Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1990, published 77th ILC session (1990)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Cyprus (Ratification: 1968)

1. The Committee notes with interest the adoption of the Maternity Protection Law (No. 54 of 1987) which provides a number of protective provisions for female employees on maternity leave. Please indicate whether this legislation has entered into force and, if so, when.

2. In its previous request, the Committee requested statistical data on the number of male and female students participating in vocational training institutes or courses. It notes the Government's statement that the data requested are not available at present, but that it is hoped that the information will be available and that it will be furnished in the near future. The Committee looks forward to receiving this information in the next report. The Committee also notes the Government's indication that the total number of persons, male and female, who have been trained through training programmes either organised or approved by the Industrial Training Authority of Cyprus was 3,938 for 1983, 12,774 for 1987 and estimated to be 14,000 for 1989. The Committee notes the increase in the importance of training in Cyprus, and asks the Government to indicate in its next report any measures taken or envisaged by the Industrial Training Authority of Cyprus to develop and maintain a system for collecting statistics for the purpose, among others, of documenting participation by various groups in vocational training in the country.

3. The Committee had also requested information on the number of women workers employed in the public and the private sectors, as well as their proportion as compared to that of men. It notes that over the years 1984 to 1987 overall employment in the public sector (excluding manual labour) appears to have varied little in actual numbers, and participation by women has also varied little, remaining between 33.6 and 34 per cent over the four-year period. The Government also indicates that out of 3,134 government employees who are either professionals or hold administrative positions, 735 (23.45 per cent) are women. The Committee notes the Government's statement that appointments to managerial positions in the government service are usually by promotion and that years of service play a decisive role in this respect; women's late entry into the public service, as compared to men, therefore negatively affected their promotion to such positions.

The Committee asks the Government to provide, with its next report, information on any measures taken to encourage women to participate in management of the public service with a view toward overcoming the problem of insufficient seniority mentioned in its report. Also, the Government is asked to continue to provide statistical data in this area, as well as in the private sector, as previously requested.

4. The Committee notes the indication provided by the Government that efforts continue to be made during the process of the renewal of collective agreements so as to iron out any possible discrepancy which might be considered as constituting discrimination. The Committee notes particularly the agreements and mediation proposals sent with the Government's report which show that the percentage increase of women's wages is greater than that of men.

The Committee is obliged to point out that the results of collective agreements and mediation proposals in fact perpetuate separate pay rates for men and women which, it appears, discriminate only on the basis of sex. Even though the percentage increases granted to women may have been larger than that granted to men, for instance in the shoe industry (1988-89) and under the Potato and Carrot Marketing Board Agreement (1987), the Citrus Fruit (Picking and Packing) Agreement (1988-89), the Phassouri Plantation Agreement (1988-89), Frou-Frou Biscuit Factory Agreement (1988-90), and the Doritis Macaroni Factory Agreement (1988-89), in each instance pay rates are listed as being applicable to men in some cases and to women in others, while the average weekly pay rate for women during the base year was lower than that of men working in the same job classifications. At the same time, the real money increase for men and women was the same, thus perpetuating existing discrimination. Moreover, this approach has been taken in proposals of the Conciliation Department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in renewal of certain agreements, as seen from information in the Government's report.

The Committee hopes that the Government will be able to indicate in its next report that positive steps have been taken both in collective bargaining and, particularly, in the mediation efforts of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to integrate the pay levels of men and women and to otherwise promote the cessation of pay systems which discriminate on the basis of sex. The Committee requests the Government to continue sending with future reports copies of significant collective bargaining agreements and mediation proposals.