Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 83rd ILC session (1996)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - France (Ratification: 1981)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. The Committee notes with interest the adoption of Act No. 92-1179 of 2 November 1992 concerning abuse of authority and sexual harassment in work relations. It notes in particular that this Act prohibits all discrimination at the time of recruitment and in the execution or termination of the employment contract against employees who have been subjected to or witnessed sexual harassment and that trade unions may take legal action on their behalf if they give their written consent. It asks the Government to provide information on how the Act is applied in practice, such as copies of circulars and directives setting out the methods and procedures for application, and statistics on breaches of the Act recorded by the inspection services and other competent bodies and the measures taken to remedy them, including any legal action brought by trade unions or directly by victims of sexual harassment and the texts of any relevant court decisions.

2. The Committee notes that section 27 of Act No. 92-1446 of 31 December 1992 respecting employment, the development of part-time work and unemployment insurance has amended section L.122-45 of the Labour Code which prohibits dismissal based on discrimination in particular on grounds of health, and that, under section 416.3 of the Penal Code, a refusal to recruit based on discriminatory reasons is punishable by a fine and imprisonment. Noting that section 27 of the above-mentioned Act includes health among the grounds of proscribed discrimination, as envisaged by Article 1, paragraph 1(b), of the Convention, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the measures that have been taken or are envisaged to ensure that, in practice, the provisions of section 27 are observed with regard to people who are HIV positive or suffering from AIDS.

In this connection, please provide with the next report:

(a) the texts of any circulars issued under this Act, collective agreements and practical directives in the form of brochures or charters that have been adopted to prohibit discrimination based on HIV/AIDS at the time of recruitment or in the course of employment, and to educate and inform workers;

(b) information on special campaigns for education and awareness-raising among the public, employers, workers (organized, for example, by the National Agency for AIDS Control as part of its plan of action), and for the bodies which supervise the national legislation, including labour inspectors, to prevent all discrimination based on health, and particularly HIV/AIDS, and the results obtained;

(c) information on the activities of the labour inspectorate in this area and a copy of any court decisions handed down.

Please refer in this connection to paragraphs 70 and 71 of the Committee's 1988 General Survey on Discrimination in Employment and Occupation.

3. With reference to its previous comments concerning mixed employment contracts whose purpose is to improve women's employment situation, the Committee notes the Government's statement that female employment is still concentrated in the four categories: public service, enterprises, commerce and direct services to individuals, and teaching, health and social work. This is the result of several factors, especially the very slow increase in the number of girls in scientific and technical training; the more restricted access of employees to continuous training which limits opportunities for promotion within the occupation; and the very slow change in the respective roles of men and women in the family. The Committee also notes with interest the report for 1993 concerning mixed employment contracts, which gives information on action for women's training in 1993 under decentralized credits, and the follow-up and accompanying measures. The Committee asks the Government to continue to supply information on the measures taken or envisaged to encourage and facilitate mixed employment contracts and statistics on the results obtained. It would also appreciate receiving information on the results of the work of the three working groups set up in September 1994 by the Higher Council for Equality in Occupations.

4. Noting that the information requested on points 3, 4, and 6 of its previous direct request have not been supplied, the Committee again asks the Government to provide detailed information on the following in its next report:

(a) the practical effect given to section L.123-1 of the Labour Code which prohibits reference to sex in offers of employment except where sex is the determining criterion for the exercise of such employment, indicating for example the number of cases of non-compliance with this provision recorded by labour inspectors and any decisions on the matter handed down by the courts;

(b) any legislative or administrative measures and any national practice affecting the employment or occupational activity of persons who individually are legitimately suspected of engaging in activity which is prejudicial to state security, or for whom it has been established that they are in fact so engaged, and to provide details of the means of redress available to such persons, in accordance with Article 4 of the Convention;

(c) the measures taken, particularly as regards vocational training and access to employment, to secure better integration into the labour market of immigrants (particularly second-generation immigrants) holding French nationality.