Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1984)

The Committee notes the observations of the Confederation of Workers of Venezuela (CTV), received on 26 August 2006, which refer to matters that are under examination.

Article 3 of the Convention. National policy. With reference to the measures adopted with a view to promoting equality between workers with family responsibilities and other workers, the Committee notes that the Basic Act on Labour, Male and Female Workers (LOTTT) of 2012 contains various provisions for the protection of workers with family responsibilities and for the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities. The Committee notes that section 331 of the LOTTT provides that in the social process of work and based on each work unit, maternity shall be protected and support provided for fathers and mothers in the process of raising, educating, training, maintaining and assisting their sons and daughters. The Committee also notes that the National Plan for Gender Equality and Equity 2013–19 provides in objective 2.9 for the promotion of shared domestic responsibilities. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on specific measures adopted to give effect in practice to section 331 of the LOTTT and to the National Plan for Gender, Equality and Equity.

Article 4(b). Terms and conditions of employment. With reference to the measures adopted to take into account the needs of workers with family responsibilities, the Committee notes that section 339 of the LOTTT provides for 14 days of paid paternity leave and section 345 establishes the right of mothers to two daily nursing breaks during the lactation period. The Committee notes that, according to the CTV, paternity leave is not paid in many cases. The CTV adds that the main problem in reconciling family and work responsibilities lies in the organization of working time, which currently depends principally on employers. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which paternity leave is implemented in practice, including statistical data on the number of workers to which such leave is granted, and how it is ensured that it is remunerated in practice, as required by the legislation. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted or envisaged in relation to working time with a view to facilitating the reconciliation of family and work responsibilities. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any other measures adopted or envisaged in relation to terms and conditions of employment and social security with a view to taking into account the needs of workers with family responsibilities.

Article 5. Services and facilities for the care of children and other family members. The Committee notes that section 348 of the LOTTT provides that the State shall implement programmes of specialized care within the framework of social security to provide support to workers for the care and protection of boys, girls, adolescents, elderly persons and other family members when any type of special care is required, or when they cannot care for themselves. Section 161 of the LOTTT also provides the requirement of the employer that have over 1,000 workers, in cases where the work is performed at over 100 kilometres from a city with educational care centres, to establish educational institutions. Section 343 provides that employers with over 20 workers shall maintain an initial education centre which has a nursing room, in which adequate care and education is provided for the children of the workers from the age of three months until six years. Section 344 sets out various means for compliance with this requirement. The Committee further notes that items 2.9.1 and 2 of the National Plan for Gender Equality and Equity 2013–19 provides for the promotion of policies for the care of children and persons who are highly dependent for reasons of illness, advanced age and disability. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of care programmes to provide support for workers with family responsibilities as envisaged in section 348 of the LOTTT, and on compliance by enterprises with sections 161 and 343 of this Act in relation to the requirement to establish education institutions. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of public and private education institutions established.

Article 6. Awareness raising on the principle of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government refers to various measures and programmes to raise the awareness of the public at large concerning the situation of workers with family responsibilities in relation to share responsibility between men and women for the care of children and dependent persons, as well as in relation to domestic work, such as the Flora Tristán Programme of 2014, consultations with workers and various meetings held with workers from over 70 enterprises. The National Plan for Gender Equality and Equity 2013–19 also refers to the need to develop a communication and training strategy on the sharing of domestic tasks.

Article 8. Protection against dismissal. The Committee notes that the LOTTT guarantees the following: stability of employment of pregnant workers from the beginning of the pregnancy until two years following confinement; the father from the pregnancy of the mother until two years following confinement; workers who adopt children under three years of age for two years following the date on which the child is received for adoption; and workers with children with any disabilities or illnesses which prevent or hinder them from caring for themselves. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the administrative and judicial remedies available in cases of failure to comply with the provisions of the LOTTT which guarantees the employment stability of workers with family responsibilities. The Committee also requests the Government to provide statistical data on the number of administrative decisions or court rulings issued in cases of the dismissal of workers with family responsibilities, including the outcome of such cases and any penalties imposed.