Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Georgia (Ratification: 1993)

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Observation

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Article 1 of the Convention. Discrimination based on sex. Sexual harassment. The Committee recalls that in 2020 the Government introduced a definition and prohibition of sexual harassment in the Labour Code and that it had noted that the definition does not cover the full range of behaviours that constitute sexual harassment in employment and occupation, that is, both: (1) quid pro quo (any physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature and other conduct based on sex affecting the dignity of women and men which is unwelcome, unreasonable and offensive to the recipient; and a person’s rejection of, or submission to, such conduct is used explicitly or implicitly as a basis for a decision which affects that person’s job); and (2) hostile work environment (conduct that creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating working environment for the recipient). The Government’s report provides detailed information on the measures taken to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and promote awareness on the newly adopted legislation and regulations, such as for example the fact that: (1) an electronic course on “Prevention of Sexual Harassment” was developed; (2) information meetings were held with representatives of self-government bodies, students, police officers, representatives of trade unions, labour inspectors, and private companies (human resources management departments); (3) a response mechanism to sexual harassment complaints has been developed by 17 State agencies; (4) regional meetings were organized to raise public awareness on the newly adopted regulations on sexual harassment; (5) in May 2022, the Government conducted, in cooperation with UN Women, a competency-building training on the topic of investigations focused on victims of sexual harassment for civil servants and representatives of state agencies who are directly involved in the implementation of the aforementioned mechanism; (6) a webinar was held on the following topic “Implementation of Legal Norms Regulating Sexual Harassment: Results Achieved and Challenges”, which was aimed, on the one hand, at obtaining information about the progress in terms of implementation and, on the other hand, at identifying gaps in the enforcement of legal regulations; (7) in 2021, UN Women and the Civil Service Bureau conducted a study on workplace sexual harassment in the civil service, which helped in the development of the Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response Policies and Mechanisms; and (8) in 2022 meetings were held by the Labour Inspectorate with 1,200 business representatives in order to familiarize employers with legislative requirements related to labour issues, including sexual harassment and non-discrimination in the workplace.

The Committee notes that the Labour Inspectorate has been supervising labour rights, including in relation to discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment, since January 1, 2021, and that in the period from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022, four applications were received alleging workplace sexual harassment. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that: in the first case, although there was a possible case of sexual harassment, the Labour Inspection Service did not have the authority to examine the legality of the employees’ actions; in the second case, the complaint could not be examined due to the statute of limitations and the lack of subordination; in the third case, it seems that the applicant had to pay a fine; and in the fourth case, although the facts were established, the claim could not be examined due to the statute of limitations (an administrative fine was imposed nevertheless). The Committee notes that the Office of the Public Defender (Ombudsman) made a recommendation to establish sexual harassment in 7 cases out of the 14 cases it reviewed. With the recommendations issued, the Office of the Public Defender called on the harassers, whether at the workplace or in another field, asking them to refrain from committing sexual harassment and from creating an environment that is offensive, humiliating or inappropriate for people. It also addressed the recommendations to employers to: (1) effectively, timely and immediately study the alleged cases of sexual harassment; (2) develop sexual harassment prevention mechanisms to eliminate sexual harassment; and (3) work on raising awareness employees. In the remaining cases, a decision was made to terminate the proceedings (in 3 of these cases the applicants withdrew their complaints). The Committee wishes to recall that: (1) sexual harassment can be perpetrated by a person in a position of authority (subordination), but also a colleague, a subordinate or by a person with whom workers have contact as part of their job (a client, supplier, etc.); therefore, the scope of protection against sexual harassment should cover all workers, with respect to all spheres of employment and occupation, including vocational education and training, internships, access to employment and conditions of employment; (2) the absence or relatively low number of sexual harassment complaints does not necessarily indicate that this form of sex discrimination does not exist; rather, it is likely to reflect the lack of an appropriate legal framework, the lack of awareness, understanding and recognition of this form of sex discrimination among government officials, and workers and employers and their organizations, as well as the lack of access to, or the inadequacy of, complaints mechanisms and means of redress, or fear of reprisals; and (3) without a clear definition and prohibition of both quid pro quo and hostile work environment sexual harassment, it remains doubtful whether the legislation effectively addresses all forms of sexual harassment (see 2012 General Survey on fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 790–791). The Committee also notes that a workplace culture tolerating or implicitly encouraging sexual harassment may also discourage victims from trusting procedures and filing complaints. The Committee again asks the Government: (i) to take steps to include in the labour legislation a complete definition of sexual harassment (which includes both quid pro quo and hostile work environment,as well as harassment perpetrated not only by a person in a position of authority, but also by a colleague, a subordinate or by a person with whom workers have contact as part of their job), and to provide information on any progress made in this regard; (ii) to indicate the time limit to file a charge of discrimination at work in general, as well as in the specific case of harassment, and the measures taken to ensure that this information is largely disseminated; (iii) to continue providing information on any cases of sexual harassment dealt with by the courts or any other competent authorities, including information on the sanctions imposed and remedies granted; and (iv) to provide information on the findings and recommendations from the seminar on “Implementation of Legal Norms Regulating Sexual Harassment: Results Achieved and Challenges” and the study on workplace sexual harassment in the civil service carried out by UN Women and the Civil Service Bureau of Georgia.

Discrimination based on sexual orientation. The Government indicates that, during the period 2019–2022, the Labour Inspectorate considered only one complaint on the grounds of sexual orientation but that the legal standard in that case was not met, and that the Office of the Public Defender received three applications for which discrimination could not be established. The Committee recalls that it had previously noted the report of the United Nations Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination, which referred to the pervasiveness of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the country, the existence of beatings, harassment and bullying, and the exclusion from education, work and health settings. It wishes thus to reiterate its statement above that the absence or relatively low number of complaints does not necessarily indicate that this form of discrimination does not exist. In view of the lack of information in this regard, the Committee asks again the Government to indicate any steps taken or envisaged to prevent and address discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment and occupation, including awareness-raising measures. Please continue to provide information on prosecutions brought and penalties imposed in case of proven discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Article 1(3). Discrimination in recruitment. The Committee notes that, with the 2020 Amendment to the Labour Code, the prohibition of discrimination has been expanded to the recruitment process. Section 11.1, previously section 5.1, now provides that “an employer may obtain information about a job candidate, except for information which is not related to the performance of the job or is not designed to evaluate the ability of a candidate to perform a specific job and to make an appropriate decision in respect thereof”. The Committee notes however that, under section 11.8, the employer is still not obliged to justify its decision to refuse to hire a candidate and that, in practice, this provision may affect women disproportionately because of their family responsibilities. The Governments indicates that the Office of the Public Defender published guidelines for preventing discrimination in job postings and that, in 2021–2022, the Labour Inspection Service reviewed 62 cases of alleged discrimination in pre-contractual relations, which were concluded by the payment of a fine in one case and a warning in the remaining cases. From 2019 to 2022, the Office of the Public Defender received 20 cases, which outcomes included negotiating to conclude an employment contract; providing direction to amend hiring practices; and addressing a general proposal to various private companies to refrain from including discriminatory criteria in their posted job vacancies. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on: (i) its efforts to eliminate discriminatory practices in recruitment; (ii) the application of section 11.8 of the Labour Code in practice, in light of the fact that termination on discriminatory grounds is prohibited by the Convention; and (iii) the number and nature of cases handled by the Labour Inspection Service, the courts or the Office of the Public Defender regarding discrimination in pre-contractual relations, including the sanctions imposed and remedies granted.

Article 2. Equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women. The Committee recalls that in 2019 the Gender Equality Council conducted thematic inquiries on vocational education and women’s participation in State economic programs. Regarding vocational education, the Committee notes that the Government is implementing a social marketing campaign to attract women to vocational education and training (VET) in non-traditional or so called “male” skills areas, developing gender sensitive career guidance programs, and introducing mechanisms that strengthen women’s participation in VET. Gender aspects were also taken into consideration to ensure a selection process free from gender stereotypes and biases and give students more chances to get an education in the professions they want, regardless of the established gender prejudices towards these professions. Additional services for women are offered in several colleges. Namely, VET colleges in Telavi (Prestige), Kobuleti (Akhali Talgha) and Alvani (Aisi) offer a specially equipped room for children of their students to accommodate needs of young parents. In order to ensure gender equality in the VET system and to strengthen gender issues in vocational education, a gender specialist has been contracted to gender audit all documents and action plans developed by the Skills’ Agency. The Government indicates that, in the last six years, the gender distribution of VET students shows that the share of female students has changed somewhat. It also underlines that the representation of women is increasing in sectors such as electricity, mechanics and transport services, and the representation of men is increasing in healthcare, textile production, hotel, restaurant and catering.

With regard to the Government’s efforts to promote women participation to the labour market, the Committee notes that in 2021, the Rural Development Agency started a new program, which provides financial and technical assistance to women in the municipalities of Marneuli and Lagodekhi, to organize a new greenhouse. The program aims to increase women’s motivation to engage in agricultural activities and economic empowerment. It is worth mentioning that non-dominant ethnic groups mainly inhabit Marneuli. The evaluation reported several issues in the implementation process; therefore, the Gender Equality Council will be revisiting the monitoring process in the upcoming years to reflect on the outcomes. The Government indicates that, in recent years, it has noticed a growing interest for its women’s economic empowerment program through entrepreneurship development. One of the goals of the micro and small entrepreneurship part of the state program “Enterprise Georgia” is to improve the economic status of women. In the framework of the micro and small entrepreneurship promotion program, additional benefit is provided when applied by women entrepreneurs, to encourage them as much as possible to start a business. The Committee notes the adoption of an Action Plan by the Civil Service Bureau aimed at establishing a gender-sensitive civil service system to enable the full and effective participation and leadership of women in decision-making processes; and the development of a 2022-2024 action plan and communication strategy by the Gender Equality Council.

The Committee however notes from the 2022 “Women and Men in Georgia” statistical publication, that women continue: (1) to have a higher unemployment rate, particularly those with higher education; (2) to be concentrated in lower paid sectors; and (3) to earn significantly less in each sector. It also notes the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) that women’s representation at senior levels in the public service is critically low or has decreased (CEDAW/C/GEO/CO/6, 2 March 2023, paragragh 29). Finally, the Government points out that higher standards of maternity and parental leave that can be used by both parents were introduced in the recent amendments to the Labour Code to promote inter alia a more equitable sharing of family responsibilities between men and women and women participation to the labour market. In that regard, the Committee takes note in particular of section 22.2 of the Labour Code which states that, after the end of a period of maternity leave, parental leave, or newborn adoption leave, upon the request of the employee, the employer shall ensure that the qualifications of the employee are upgraded if this is necessary for the performance of the work under the employment agreement, and does not impose a disproportionate burden on the employer. In light of the statistical data provided on the situation of women in the labour market, the Committee asks the Government to: (i) step up its efforts to promote gender equality in employment and occupation and reduce occupational segregation; and (ii) to address existing stereotypes regarding women’s professional aspirations, preferences and capabilities, and their role in the family. The Committee further asks the Government to provide information on the results of the Gender Equality Council Action Plan 2022-2024. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide detailed statistics about men and women in different occupations, including at the decision-making level, and in all sectors of the economy.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.