Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 1997, publiée 86ème session CIT (1998)

1. The Committee notes with interest the detailed report and appendices sent by the Government, and the comments made by the Confederation of Portuguese Industry (CIP) reiterating its concern regarding the legislation in force on night work done by women in industry.

2. In its previous observation, the Committee noted that the social partners were represented in the Commission for Equality in Employment and Occupation (CITE) and therefore received information on the Commission's supervisory duties and the activities undertaken to promote the principle of equality. The Committee requested the Government to continue to provide it with information on the supervisory duties performed by the CITE and the General Labour Inspectorate to verify whether the legislation relevant to the application of the Convention is observed.

3. In this respect, the Committee notes with interest that from 1 June 1995 to 31 May 1997, the CITE delivered opinions on 33 cases of discrimination which helped to resolve a number of them. Furthermore, the Committee notes that the CITE also verifies, on a regular basis, the advertisements published in the main newspapers to ensure that they do not contain any discriminatory references; in the period under consideration it received 34 complaints of discrimination of various kinds. The report indicates that it is planned to give autonomy to the General Labour Inspectorate and to provide technical training for its staff in order to achieve more effective training methods so as to prevent and eliminate acts of discrimination in areas where they exist. Moreover, in the areas of employment and occupation positive action mechanisms have been planned which are to be implemented by the Institute of Employment and Vocational Training as a way of promoting equality of opportunity for women and men. Similarly, the Government indicates that the theme of equality of opportunity has been introduced into social dialogue; the work of the CITE has been given fresh impetus, especially with regard to the dissemination of information on legislation guaranteeing equality of opportunity for women workers and to monitoring of the principle of non-discrimination, including indirect discrimination, in the labour sphere; a follow-up group has been created to deal with the subject of equality in collective labour regulation instruments; and specific training activities have been developed for labour inspection officials on equality-related subjects. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information, in its future reports, on any progress made in the application of the Convention.

4. With reference to the comments made by the CIP and the Committee's request that it be informed of all measures adopted to bring its legislation into line with current practice in relation to the night work done by women in industry, the Committee notes the Government's clarification according to which the prohibition of night work by women contravened the constitutional and legal principle of equality. The Government explains that there is no doubt that by virtue of section 7(2) of the Civil Code, the prohibition was repealed, in accordance with the general principle of the Portuguese legal system which provides that a repeal may be either tacit or explicit, as a result of the incompatibility of new legal provisions with previous ones. Furthermore, the Committee notes that by virtue of this repeal of the prohibition of night work done by women in industry, no instances of penalties imposed by the Labour Inspectorate or by the courts on industrial establishments employing women during the night have been recorded.