CMNT_TITLE

The Committee notes the information provided in the Government's report.

1. In its previous comments, the Committee asked the Government to provide information on measures taken or contemplated to apply certain sections of Act No. 609 of 1986 respecting equality between women and men. The Committee notes with interest the following information communicated in the Government's report:

(a) With respect to section 4 of the above-mentioned Act concerning measures taken to change circumstances that prevent the achievement of equality and to increase the presence of women in government bodies:

- the Ministry of Finance, in a memorandum of 17 June 1987, interpreted section 4(2) of the Act in such a way that at least two persons of each sex shall be included in committees or other bodies of this kind with more than three members;

- an investigation ordered by the Equality Ombudsperson showed that, in February 1987, 21.9 per cent of the committees still had no female member;

- Act No. 406/88 amended section 4 of the Act so that it is now applied to all bodies within municipal administrations, except for the councils elected by general elections;

- the Central Office of the Association of Finnish Cities issued a circular on 13 June 1988 recommending that at least two representatives of each sex be elected into municipal bodies from now on.

(b) With respect to section 5 concerning training and education in furtherance of equal opportunity:

- the legislation on education which includes obligations that education on equality should be included in the teaching programme and material in schools;

- the Council of State, upon a recommendation in the 1986 report of the Working Group on Equality of the Ministry of Education, has decided that there will be an investigation into the establishment of college-level vocational education in fields dominated by women, as there currently are no such programmes;

- the Ministry of Labour is taking part in the Nordic project BRYT/AVAA (1985-89) aimed at developing and testing methods for diminishing the division of work based on sex by encouraging girls to expand their occupational choice and to support them therein.

(c) With respect to section 6 concerning efforts made by employers to promote equality:

- the Association of Finnish Cities, after receiving instructions from the Equality Ombudsperson, communicated a circular to municipalities on 2 May 1988 concerning the drawing up of equality plans in cities and certain individual municipalities are preparing plans on their own initiative;

- with respect to private employers, the Equality Ombudsperson has contacted only one employer with a view toward drawing up a plan.

(d) With respect to actions under section 8 and complaints made under sections 11 to 15 on discriminatory advertisements, and fines imposed in this respect:

- nine actions for compensation are pending in the courts of first instance; 30 appeals concerning the appointment of municipal officials are pending at the boards of appeal; and eight cases concerning annulment of appointment to office on the grounds that the appointment has violated the Equality Act, are pending in the Supreme Administrative Court;

- several dozen cases of discriminatory job advertising have been taken up and all resolved without making charges against the employer or the publisher of the advertisements concerned.

(e) With respect to situations which are deemed not to be discrimination under section 9:

- only men who have done their military service are eligible for military duties; compulsory military service does not apply to women, nor is it possible for women to volunteer for such service. Offices within the defence administration have been changed to civilian offices, for which women are entitled to apply;

- associations which expressly limit admission to men or women (action deemed not to be discriminatory under section 9(3)) have not been investigated in detail.

2. The Committee again requests the Government to indicate the nature of any plans which may have been adopted under paragraph 4 of section 9 of the 1986 Equality Act, and any practical results achieved under these plans.

3. The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the Government with respect to the action of the Equality Ombudsperson and Equality Board to supervise compliance with the 1986 Equality Act. It notes that investigations on sexual harassment at the workplace and on equal pay, to be carried out by the Council for Equality and the Office of the Equality Ombudsperson, were to start towards the end of 1988. Please indicate the findings of the investigations. It also requests the Government to indicate in its next report the findings of the report submitted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health to Parliament on 9 December 1987 concerning the implementation of the government equality programme in 1980-85 and subsequent major measures for the promotion of equality, as well as of any subsequent similar reports.

4. The Committee notes the Government's statement that no regulations on the more detailed application of the 1986 Equality Act have been adopted under section 24 of the Act. The Committee asks the Government to provide in future reports a copy of any such regulations which may be adopted.

5. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on section 17 of the Act on Civil Servants concerning unfounded discriminatory treatment. It notes particularly that the Government has not been informed of any cases in which sections 13 and 17 of the Civil Servants' Act, concerning impartiality in appointment to office and in treatment, have been violated. The Committee asks the Government to keep it apprised in future reports of developments in the practical application of these protections for civil servants.

6. With respect to the inclusion, at various levels, within government personnel policy programmes of non-discrimination provisions, the Committee notes the information provided in the Government's report. The Committee requests the Government to provide with its next report a list of titles published in the series of the advisory board on state personnel policy.

7. The Committee notes the conclusion reached by the State Employers' Office that expenses arising from leaves of absence owing to pregnancy and childbirth have not increased since 1985. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information in its future reports on developments with respect to maternity, paternity, parental and home-care leave.

8. The Committee notes the Government's statement that it has nothing to report concerning ethnic groups related to the promotion of equality in working life. The Committee recalls in this connection that in its previous observation (1987), it noted a comment by the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) to the effect that most of the anti-discrimination measures taken by the Government related only to discrimination on the basix of sex. It refers further to the Government's report in 1987 on the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (UN doc. CERD/C/159/Add.1 of 19 January 1988), noting the presence of Sami and Romany (gypsy) populations in the country, problems encountered by them and measures taken for their benefit. The Committee requests the Government to provide in future reports information concerning any problems encountered by these groups in relation to employment, and any measures taken or envisaged to promote and ensure equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation as it relates to ethnic minorities, and in particular in the field of vocational education and training.

9. The Committee notes with interest the following legislative amendments referred to by the Government in its report:

- an amendment to the Unemployment Security Act (No. 226 of 1987), to improve unemployment security of part-time employees, of whom a majority are women;

- under section 7(3) of the new Employment Act (No. 13 of 1987) manpower services should be arranged in such a way that they promote the implementation of equality between the sexes in the labour market;

- under amendments to the Employment Contracts Act (No. 935 of 1987) and the Merchant Shipping Act (No. 936 of 1987) discrimination in recruitment on grounds other than sex is prohibited and penal sanctions are made more severe. These amendments came into force on 1 March 1988;

- the Act on the Equality Ombudsperson and the Equality Board was amended by Act No. 1039 of 1987, due to the enactment of the Civil Servants Act and resulting administrative changes;

- the Act (No. 284 of 1988) to amend the Employment Contracts Act added provisions concerning temporary and partial child-care leave;

- an Act (No. 406 of 1988) to amend sections 4 and 25 of the Act on Equality between Women and Men permits pension plans which were effective prior to 1 January 1987 to provide that the terms of pension security may differ according to the employee's sex, irrespective of the date of the beginning of the employee's employment relationship. Section 4 of the Equality Act was amended as concerns the composition of municipal bodies, mentioned above.