Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Philippines (Ratification: 1960)

Article 1 of the Convention. Legislative developments. The Committee recalls its long-standing comments urging the Government to introduce the necessary legal measures to ensure that women are protected against discrimination in all aspects of employment, including hiring. The Committee notes Senate Bill No. 429, an Act Expanding the Prohibited Acts of Discrimination Against Women on Account of Sex, Amending for the Purpose Articles 135 and 137 of the Labor Code, which is still pending approval by the Senate. The Bill inserts a new section 135(c) declaring unlawful “giving preference to a male employee over a female employee in the hiring process, whether through notices, announcements, or advertisements for employment and apprenticeship or in the actual recruitment, hiring or employment of workers where the particular job can be equally handled by a woman”. Further, pursuant to new section 135(d), “favoring a male employee over a female employee with respect to dismissal of personnel or the application of the first in-first out or other retrenchment policy of the employer” shall also be unlawful discrimination. Section 137 of the Labor Code would also be amended to prohibit employers from denying women the benefits of employment or other statutory benefits under the laws by reason of gender. The Committee firmly hopes that progress will be noted soon in the adoption of Senate Bill No. 429 so as to ensure effective legal protection against discrimination based on sex in hiring and security of employment in accordance with the Convention, and requests the Government to provide information on any developments in this respect.

Discrimination on the basis of sex. The Committee notes with satisfaction the adoption of Republic Act No. 10151, An Act Allowing the Employment of Night Workers of 26 July 2010. Section 1 of the Act repeals section 130 of the Labor Code (the ban on the employment of women in night work), replacing it with section 158, which ensures that an alternative to night work is made available to women workers before and after childbirth for at least 16 weeks; and for additional periods, where a medical certificate is produced stating their necessity for the health of the mother or child.

Articles 2 and 3. Access of women to employment and vocational training. The Committee notes from the 2014 Gender Statistics on Labor and Employment (Philippine Labor Statistics Authority) the persistence of occupational gender segregation with women concentrated in low-paid industries and occupations. Furthermore, women tend to be over-represented in service activities, such as activities of households as employers of domestic personnel, and undifferentiated goods and services-producing activities of households for own use (89.3 per cent women); education (73.8 per cent women); other service activities (71.7 per cent women); and human health and social work activities (64.5 per cent women); while men tend to be concentrated in agriculture and industrial activities, such as construction (97.8 per cent men); transportation and storage (96.4 per cent men); fishing (90.9 per cent men); and mining and quarrying (90.8 per cent men). In family-operated farms or businesses, women comprise 56.6 per cent of unpaid family workers, while men comprise 75.9 per cent of paid workers.

The Committee recalls that providing vocational guidance and taking active measures to promote access to education and training, free from considerations based on stereotypes or prejudices, is essential to broaden the range of occupations from which men and women are able to choose, and to address occupational segregation. The Committee notes that the gender statistics on labour and employment further show that in 2013, 53.5 per cent of graduates from school-based and non-school-based Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in 2013 were women. It notes, however, from the 2011 Impact Evaluation Study of TVET that women were concentrated in vocational training leading to traditionally female jobs. In TVET programmes which assess and provide certification for enrollees, women represented only 0.05 per cent of those certified in the maritime industry, 2.8 per cent in construction and 3.8 per cent in the automotive industry; conversely, in health, social and other community development services (where occupations include beauty care, caregiving, customer services, massage therapy and other traditionally female areas of work), 89 per cent of those certified were women. The Committee notes that strategies under the Women’s Empowerment, Development and Gender Equality (WEDGE) Plan 2013–16 prioritize addressing occupational gender segregation by providing female scholarships for college, technical and vocational courses not traditionally taken by women. The Government also reports measures taken by the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) to promote the economic empowerment of women, including the GREAT Women Project: Economic Empowerment of Women through Enhanced Technology-Based Community Training Program, which resulted in Gender Sensitivity and Entrepreneurship Modules now included in TVET curricula. Recalling that for a number of years it has been raising concerns regarding the over-representation of women in low-skilled and low-income jobs, the Committee requests the Government to step up its efforts to address gender segregation in occupation and vocational training, and to promote women’s access to a wider range of jobs, in particular higher-paid jobs and jobs offering career advancement. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide specific information on the impact of the measures adopted, including by the PCW, to promote women’s access to, and participation in, training in industries traditionally dominated by men, including information on the number of female scholarships, take-up rates and in which areas training is provided to women under the WEDGE Plan 2013–16 and the GREAT Women Project. Please include data on the number of men and women enrolled, assessed and certified in TVET programmes, disaggregated by industry, as well as data on the employment of men and women in the various economic sectors and occupations.

Article 3(d). Application in the public sector. The Committee notes the very general information relating to the practical application of the Merit Promotion Plan, Republic Act No. 7041 (requiring publication of posts in the public sector), Memorandum Circular No. 3, series 2001 (creating Personal Selection Boards for public appointments), and Civil Service Resolution No. 98 463 (banning discrimination on the basis of gender, religious or political affiliation, minority or cultural extraction or social origin in respect of employment and occupation). The Government adds that exemption from Republic Act No. 7041 does not necessarily indicate that the principle of equal employment opportunity does not apply. The Government further states that Memorandum Circular No. 3 provides for equal opportunity when selecting candidates for appointment and prohibits discrimination on grounds of gender, civil status, disability, religion, ethnicity or political affiliation. Recalling the important role of the State in ensuring the application of the principle of the Convention, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate specifically how the principle of the Convention is applied in practice to the primarily high-level positions exempted from the publication requirement in Republic Act No. 7041. It reiterates its request to the Government to provide detailed information on the practical application of Memorandum Circular No. 3 and Resolution No. 98-463, and their impact on ensuring equal access to employment in the public sector, irrespective of race, colour, sex, religion, national extraction, political opinion and social origin. The Committee also requests the Government to provide an illustrative sample of procedures and criteria provided for in Merit Promotion Plans.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.