Understanding Discrimination & Equality in Employment: Focus on Convention No. 111 (1958), Slides of Introduction to Sociology

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Equality of opportunity and

treatment in employment and

occupation

Fundamental instruments

on equality

• The Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) and the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Recommendation, 1958 (No. 111)
• The Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) and the Equal Remuneration Recommendation, 1951 (No. 90)

Definition of discrimination

• Any distinction, exclusion or preference

based on race, colour, sex, religion, political

opinion, national extraction and social

origin which has the effect of nullifying or

impairing equality of opportunity or

treatment in employment or occupation

Eliminating discrimination:

Who and where?

Principle of C.111 applies to all workers

Equal access to vocational training

Equal access to employment and occupation

Equality in terms of conditions of work

Examples: Direct discrimination

• Job advertisement excluding applicants of a certain gender, age, or complexion
• Practice of hiring only persons of a certain ethnicity
• Exclusion from certain public sector jobs due to political opinion, religion or ethnic origin
• Exclusion of women to enter the police force or fire brigades
• Restricting working time of women, e.g. overtime
• Restricting women’s access to certain occupation

Indirect discrimination

Apparently neutral law or practice which has a

disproportionate negative impact on a

particular group protected by the Convention

or by national legislation, and which has no

objective job-related justification

Prohibited grounds of discrimination:

Sex

• Refers to those distinctions which use the biological characteristics and functions that differentiate men from women
• It also includes those distinctions based on social differences between men and women that are learned, changeable over time and have wide variations within and between cultures
• It covers pregnancy, marital status, family responsibilities and sexual harassment

Sex/gender discrimination: Examples

• Male preference in hiring
• Mandatory pregnancy testing or questions regarding planned pregnancies during recruitment
• Women are forced to retire upon marriage or pregnancy or requiring women not to get pregnant or marry
• Excluding women from dangerous job without any justification related to pregnancy or maternity
• Working time arrangements that are not related to the requirements of the work that make it impossible for women to carry out the job
• Gender-biased allocation of benefits and allowances

Other grounds

Other grounds added in national legislations

include:

• Age
• Disability
• State of health
• Family responsibilities
• Sexual orientation
• Nationality
• Trade union affiliation or lack thereof

What is not discrimination?

• Inherent requirements of the job
• Measures affecting an individual who is

suspected of or engaged in activities

prejudicial to the security of the State

• Special measures of protection and

assistance

Special measures

Special measures of protection or assistance provided for in ILO Conventions or Recommendations are not discrimination

Special measures agreed by workers and employers designed to meet special requirements of workers i.e. based on sex, disability, age, family responsibilities, or social or cultural status are not discrimination

Special temporary measures

Enactment of legislation is insufficient to

eliminate discrimination in practice. States can

take special temporary measures to remedy

existing inequalities through affirmative action

such as:

• Preferential treatment
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Setting targets

The Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951

(No. 100) and the Equal Remuneration

Recommendation, 1951 (No. 90)

Objectives

• Equal remuneration (ER) for men and

women for work of equal value

• Rates of remuneration without

discrimination based on sex