Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Chile (Ratification: 1971)

1. Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee notes the document entitled “General Basis of the National Plan to Overcome Discrimination in Chile” drawn up by the Interministerial Network and the Citizens Network in the context of the Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Programme for 2002 of the Social Organizations Division of the ministry responsible for communication between government and citizens. The Committee notes from the above document that the objective of the National Plan is to gradually phase out the various forms of discrimination and develop respect for social and cultural differences. The document also gives an account of the achievements, challenges, strategies and future actions of the abovementioned networks. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the definition and implementation of the Plan, particularly as it relates to the application of the principle of the Convention.

2. Promoting equality in employment and occupation between men and women. The Committee notes the activities carried out by the National Service for Women (SERNAM) to promote equal opportunities between men and women workers by means of information campaigns both for employers and for workers, and by creating a high profile and offering incentives for good business practices regarding application of the principle of the Convention. From the information supplied by the Government in its report on the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), the Committee notes with interest that a system of training scholarships for women workers is being implemented through the social programmes of the National Training and Employment Service (SENCE). It also notes with interest the objectives, dynamic, activities and main achievements of the Public-Private Committee on Temporary Employment in Agriculture, and particularly the fact that the proceeds of tax breaks granted to employers in the agricultural exports sector goes to training for temporary women workers. The Committee also notes that, according to the Government, several enterprises in the mining sector have embarked on special programmes to integrate women into the sector. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to promote equality in employment and occupation between men and women, including providing educational opportunities and training for higher skills, thus opening the way to better paid jobs and avoiding horizontal and vertical segregation, and particularly measures to promote women’s access to non-traditional sectors of the economy. Please also provide information on the effect of these measures in practice.

3. Article 3(b). From the information supplied by the Government in its report on the application of Convention No. 100, the Committee notes that Ordinance No. 3704/134 of 11 August 2004, establishes the meaning and scope of the second, third and fourth paragraphs of section 2 of the Labour Code which concern non-discrimination at work, and that as part of the reform of the labour tribunals, special supervisory machinery has been set up to deal with breaches of certain constitutional safeguards by employers in the course of employment relations, including acts of discrimination. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would send a copy of the abovementioned ordinance and of the provisions regulating the special machinery, together with any practical results of its application, and copies of any decisions handed down.

4. Public sector. In its direct request of 2003, the Committee noted the financing of a study by the National Association of Tax Office Employees (ANEF) on the conditions and status of women in the public sector. It notes from the information in the Government’s report on Convention No. 100 that in 2005, CODELCO, the largest enterprise in the country, after consulting SERNAM started work on an Equal Opportunities Plan on the basis of a diagnosis of jobs and of recruitment and career development processes. The Committee again asks the Government to send a copy of the ANEF study and to keep it informed of any progress in developing the abovementioned Plan, and of the diagnosis on which it is based.

5. Sexual harassment. The Committee notes Act No. 20005 of 8 March 2005, which defines and prescribes penalties for sexual harassment. It also notes that the Labour Department is developing models for internal procedures that could be applied to various situations in enterprises so that enterprises can incorporate them in their internal rules, and that it is preparing material for mass information campaigns. It also notes that in the public sector, the reporting and investigation of sexual harassment is subject to general rules for investigation covering the administration’s liability, which are to be incorporated in the various statutes, and that the ministries and departments are implementing internal procedures for processing such cases. The Committee observes that the abovementioned Act is narrower than the Committee’s general observation of 2002 in terms of the persons to be protected and those to be considered liable: in terms of areas of application (training stage, access to employment, place of work, etc.) and in terms of procedures for protecting victims. The Committee hopes that the Government will envisage the possibility of amending the abovementioned Act, taking account of the general observation of 2002. It would be grateful if the Government would provide copies of any decisions regarding complaints processed under the abovementioned Act and those processed in the public sector, to enable the Committee to assess how the Convention is applied in practice. Please provide information on the model internal procedures that the Labour Department is preparing for the private sector and on the internal procedures for the public sector. Please also report on any information and awareness-raising measures and on training.

6. Amendment of the Civil Code. With reference to the Bill (Bulletin
No. 1707-18) submitted in 1995 to amend the Civil Code and supplementary laws on joint ownership or the sharing of acquired property and affording equal rights to the wife and the husband, which would be positive for the professional activity of women, the Committee notes the progress made on these initiatives in Parliament. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the process of enactment of the amendments and to take the necessary steps to remove from the Civil Code the marital status requirement in the terms in which it is established, and for the proposed amendments to be adopted.

7. Women’s age of retirement. For several years, the Committee has been asking the Government to reconsider the possibility of introducing amendments to Decree No. 3500 of 1980, in order to establish equality between men and women as to retirement age. The Committee trusts that the Government will reconsider its position in the light of the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation as contained in the Convention.

8. Indigenous peoples. In its comments of 2003, the Committee noted that the Bill (Bulletin No. 513-07) to amend the Constitution in order to give constitutional recognition to indigenous peoples was rejected on 17 October 2000 and that the draft accord on the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), submitted in January 1991, was still before Parliament. The Committee again asks the Government to provide information on the progress of the abovementioned draft accord and hopes that it will continue to give consideration to ratifying Convention No. 169.