Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) - Republic of Moldova (Ratification: 2006)

The Committee takes note of the first report of the Government on the application of the Convention and asks to provide additional information on the following points.

Article 3 of the Convention. Health protection. The Committee notes the Decision of the Government No. 624 of 6 October 1993 on the approval of the list of industries, professions and works with difficult and hazardous labour conditions prohibited for women, as well as regulations for the maximum weight accepted for women for the manual lifting and transportation of weighs. Taking into consideration that this list was adopted in 1993, the Committee would be grateful if the Government could provide information on how it insures that this list is updated regularly, as well as on the procedure for carrying out an assessment of the health risks involved for works that are not listed in the abovementioned decision, but may nevertheless be prejudicial or present a significant risk to the health of the mother or the child. The Government is also asked to explain how this list and the results of assessments are made available to the women concerned.

Article 4, paragraphs 1–3. Maternity leave. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report on the length of maternity leave in case of a stillborn child or a child that dies during precocious neonatal period or postnatal period. The Government is asked to indicate relevant legal provisions and to supply a copy of them.

Article 4, paragraph 4. Compulsory postnatal leave. The Committee notes that the Labour Code does not contain provisions on compulsory period of postnatal leave. It asks the Government to provide information on how effect is given to this provision of the Convention, according to which maternity leave shall include a period of six weeks’ compulsory leave after childbirth, unless otherwise agreed at the national level by the government and the representative organizations of employers and workers.

Article 5. Leave in case of illness or complications arising out of pregnancy. The Committee asks the Government to transmit a copy of the Instruction on the arrangements for the award of medical leave, approved by the Government Order No. 57 of 11 February 1993.

Article 6, paragraphs 2 and 6. Social assistance benefits. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on cash benefits paid after the childbirth to women who do not fulfil the conditions provided for in section 6 of the law on indemnities for temporary labour disability and other social insurance benefits. It would be grateful if the Government could supply information on social assistance benefits paid to these women during the prenatal period of maternity leave, taking into consideration that these benefits should be at a level which ensures that the woman can maintain herself and her child in proper conditions of health and with a suitable standard of living, according to these provisions of the Convention.

Article 6, paragraph 7. Medical benefits. The Committee asks the Government to provide a copy of the single programme of the State obligatory medical insurance, approved according to section 22 of the law on obligatory medical insurance.

Article 8, paragraph 2. Employment protection. The Government is asked to provide information on how effect is given to this provision of the Convention, which guarantees women the right to return to the same position or an equivalent position paid at the same rate at the end of her maternity leave.

Article 9, paragraph 2. Pregnancy test. The Committee asks the Government to specify in which cases a medical certificate can be required according to section 57, paragraph 1(e) of the Labour Code. The Government is also asked to supply a list of categories of women workers who are undergoing a medical examination at employment, according to section 238, paragraph 2, of the Labour Code.

The Committee noted, from the information provided by the Government in its reports on the application of Convention No. 103, that the five regions on the left bank of the Dniestr, which constitute the self-proclaimed Transnistrian Moldovan Republic, issued their own labour legislation. It would be grateful if the Government would indicate in its next report the manner in which effect is given to the Convention in the above regions and if it would provide copies of the relevant legislation.