Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

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

Article 1 of the Convention. Prohibited grounds of discrimination. For a number of years, the Committee has been requesting the Government to take the necessary measures for the adoption of anti-discrimination legislation addressing all aspects of employment and occupation and covering at least all the grounds enumerated in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. The Committee notes the adoption in 2018 of two laws covering equal treatment and non-discrimination: (1) Act No. 85 on Equal Treatment irrespective of Racial and Ethnic Origin, which requires equal treatment of persons irrespective of their race and ethnic origin in all fields of society, with the exception of the labour market; and (2) Act No. 86 on Equal Treatment in the Labour Market. The Committee notes that section 1 of Act No. 86 provides for equal treatment of individuals on the labour market, irrespective of their race, ethnic origin, religion, life stance, disability, reduced working capacity, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual characteristics or gender expression. The Act applies, inter alia, to: (a) access to jobs, self-employment or occupational sectors, including with regard to engagement and promotion; (b) access to educational and vocational counselling, vocational education and vocational training; (c) decisions in connection with wages, other terms of service and notice of termination; and (d) participation in workers’ and employers’ organizations, including the services that they provide for their members. The Committee welcomes the inclusion of a range of prohibited grounds of discrimination in Act No. 86, but observes that it does not cover all the grounds of discrimination listed in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention, namely the grounds of colour, political opinion, national extraction and social origin. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to amend Act No. 86 to ensure the inclusion of all the prohibited grounds of discrimination enumerated in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention, and particularly colour, political opinion, national extraction, and social origin.

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