Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) - Belize (Ratification: 1999)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report, due since 2016, has not been received. In light of its urgent appeal launched to the Government in 2020, the Committee proceeds with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the information at its disposal.

Articles 1 and 3 of the Convention. Legislation. The Committee recalls that previously the Government indicated that it was working on draft amendments to the Labour Act (2011) which will: (1) prohibit direct and indirect discrimination and victimization in the field of employment and occupation on the ground of, inter alia, family responsibilities; and (2) include an entitlement to three days of unpaid leave for workers with at least 12 months’ continuous service for the purpose of emergency family leave. The Committee notes that, although the Labour Act has been amended in 2020, the above-mentioned amendments have not been included in the Labour Act. In the absence of any recent information, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the status of the above mentioned draft amendments to the Labour Act.

National policy. The Committee further notes that the revised National Gender Policy (NGP) adopted in 2013, like the previous NGP, addresses the issue of reconciling family and work responsibility only in the context of periods of disaster management and planning. In this regard, it also notes that one of the NGP objectives is to safeguard women and men’s right to work regardless of their childbearing status and support women and men in their reproductive roles (page 29). The Committee wishes to recall that Article 3 of the Convention asks member States to make it an aim of national policy to enable persons with family responsibilities who are engaged or wish to engage in employment to exercise their right to do so without being subject to discrimination. In the absence of a full national policy concerning workers with family responsibilities, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures, in law and practice, to ensure that men and women workers with family responsibilities who so wish are able to access employment or be engaged in employment without discrimination and, if possible, without conflict between their employment and family responsibilities, including: (i) by expressly prohibiting in the Labour Code any discrimination on the basis of family responsibilities in all forms of employment and occupation, including at the recruitment level; and (ii) by adopting a combination of support measures and public information and awareness-raising measures on the problems that workers with family responsibilities face, as well as measures to promote mutual respect and tolerance within the population. Please provide information about the adoption of a revised National Gender Policy.

Article 5. Child and family care services. The Committee recalls the Government’s previous statements that no measures have been taken to give effect to this Article and indication that: (1) parents are expected to make their own appropriate arrangements as it relates to childcare; and (2) the establishment of family services other than childcare is in the majority a private venture. The Committee notes however that, in the 2013 NGP, the Government has committed to “provide women and men with support services that allow them to exercise their right to work. This includes support for the establishment of childcare centres that are appropriately regulated and meet the demands of urban and rural communities. These are to be established at strategic locations, including in the workplace, to facilitate both parents’ access to employment. Special incentives are to be provided to private sector employment agencies that establish childcare centres for their employees” (page 32). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the concrete measures taken within the NGP’s framework to address the need for more childcare centres in urban and rural areas and to establish work-based childcare in the workplace, including special incentives to the private sector to establish childcare facilities. Please also provide information on measures taken or envisaged in favour of men and women workers with responsibilities in relation to other members of their immediate family who clearly need their care or support.

Article 6. Educational and information measures. The Committee wishes to recall that, if the measures taken to implement a national policy are to be effective in furthering equality between men and women, they should be accompanied by measures to promote information and education which engender broader public understanding of the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women workers and of the problems of workers with family responsibilities, as well as a climate of opinion conducive to overcoming these problems. In the absence of any information on this point, the Committee asks once again the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged and on the impact of these activities on public opinion.

Article 7. Training. In its last comment, the Committee asked the Government to collect and provide statistical information on the number of male and female workers with family responsibilities participating in the training programmes offered. The Committee also asked the Government to indicate any special measures that have been taken or are contemplated by the National Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training which aim at enabling workers with family responsibilities to engage in guidance or vocational training schemes. In this regard, the Committee notes that, according to the publication “Belize – state of skills” (ILO, 2018), enrolment in Technical Vocational Education and Training programmes increased by 21 per cent between 2013 and 2018, from 1,058 to 1,283 (page 26). The Committee asks the Government to indicate whether within the Technical Vocational Education and Training, male and female workers with family responsibilities have participated and to provide statistical information in this regard.

Article 8. Recalling that section 42(1) of the Labour (Amendment) Act provides that family responsibilities do not constitute good and sufficient cause for dismissal or for the imposition of disciplinary action against a worker, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide information on the practical application of section 42(1), including information on: (i) any violations found and remedial actions taken by the labour inspectorate; (ii) any prosecutions filed in the courts; and (iii) the results of such judicial actions, including sanctions imposed and remedies granted.

Article 11. Participation of employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee asks once again the Government to provide detailed information on the participation of employers’ and workers’ organizations, through the Labour Advisory Board or otherwise, to give effect to the provisions of the Convention.