Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - El Salvador (Ratification: 1995)

1. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government's first report and asks the Government to reply to the following points.

2. Article 1 of the Convention. The Government has provided with its report legislative texts which prohibit discrimination based on race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction and social origin, but has not supplied any information on the practical application of the Convention and the actual situation in the country. The Committee requests the Government to provide practical information on the application of the principles of the Convention, especially of the legal procedures which exist to remedy situations involving discrimination in employment and occupation. It also asks the Government to indicate whether complaints have been brought to the courts. Please indicate whether the provisions of section 30(12) of the Labour Code, which "prohibit employers from making any kind of distinction on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, apart from the exceptions provided for by law for the purposes of protecting workers", are included in collective labour agreements.

3. The Committee notes that the Labour Code makes certain distinctions for the protection of domestic servants (section 76 ff.) and for agricultural and livestock workers (sections 84 to 103), where, in both cases, employers are allowed to make verbal contracts. In the case of domestic servants, the general provisions of the Code are not applicable (section 77); employers may require a certificate of good health as a condition of employment (section 78); and domestic workers do not follow a fixed timetable and are obliged to work on their days off whenever they are so requested by their employers (in such cases they are entitled, however, to double their normal daily rate of pay). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on which bodies may assist such people in protecting their rights in the absence of employment contracts. The Committee requests the Government to indicate also which labour inspection and other protection procedures are available to domestic, agricultural and livestock workers.

4. Article 1, paragraph 1(b). Taking into account the fact that the Constitution includes nationality as a criterion of discrimination, in addition to the criteria set out in the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to inform it whether it wishes to determine this criterion by the means provided for in this subparagraph.

5. Article 2. The Committee notes that the information supplied by the Government on the application of this Article refers only to the issue of equality of opportunity for men and women, apart from the fact that it refers to "equality for all people in society" as one of the principles of this policy. The Committee therefore wishes to recall what was stated in paragraph 162 of its 1988 General Survey on equality in employment and occupation concerning the content of national policies, i.e.: "in order to preserve the flexibility which is essential for its application, the Convention does not specify the content of measures which may be adopted for the promotion of effective equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation, and leaves it to States to determine the content of such measures in accordance with the objective of the Convention. The content of the national policy should, however, draw its inspiration from the principles of the Convention: it is essential that it should be designed to promote equality of opportunity and treatment by eliminating all distinctions, exclusions or preferences in law and in practice; that it should cover the different grounds of discrimination expressly referred to (race, colour, sex, national origin, religion, political opinion and social origin); and lastly, that it should provide for the implementation of the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment in all fields of employment and occupation". The Committee requests the Government to indicate, in its next report, how the principles applicable to equality between men and women are promoted in relation to the other criteria enshrined in the Convention.

6. Article 3. The Committee requests the Government to provide: more detailed information on consultations with the social partners; statistics relating to vocational training programmes, the participation of women in such programmes and in the public service; and the result of the consultations on the strategy underlying a national policy.

7. Article 4. The Committee requests specific information on how individuals suspected of engaging in activities against state security are treated in relation to employment and occupation, and whether such people may have recourse to the competent courts in cases where measures have been taken to dismiss them from their employment or to refuse them access thereto.