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Legislative developments

1. Article 1 of the Convention. Legislative protection against discrimination. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the term “race” referred to in Act No. 119 of 21 February 2004 amending the Equal Treatment Act as well as other Acts, must be broadly interpreted in accordance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to also include skin colour, and origin or national or ethnic descent. The Committee further notes the Government’s explanation that article 1 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination “on any other grounds whatsoever”, and that the ground of social origin is covered by this wording. The Committee asks the Government to indicate whether it has any intention of including social origin as a ground of discrimination under the equal treatment legislation as this would strengthen the application of the Convention. The Committee would also appreciate receiving information on how article 1 of the Constitution can be used in practice by individuals with respect to complaints of social origin discrimination against individual employers, as well as information on the practical application of the equal treatment legislation, in particular, the number of complaints of discrimination based on race, colour or national extraction received by the relevant authorities, disaggregated by sex, and judicial or administrative decisions on such complaints.

2. Article 1(1)(b). Additional grounds of discrimination. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the grounds of age and disability or chronic illness fall within the scope of the Convention in accordance with Article 1(1)(b) of the Convention. The Committee further notes that a Bill is being prepared to integrate the Equal Treatment of (Handicapped and Chronically Ill People) Act and the Equal Treatment in Employment (Age Discrimination) Act and the Equal Treatment (Men and Women) Act into the Equal Treatment Act. The Government indicates that the Bill was expected to be sent to the Council of State for advice in May 2006. The Committee asks the Government to keep it informed of any further developments with respect to the consolidation of the equal treatment legislation and to send copies of the consolidated Act, once it is adopted.

3. Sexual harassment. The Committee notes that in January 2006 new draft legislation was submitted to the Lower House including provisions concerning sexual harassment. The draft legislation makes intimidation and sexual harassment a form of unlawful discrimination, extends the employee’s legal protection, prohibits the prejudicial treatment of an employee who is subject to intimidation or sexual harassment, and provides for the shifting of the burden of proof. The Government hopes that the new draft legislation on sexual harassment will soon become law. The Committee further notes that the 2004 evaluation of the Working Conditions Act highlighted a positive trend with respect to compliance by employers of their legal obligations to address sexual harassment at work and that the number of codes of conduct had increased. At the same time, however, sexual harassment appeared to remain widespread, while fewer complaints of sexual harassment were submitted to employers. The study concludes that more needs to be done to translate policy on sexual harassment into practice and to raise awareness of employers and workers. The Committee notes that following the evaluation, a study and a handbook on good practices has been prepared which was to be presented at a conference in 2006. With respect to cases of sexual harassment dealt with by the labour inspectorate, the Committee notes that these will be monitored through the National Survey on Working Conditions, the findings of which were to be available in June 2006. The Committee asks the Government to keep the Committee informed of any developments in the adoption of the Bill on sexual harassment, and to provide copies of the National Survey on Working Conditions 2006, the study and the handbook on good practices as well as information on their use and impact. Please also provide information on any other measures taken to ensure that employers also translate their sexual harassment policy into practice.

National policy with respect to equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women and of ethnic minorities

4. Article. 2. Equality of treatment between men and women with respect to part-time work. The Committee recalls its comments on equality of treatment with respect to part-time work. The Committee refers to its comments on Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), and the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156), and asks the Government to indicate in its next report the measures taken or contemplated to address the underlying reasons for the over-representation of women in part-time employment.

5. Access to employment and occupation, including higher level posts. Further to its observation in which it noted the establishment of the Steering Group on Migrant Women and Employment, the Committee notes that the Government’s report does not include any further information on whether any steps have been taken to evaluate previous and present measures to promote equality in employment and occupation of women and ethnic minorities, including measures to promote their access into higher level posts. The Committee asks the Government to include in its next report updated information, including statistics disaggregated by sex and ethnic origin, on the employment of women and men, in the various sectors and occupations, as well as an evaluation as to whether previous measures have had an impact on improving the labour market situation of women, especially women belonging to ethnic minorities.

6. Article 3(e). Observance of the national policy by placement agencies. The Committee notes that the Work and Income Inspectorate (IWI) has undertaken a study of the non-discrimination code of the Centre for Work and Income (CWI), and that an internal audit led to a new guide on age policy and a new non-discrimination code. The Government, however, does not have any information on its operation in practice or the impact of the non-discrimination code (CWI 2005). According to the CWI, no use has yet been made of the provisions of the code. The Committee asks the Government to continue to monitor the use and impact of the non-discrimination codes developed by the CWI in order to be able to ensure that the national policy on equality is observed by placement agencies, and to keep the Committee informed of any results achieved in this regard.

Enforcement

7. Equal Treatment Commission. The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report on the rulings on complaints relating to discrimination handled by the Equal Treatment Commission in 2004 and 2005. The Committee further notes that the Government’s response to the evaluation report of the ETC of June 2005 “Making the Difference” will be submitted to the Lower House and that a second evaluation is currently being carried out focusing on the effectiveness of the legislation, the results of which were expected to be available in June 2006. Furthermore, the Committee notes that the Evaluating the Equal Treatment Act came into effect in November 2005 and expands the power of the ETC to carry out studies on its own initiative. While noting these developments, the Committee hopes that the Government’s response to the abovementioned evaluation report of the ETC will include follow-up to the other recommendations made in the report to improve the application and enforcement of the Equal Treatment Act. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the outcome of its own evaluations as well as the response to the follow-up of the recommendations in the ETC report “Making the Difference”.