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Equality of opportunity and treatment of the Roma. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government on the results achieved in promoting access of men and women belonging to the Roma community to employment and occupation. The Committee notes with interest that the Government has compiled and provided statistical information on the level of participation of Roma in the various employment promotion measures and on the extent to which these resulted in actual employment. The Committee notes that in 2007, a total of 45,656 Roma benefited from active labour market measures. Out of these, 11,060 Roma men and 9,927 Roma women subsequently obtained employment. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to promote equality of opportunity and treatment of the Roma with respect to employment and occupation, including statistical information, disaggregated by sex, on the level of participation of Roma in the relevant programmes and the number of Roma employed, after having benefited from such programmes.

Equality of opportunity and treatment of women and men. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the activities of the National Agency for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (ANES) in 2007 and 2008, including measures to promote awareness of the equality legislation, conferences and seminars, and training labour inspectors on equal opportunities. The Committee also notes that ANES has signed cooperation agreements with the National Employment Agency and the National Agency for the Roma. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken by the various competent bodies to promote gender equality in employment and occupation, including measures to ensure women’s equal access to management positions and to employment in the broadest possible range of occupations and economic sectors. The Committee also requests the Government to provide statistical information on the position of men and women in the labour market, including data on women’s participation in the various economic sectors and occupations, as well as in management positions.

The Committee notes that some of the provisions of collective agreements provided by the Government address work and family issues, including working time and leave arrangements for parents. The Committee notes that some of these measures are not available to fathers. For instance, the collective agreement for the mining industry provides in section 71(2) that women caring for children under the age of six have the right to work half time, if they do not have access to a crèche or kindergarten, and such periods are considered full-time work for the purpose of calculating seniority. A similar provision is contained in section 126 of the collective agreement for the automobile construction sector. A number of collective agreements contain provisions granting women the right to shorter working hours to care for children and the right to additional leave days to care for an ill child. These rights are available to men only when the child’s mother is deceased. While noting that such provisions may be well-intentioned and seen as corresponding to needs of women who continue to bear an unequal burden of family responsibilities, the Committee is concerned that they may also raise issues with respect to equality of opportunity and treatment. Such provisions may reinforce and prolong social attitudes that hinder the realization of gender equality, while, at the same time, excluding men from certain rights and benefits. The Committee requests the Government to elaborate on its views concerning the compatibility of the above or similar provisions with the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment, and on whether any measures are being taken to ensure that arrangements and entitlements aimed at reconciling work and family responsibilities are available to women and men on an equal footing.

Enforcement of the anti-discrimination legislation. The Committee notes that according to the Government’s report, 23,975 labour inspections were carried out between January and September 2007, in order to verify compliance with Act No. 202/2002 on equal opportunities for women and men. In 552 cases warnings were issued, while fines were imposed in eight cases. A large number of these cases related to section 8 of the Act (obligation to ensure equal opportunities between men and women workers and to inform workers of their equality rights) and section 12 (obligation to prevent discrimination). During the same period, the labour inspectorate received ten complaints concerning the Act. According to the report, although the labour inspectorate was engaged in awareness-raising and information activities women did not sufficiently know their rights, were afraid of lodging complaints, or lodged complaints which did not include the required information.

With regard to the enforcement of Ordinance No. 137/2000 on preventing and punishing all forms of discrimination, the Committee notes that the National Council for Combating Discrimination (NCCD) received 446 complaints regarding discrimination in employment and occupation, and other economic activities. In 52 of these cases, the NCCD found that there was discrimination. In 23 cases sanctions were imposed; 12 of these cases were work related. The Government concludes that there was a need to continue to raise awareness among workers and employers of their rights and obligations, respectively, under the equality legislation. The Committee requests the Government:

(i)    to step up its efforts to promote public awareness of the existing laws, procedures and mechanisms that can be invoked when discriminatory treatment occurs in employment and occupation, and to provide more detailed information on the specific action taken in this regard. Please also indicate any measures taken to assist victims of discrimination, including members of the Roma community, to bring discrimination cases;

(ii)   to indicate whether and how information concerning discrimination cases brought before the NCCD, the labour inspection services and the courts relating to employment and occupation are currently being collected and made available to the public, and to provide information concerning such cases in its next report, indicating the grounds of discrimination concerned as well as the outcomes of these cases.