Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

1. Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. Sexual Harassment. The Committee notes the absence of a legal provision prohibiting sexual harassment. The Committee also notes the Government’s statement that the draft Basic Conditions of Work Bill 2000, which would have prohibited sexual harassment by the employer or a fellow employee during the course of employment or at any workplace, has been withdrawn. It requests the Government to provide information on any other measures, including legislation, taken or envisaged to prevent and prohibit sexual harassment in employment and occupation.

2. Article 2. Equality of opportunity and treatment of men and women. The Committee notes from the statistical information attached to the Government’s report that significant disparities between the employment situation of men and women persist. The female unemployment rate, though progressively dropping since 1998, was still at 12.5 per cent in 2004, whereas that of men was at 4.4 per cent. The Committee also notes that women with primary, secondary and tertiary level training continue to experience higher levels of unemployment when compared to men of similar levels of training. The Committee requests the Government to explain the reasons for these significant differences and to supply in its next report information on measures taken or envisaged, including by the National Employment Service, to promote equal access of women to employment and occupation. In this regard, the Committee notes from the Government’s report on Convention No. 100 that it is currently developing, in a participatory approach, a Gender Policy which will address the employment situation of men and women, including inequalities in pay, recruitment, promotion and access to opportunities such as training. The Committee asks the Government to keep it informed about any developments in this regard and to provide a copy of the Gender Policy when adopted. Please also continue to provide statistical information, disaggregated by sex, on the employment situation of men and women and include figures disaggregated by ethnicity, when available.

3. Promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment of women and ethnic minorities. Recalling its previous comments on the initiatives taken by the Police Service Commission, the Department of Personnel Administration and its Policy and Research Unit to promote equal access of women and ethnic minorities to employment in all areas of the civil service, including justices, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that the requested information will be forwarded to the Office as soon as it is available. The Committee hopes that the Government will include information, including statistical data, on the impact of the aforementioned initiatives on the employment opportunities of women and ethnic minorities.

4. Article 3(e). Vocational training. With respect to the promotion of women’s participation in non-traditional vocational training branches, the Committee notes the programmes undertaken by the Government. It notes the Women in Harmony Project which offers low income or household women training in agriculture, landscaping, growbox technology and elderly care, as well as the non-traditional skills training for women, which trains women in masonry, bricklaying and tile laying, air conditioning and refrigeration, plumbing and upholstery and technical fields. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information, including statistical data, on the progress made in promoting and providing vocational training in non-traditional branches to women, and the measures taken to ensure that such training leads to employment.

5. Article 5. Prohibition of women performing certain jobs. The Committee notes with interest the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act No. 1 of 2004, which in section 98 repeals the Factories Ordinance, 1948 and the Employment of Women (Night Work) Act, which contained provisions excluding women from certain jobs.

Noting that section 98(2) provides that any regulations, orders or statutory instruments made under the Factories Ordinance shall continue to be in force, the Committee asks the Government to indicate in its next report if there are any other protective measures still in effect excluding women from certain types of employment.