Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1992, published 79th ILC session (1992)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Benin (Ratification: 1961)

The Committee notes the Government's report for the period ending 30 October 1990.

1. The Committee notes Act No. 90-004, of 15 May 1990, governing the registration of workers, recruitment and the termination of employment contracts, which repeals Act No. 83-002, of 17 May 1983, concerning the practical application of which the Committee had requested information. With regard to the new Act, the Committee requests the Government to indicate how, in practice, employers are bound to respect the principles of non-discrimination and equality of opportunity when recruiting staff, which they can do freely under the terms of section 4 of the Act, and when they register a dismissal. Furthermore, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether measures have been taken following the liberalisation of recruitment procedures within the framework of structural adjustment measures to promote the access of women to employment and to increase the awareness of enterprises in this respect.

2. As regards permanent state employees, the Committee noted that access to certain jobs could be reserved for applicants of one sex or the other. The Committee notes that, in accordance with the regulation concerning the conditions of service of employees of the post and telecommunications service, which was transmitted by the Government (Decree No. 85-363 of 11 September 1985), of the 16 categories of permanent employees, only technical jobs and jobs related to electro-mechanical plants are reserved for male applicants. Moreover, only in the case of the recruitment of postal delivery staff and sales personnel is it specified that applicants of both sexes will be considered. The Committee requests the Government to state whether, for other categories of jobs, applications by women are receivable and how equality of opportunity for women in respect of access to these jobs is guaranteed. The Committee would be grateful to receive with the Government's next report statistics on the distribution, by categories of employee, of women and men in the public postal and telecommunications sector.

3. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that under the terms of section 52 of Act No. 86-013, of 26 February 1986, governing the general conditions of employment of the public service, every permanent state employee is subject to appraisal, for which the general conditions and factors to be taken into account are determined by Decree. According to the Government, no Decree had been adopted in this respect. The Committee points out that, in accordance with the legislation that was previously in force to establish the general conditions of service of permanent state employees (Ordinance No. 79-31, which was repealed by Act No. 86-013), political opinion was foremost among these factors. Furthermore, it points out that section 12 of Act No. 86-013 includes, among the conditions to be fulfilled in order to be appointed to state employment, that of being in accordance in particular with the legislation respecting ideological service. The Committee also notes that, in the conditions of service of employees of the postal and telecommunications services, one of the factors to be taken into account for the appraisal of employees of each category is political opinion. The Committee notes, according to the Government's statement contained in its latest report, that the question of section 52 of Act No. 86-013 is under examination within the framework of the revision of the conditions of service of the various categories of state employees and that since 1990 political opinion has no longer been taken into account in the appraisal and advancement of permanent state employees. The Government states that new texts will be adopted in this respect and that action is currently being taken to eliminate any discrimination in employment.

The Committee therefore hopes that the necessary modifications will be made to the provisions governing the public service and requests the Government to supply copies of the new legislative texts and regulations as soon as they are adopted.

4. The Committee repeats its request to the Government to supply information on the measures taken in practice to encourage the effective promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of: (a) access to vocational training; (b) access to employment and to the various occupations; and (c) conditions of employment. The Committee once again requests the Government to supply information (including statistics and extracts from inspection reports and legal rulings) on the results achieved through such measures and on the steps taken to obtain the cooperation of employers' and workers' organisations in preparing and implementing such measures.

The Committee reminds the Government that Article 2 of the Convention obliges States which have ratified the instrument to declare and pursue a national policy designed to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment, with a view to eliminating any discrimination on the basis of the grounds set out in Article 1, namely, race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.