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

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Qatar (Ratification: 1976)

Article 1 of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee recalls its previous request to the Government to provide information on measures taken to protect categories of workers excluded from the scope of its labour laws, as enumerated in section 3 of Labour Act No. 14 of 2004, namely: those in companies involved in the implementation of drilling and production agreements; agreements on the development of oil and gas fields and production sharing; and joint venture agreements in the area of petroleum operations and petrochemical industries. The Committee notes that the report is silent on this subject, and that the Labour Act remains unchanged. Consequently, the Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on the measures taken to protect all categories of workers excluded from the coverage of the Labour Act of 2004, as amended in 2009, against discrimination on all the grounds enumerated in the Convention, as no provision of the Convention limits its scope as regards individuals or branches of activity.

Article 5. Special measures of protection and assistance. Since 2006, the Committee has been referring to sections 94 and 95 of Labour Act No. 14 of 2004, which provide that women shall not be employed in dangerous work and establish limitations regarding working time. The Committee noted that the ministerial orders issued pursuant to these sections and concerning industries, occupations and jobs prohibited for women, and concerning working time, had not yet been adopted. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that sections 93, 96, 97 and 98 of the Labour Act of 2004 provide various protections relating to equal remuneration between men and women and to maternity, and that Law No. 8 of 2009 provides for similar measures for public sector women workers. It notes, however, that the Government has not provided a reply to the Committee’s previous request regarding sections 94 and 95 of Labour Act No. 14 of 2004. In this regard, the Committee repeats its statement that any measures aimed at protecting women generally because of their sex or gender, based on stereotypical perceptions of their capabilities and appropriate role in society, constitute obstacles to the recruitment and employment of women and are contrary to the Convention, and that protection measures should be limited to maternity protection (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraphs 839–840). The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to ensure that any protective measures for women are strictly limited to maternity protection and to provide copies of any regulations, orders and ministerial decisions adopted regarding such protective measures.