opportunities.” “In light of Jordan’s maternity protection successes, it is time to pay more attention to eldercare.”

President of the Jordan Forum for Business and Professional Women (JFBPW), Reem Baghdadi, underlined the need for awareness of rights, and enforcement of legislation in order to empower women, and increase female labour force participation.

“Inability to achieve work-family balance was a reason behind withdrawal of 78 per cent of women from the labour force, according to some studies,” Baghdadi said. “That withdrawal could also affect employers, who, as a result, lose women’s potential and skills.”

She added that legislation and policy reforms are necessary to address social and political barriers to appointing women in leadership positions, calling for promoting gender equality.

The discussion meeting also examined other issues related to workers’ rights, compliance of enterprises with regulations on care services, and the potential impact of government decision to abolish the MoL.

Care at work Investing in care is central to the ILO Declaration for the Future of Work and the Global Call to Action for a human-cantered recovery from the COVID-19 crisis that is inclusive, sustainable, and resilient. Both are grounded in international labour standards and have been endorsed by governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations from all over the world. Large-scale investment in the care economy is also central to the UN Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transition initiative to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals through the creation of decent jobs, primarily in the green and care economies, and by extending social protection floors to people currently not covered by any social protection by 2030. As a contribution to the implementation of these ambitious agendas, ILO’s “Care at Work” report provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of national legal provisions on maternity protection and care leave and services for workers with family responsibilities in over 180 countries around the world. The report examines law and practice on care around the world and offers an overview of progress and challenges in delivering transformative care policies, paying attention to the capacity of national legislation to acknowledge care policies’ provisions for categories of workers that are typically excluded from coverage, such as the self-employed, workers in the informal economy, and adoptive parents. It also shows that investing in care policies holds the potential to generate decent work in care sectors, strengthen social protection systems, and close long-standing gender gaps at work and at home that were exacerbated by COVID-19.