Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Belgium (Ratification: 1977)

The Committee notes the joint observations submitted on 1 September 2022 by the General Confederation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (CGSLB), the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (CSC) and the General Labour Federation of Belgium (FGTB).

Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. Discrimination on the basis of sex and/or gender. Pregnancy and maternity. The Committee notes with interest the adoption on 4 February 2020 of the Act amending the Act of 10 May 2007 to combat gender discrimination, extending the prohibition of discrimination to new protected criteria, namely, paternity, co-maternity, breastfeeding, adoption, medically assisted procreation and sexual characteristics, the main objective being to give greater visibility to situations relating to maternity or the desire for maternity. The Committee welcomes the publication of a leaflet to inform working parents and pregnant workers of their rights and the support they can obtain from the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men (IEFH) and the labour inspectorate (the Social Legislation Supervisory Directorate) and notes the many court rulings following complaints lodged by or in collaboration with the IEFH (some of which resulted in an amicable settlement). In this regard, the Committee notes that, in its concluding observations, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) expressed concern as to the high number of complaints about employment discrimination based on pregnancy and maternity (CEDAW/C/BEL/CO/8, 31 October 2022, paragraph 43). It notes that in 2020, 36 per cent of the 350 reports concerning work situations received by the IEFH involved discrimination related to pregnancy and maternity. As indicated by the IEFH in its 2020 progress report, cases of discrimination and unequal treatment on the grounds of pregnancy, maternity or the desire to have a child remain a major problem in Belgian society, a finding shared by the CGSLB, CSC and FGTB in their observations. The Committee requests the Government to continue to support and take practical steps to prevent and eliminate discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy, maternity and/or the desire for maternity, in particular by stepping up labour inspections and by conducting information and awareness-raising activities among workers, employers, their respective organizations and the general public. The Government is also requested to continue providing information on cases of discrimination in employment and occupation dealt with by the IEFH, the labour inspectorate and the courts, as well as on the outcome of any legal proceedings initiated in this regard, indicating the sanctions imposed and the compensation awarded.

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