Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2000, publiée 89ème session CIT (2001)

1.  Discrimination on the basis of colour.  The Committee notes with interest that under section 7, paragraph 4, of the Act on the Civil Service of 21 July 1999, recruitment of a civil servant may not be made on the basis of any discrimination, privilege or limitation on the basis of race, nationality, ethnic extraction, sex, origin, religion, convictions, membership of an organization or political movement, trade union or other, social or personal status or property status of the candidate. The Committee notes that the criterion of "colour" does not appear on this list. Noting that this criterion is also absent from the list of criteria for discrimination prohibited by the Constitution (article 6), the Labour Code (section 8), the Protection against Unemployment and Promotion of Employment Act (section 2) and the Public Education Act (section 4), the Committee recalls that when provisions are adopted to give effect to the principles of the Convention, they should include all the criteria set out in Article 1, paragraph 1(a), of the Convention. It therefore trusts that the Government will take the opportunity of a future legislative revision to add the criterion of "colour" to the list of discriminatory criteria prohibited in the civil service, but also in the private sector, and will ensure prohibition of this type of discrimination in access to employment, career progression and conditions of employment. In the absence of explicit reference to colour in the legislative provisions relating to equality of opportunity and treatment, the Committee wishes to obtain information on the measures taken to ensure elimination of discrimination based on colour. Furthermore, noting that section 7, paragraph 4, of the Act on the Civil Service is limited to prohibiting discrimination in respect of appointment and that the section relating to the rights of civil servants (section IV) does not mention the question of non‑discrimination in regard to career development, the Committee wishes to recall that the scope of the Convention, as set out in Article 1, paragraph 3, covers not only access to employment but also access to vocational training and conditions of employment.

2.  Discrimination on the basis of national extraction.  In its previous comment, the Committee requested the Government to indicate the number of members of national minorities, essentially of Turkish and Roma origin, who have completed successfully the literacy module of the "programme for literacy, training and employment" prepared by the National Employment Service and progressed to the "training" and "employment" modules of the programme. According to information supplied by the Government, 175 persons in all have benefited from the programme: 116 took the "literacy" module and 34 the "training" and "employment" modules. The Committee notes that at the date of submission of the Government’s report, 48 of the persons registered in this programme had found employment - i.e. 27 per cent only. Noting that the Government indicates that, following amendment of legislation, the municipalities of Lom and Silven did not continue this programme in 1998, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would specify the reasons explaining the low rate of success of this programme in the Lom and Silven municipalities. With regard to the programme entitled "From social assistance to employment", the Committee notes that it was extended to national level in 1997 because of its success. It therefore requests the Government to provide statistical data on the results obtained in regard to promotion of employment and placement of unemployed persons of Turkish and Roma origin.

3.  Noting that the Government’s report gives no information on the practical application of Council of Ministers’ Decree No. 183 of 5 September 1994 concerning study of the mother tongue in state schools, particularly for Turkish‑speaking pupils, in the framework of an effort to overcome the low educational level of the Turkish minority communities, the Committee reiterates the wish to receive information on the application of this new Decree, in particular statistics on: (a) the number of requests received by the communal authorities for a supply of textbooks in the mother tongue and the number of requests which have been complied with; and (b) on mother-tongue courses available in secondary and technical schools, as well as in higher education institutions such as universities. It requests that the information supplied in this regard should include pupils that are members of the national minorities of Turkish and Roma origin.

4.  According to the information available to the Committee, it appears that discrimination in employment and occupation suffered by the members of national minorities not only in the private sector but also in the public sector relates to access to training. Training, in fact, is the key to promotion of equality of opportunity enshrined in this Convention. In this regard, the Committee recalls that the protection provided by the Convention is not limited to treatment meted out to a person who has already acceded to employment or an occupation, but extends expressly to possibilities for access to training without which any real possibility of access to employment or occupation is ineffectual. The Committee notes that the current section 8, paragraph 3, of the Labour Code, which sets forth a general prohibition against discrimination, privilege or restrictions based on nationality, origin, gender, race, political and religious beliefs, membership in trade unions or other non-governmental organizations and movements, social or property status in the process of exercising of labour rights and obligations does not specify the scope of practical application of the Convention. The Committee therefore suggests that the Government contemplate the possibility in a future revision of the Labour Code of giving legislative expression to the scope of the protection provided by the present Convention and sanctioning discrimination at all stages of the employment process.

5.  Discrimination based on sex.  The Committee notes the Government’s affirmation that the reduction of unemployment among women is a government priority on which a number of measures are being taken: the establishment of quotas of jobs reserved for women; encouragement of women to establish their own undertakings; promotion of mobility; implementation of specific programmes for the development of economic opportunities for women, such as the one set up in 1998 in the Devin region with help from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); development of training programmes specifically directed at the female population; involvement of non-governmental organizations defending women’s interests in the regional bodies responsible for application of the employment policy; etc. The Committee wishes to know whether, further to the implementation of these varied measures, evaluation of the results obtained to date has been carried out in regard to the level of activity of women but also in regard to the quality of jobs they occupy. The Committee recalls that in its previous comment it requested the Government to supply information on any positive measures envisaged or under way to address this horizontal and vertical gender segregation in the labour market. It notes that the Government’s report merely affirms that measures have been taken to promote mobility of women without detailing the content of the measures taken in practice to enable an increasing number of women not only to accede to jobs with responsibility and therefore better paid, but also to the economic sectors traditionally occupied by men, such as industry, construction, transport, management, or more generally the private sector, where remuneration is considerably higher than in the public sector. The Committee would therefore be grateful if the Government would indicate in its next report the measures taken and results obtained to increase professional mobility in women, especially since many studies - in particular, the one conducted jointly by the UNDP and the ILO in 1998 entitled "Women in poverty: An assessment of the Bulgarian anti‑poverty policies and strategies"- show that the female population in the country is generally well educated and qualified. Noting that the Government stated its wish to institute in 1999 a National Council on Equality of Opportunity and Treatment for Women, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether this body was indeed established and, if so, to supply a copy of its statutes and its first report as soon as it is available.

6.  The Committee recalls that to correct structural inequalities - cultural and social - experience shows that specific national action is also required, encouraging the emergence of the conditions essential to allow all workers to benefit in practice from equality in employment and occupation. The adoption of a programme of corrective or positive measures thus proceeds from the fact that prohibition of discrimination is not sufficient to make it disappear in fact and reflects the determination of the authorities to produce evolution in practices throughout society and in undertakings in particular in order to allow the underprivileged groups in society, in this case women, to be involved in the world of work on an equal footing with men. That is why, at a time when protection of women is focused on improving their employment prospects then, subsequently, on affirmation of the principle that equality requires that equal opportunity and treatment be given to women and men in all spheres, the Committee considers, as does the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (A/53/38 (Part I), paragraphs 234 and 254) that authorizing women to take early retirement does not constitute a measure designed to correct actual inequalities encountered by women in employment and occupation. On the other hand, instituting quotas of jobs reserved for women, as affirmed in its report, would be a positive measure. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate the reasons that have caused it to reserve a number of posts for women and to supply more detailed information on the functioning and results obtained as a result of this quota policy. More generally, the Committee wishes to obtain information on the other preferential measures for women taken or envisaged by the Government so as to allow them to compete on equal terms with men on the labour market.