Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Iceland (Ratification: 1963)

Article 1 of the Convention. Discrimination based on grounds other than sex. The Committee recalls that it has been asking the Government to adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation in employment and occupation covering at least all the grounds listed in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Bill on Equal Treatment in the Labour Market which establishes equal treatment irrespective of race, national origin, religion or outlook on life, disability, invalidity, age, sexual orientation or sexual identity and the Bill on Equal Treatment concerning race and national origin, to which the Government has been referring for a number of years, still have not been submitted to the legislative assembly for approval. Noting the Government’s indication that these draft laws are designed to give effect to the Council Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation and the Council Directive 2000/43/EC implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the importance of also ensuring these draft laws, when adopted, comply fully with the requirements of this Convention. The Committee therefore asks the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that any new anti-discrimination law addresses employment and occupation on all the grounds covered by the Convention, including race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction and social origin. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that new legislation is adopted in the near future and asks the Government to continue to provide information on any steps taken to this end.