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

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Republic of Moldova (Ratification: 1996)

Article 5 of the Convention. Special measures of protection and assistance. Restrictions on the employment of women. In its previous comments, the Committee hoped that restrictions to women’s work would be strictly limited to maternity protection. The Committee notes with satisfaction that section 248 of the Labour Code of 2003, as revised in 2020, limits the prohibition on working in underground works to pregnant women, women who have recently given birth and women who breastfeed, as well as in activities that present risks to their safety or health or which may have an impact on their pregnancy or lactation. The Committee emphasizes that any protective measure applicable to the employment of women has to be rigorously proportional to the nature and scope of the protection sought and be limited to maternity protection if it is to be compatible with the principle of equality. It also wishes to emphasize that provisions relating to the protection of persons working under hazardous or difficult conditions should be aimed at protecting the health and safety of both men and women at work, and should be established on the basis of an evaluation showing that there exist specific risks for the health of women and men. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the implementation in practice of section 248 of the Labour Code, in particular regarding the criteria for determining which activities present risks to pregnant women and women who have recently given birth and women who breastfeed, and the measures taken to ensure that such criteria are compatible with the principle of equality between women and men.

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