Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Uzbekistan (Ratification: 1992)

The Committee notes the observations of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) received on 1 September 2017 alleging the Government’s failure to comply with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments thereon.

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report once again contains no information in response to a number of its previous requests. The Committee wishes to stress that without the necessary information, it is not in a position to assess the effective implementation of the Convention, including any progress achieved since its ratification. The Committee urges the Government to ensure that the next report contains full information on the matters raised below.

Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. Discrimination based on sex. Sexual harassment. The Committee notes that the Government once again has provided no information in response to its request for information on awareness-raising activities and on measures taken to prohibit sexual harassment in the relevant legislation. The Committee recalls that sexual harassment is a serious manifestation of sex discrimination and a violation of human rights, and is to be addressed within the context of the Convention. Given the gravity and serious repercussions of sexual harassment, the Committee wishes to stress the importance of taking effective measures to prevent and prohibit sexual harassment in employment and occupation. Such steps should address both quid pro quo and hostile work environment sexual harassment. The Committee urges the Government to take steps to include provisions defining and prohibiting both quid pro quo and hostile environment sexual harassment in legislation. Recalling that it has been raising this issue since 2005, the Committee urges the Government to identify any practical steps taken to raise awareness and address the issue of sexual harassment in employment and occupation and any related collaboration with the workers’ and employers’ organizations.

Workers with family responsibilities. For a number of years the Committee has been asking the Government to amend the sections of Chapter IV of the Labour Code which contain measures applying to persons with family responsibilities which are only available to women workers (sections 228, 228(1), 229, and 232), and to fathers only in exceptional circumstances for example, where the mother has died or is hospitalized long-term (section 238). The Committee notes that the Government has not provided any information in this regard. It further notes, from the Government’s report under the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), enclosing an example of a collective agreement, that numerous provisions provide special protection and benefits to women with children or “people bringing up children without their mother”. The Committee, therefore, once again emphasizes that when legislation reflects the assumption that the main responsibility for family care lies with women or excludes men from certain family-related rights and benefits, it reinforces stereotypes regarding the roles of women and men in the family and in society. The Committee considers that, in order to achieve the objective of the Convention, measures to assist workers with family responsibilities should be available to men and women on an equal footing (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 786). The Committee requests the Government to identify the steps taken, in consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations, to amend the relevant parts of Chapter IV of the Labour Code in the light of the principle of equal treatment, to ensure that measures aimed at reconciling work and family are available to men and women with family responsibilities on an equal footing and to provide specific information in this regard.

Discrimination based on religion. The Committee notes the IUF’s observations according to which Muslim women who wear the hijab, face discrimination including in education, when applying for jobs and in employment. The IUF cites, as an example, cases where Muslim women were forced to quit their jobs, were banned from running their own business, intimidated and expelled from higher education. The Committee further notes, from the Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief on his mission to Uzbekistan that a 2017–21 Action Strategy for the development of five priority areas was adopted, and that area V covers religious tolerance and inter-ethnic harmony (A/HRC/37/49/Add.2, paragraph 2). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken to tackle discrimination on the grounds of religion in employment or occupations, including in the framework of the 2017–21 Action Strategy, and on the results achieved. Please also provide a copy of the 2017–21 Action Strategy.

Article 5. Special measures of protection on the basis of sex. The Committee recalls that since 2005, it has been asking the Government to provide a copy of the list of jobs with harmful working conditions in which women are prohibited from working, referred to in section 225 of the Labour Code. The Committee notes with regret that the Government has not provided the list and merely states that distinctions in employment are not deemed discriminatory if they are determined by the characteristics of the job or by the State’s special concern for persons in need of greater social protection. The Committee notes from the IUF’s observations that it considers that the inclusion of women in the category of people requiring enhanced social protection leaves open the possibility of direct discrimination against women. The Committee recalls that protective measures for women may be broadly categorized into those aimed at protecting maternity in the strict sense, which come within the scope of Article 5, and those aimed at protecting women generally because of their sex or gender, based on stereotypical perceptions about their capabilities and appropriate role in society, which are contrary to the Convention and constitute obstacles to the recruitment and employment of women (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 838–840). The Committee therefore urges the Government to provide a copy of the list of jobs with harmful working conditions in which women are prohibited from working referred to in section 225 of the Labour Code, in order to enable the Committee to assess whether this list of prohibited jobs constitutes a special measure falling under the scope of Article 5.

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