Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 83rd ILC session (1996)

1. The Committee notes with interest the information in the Government's reports concerning the settlement of conditions of work issues, affecting workers of Panamanian extraction in the Canal Zone, through approval by the United States Congress of Bill No. HR 1558 to amend Act No. 96-70 of 1979 regarding working conditions in the Panama Canal Zone.

2. The Committee notes the information provided regarding sexual harassment in the workplace. It notes that the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare provides technical and financial assistance, in addition to coordinating the activities of the non-governmental organizations engaged in securing measures to protect workers against sexual harassment in the workplace. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information in this regard, including details of any legal measures taken or contemplated. The Committee also notes that the Government again relies on section 223(13) of the Labour Code (compensation for unjustified dismissal) as the remedy when workers are subjected to sexual harassment, and as prohibiting the employer from carrying out immoral acts. The Committee, noting that this provision protects against only one aspect of sex discrimination, namely unjustified dismissal, asks the Government to inform it of any other enforcement machinery (such as the Civil Code provisions) which might protect applicants for jobs, or workers faced with changes in their terms and conditions of employment linked to sexual harassment short of dismissal.