Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Maternity Protection Convention (Revised), 1952 (No. 103) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1989)

Article 3(2) and (3) of the Convention. Compulsory period of postnatal leave. Further to its previous comments in which the Government was requested to guarantee the compulsory nature of the period of postnatal leave, the Committee notes that the Government only refers to the mission of the labour inspectors to monitor the social insurance registrations. Therefore, the Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to incorporate an explicit provision in national legislation to guarantee the compulsory nature of the period of postnatal leave, with the aim of preventing women from resuming work before the end of the six-week period as a result of undue pressure or with a view to receiving their full salary, to the detriment of their health.

Article 4. Cash and medical maternity benefits. Suspension. The Committee notes the technical and legal study forwarded by the Government which states that a revoking of sections 48(c), 149(c) and 71(c) of Agreements Nos 410, 466 and 468, respectively, of the Administrative Board of the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS) – which provide for the suspension of benefit payments in the event of blatantly anti-social behaviour on the part of the beneficiary – would mean removing protection from IGSS workers, and also from affiliated persons and beneficiaries who attend the various offices and medical units, in the face of any verbal abuse or physical assault. The Committee again reminds the Government that the abovementioned provisions are contrary to the Convention, which does not permit the suspension of benefit payments in the event of blatantly anti-social behaviour on the part of the beneficiary. The Government has committed itself to an international obligation and it is bound to ensure that the IGSS Administrative Board respects and applies that obligation. The Committee hopes that the Administrative Board will be able to find more effective means of preventing verbal abuse or physical aggression towards its employees which does not entail denying the right of the latter to maternity benefits in violation of the international commitments entered into by Guatemala. While noting the Government’s indication that no case of suspension based on the abovementioned sections has been recorded, the Committee hopes that the Government will take measures to ensure that sections 48(c), 149(c) and 71(c) of Agreements Nos 410, 466 and 468, respectively, are revoked.