Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1994)

Article 4 (b) of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government has stepped up initiatives to ensure that leave granted to care for a sick dependent child or parent is more flexible, and that this is reflected in a considerable number of collective agreements providing for various types of leave of varying duration for workers who have to look after their sick children or dependent parents. The Committee requests the Government to continue taking measures enabling workers to reconcile family and work responsibilities more effectively, and to provide information on their impact.

Article 5. In its previous comments the Committee referred to the employers’ obligations, provided for under the legislation, to create childcare centres when there are more than 30 women working in the enterprise or workplace. On that occasion, the Committee stressed that the Convention’s objective was to secure equality of opportunity and treatment in employment for men and women with family responsibilities and that, consequently, any services and improvements should target both men and women. In this respect, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, the labour inspectorate monitors the application of this principle in situ. The Committee requests the Government to ensure that in practice the employers’ obligation to create day care centres benefits all their employees, both men and women with no distinction on the basis of sex, and asks the Government, within the framework of the Committee for Analysis and Examination for the implementation of obligations arising from Conventions of the International Labour Organization, to consider the possibilities of amending section 155 of the Labour Code so that access to child day-care centres is available to both men and women workers on an equal footing. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the application and impact of this provision in practice, as well as on the activities and progress made by the Office for Regulating Child Day-care Centres (ORCID) and any other measure adopted or envisaged to apply the Convention.

Article 6. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and other affiliated institutions have websites to inform workers of their rights. Seminars and workshops are also held to raise awareness of the issue. The Committee stresses the importance of promoting information on the Convention in such a way that workers and employers are sufficiently aware of its provisions, so as to achieve an effective application of the principle of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken to promote a broader understanding of the principle of the Convention for organizations of employers and workers.

Article 8. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on dismissals on the ground of family responsibilities and on any decisions that might have been handed down.

Article 11. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any legislative amendments proposed by the Committee for Analysis and Examination for the implementation of obligations arising from Conventions of the International Labour Organization in relation to the application of the Convention.