Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Macau Special Administrative Region (Ratification: 1999)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report and requests the Government to supply additional information on the following points.

1. Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes the various legal provisions prohibiting discrimination in employment and occupation on all grounds set out in the Convention with the exception of colour. Please indicate how discrimination in employment and occupation is prohibited on the grounds of colour. Please also provide information on the actual situation (including statistics) in the Region regarding access to vocational training, employment and occupation of persons according to their race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, and information on any difficulties of application encountered.

2. Article 2. The Committee requests additional information on the general policy designed to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation and on the general methods (legal procedures, practical measures, etc.) by which such policy and principle are implemented in practice, and the results of such measures.

3. Article 3. The Government is requested to provide more detailed information on the activities of the Standing Committee for Social Adjustment in promoting the acceptance and observation of the general policy designed to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation, and the relevant educational programmes mentioned in the Government’s report to promote equality.

4. Article 4. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on how this Article of the Convention is applied in law and practice.

5. Article 5. The Committee notes that, as a protective measure, section 8 of Legislative Decree No. 52/95/M (which establishes the norms to observe in labour relations, in view of guaranteeing equality of opportunities and of treatment at work for employees of both sexes), prohibits women to engage in certain kinds of work that constitute a real or possible danger to the maternal function. It requests the Government to provide information as on the precise list of jobs prohibited to women, including the reasons for such prohibition and whether any consultations have been held with employers’ and workers’ organizations in relation to this question.

6. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that the Labour and Employment Department is the authority in the Region responsible for the application of laws, regulations and international instruments relating to equality in employment and occupation and requests the Government to provide detailed information on the activities of the Department in this respect.

7. The Government is also requested to provide a copy of the Civil Servant Regulations.