Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) - Uruguay (Ratification: 1989)

Article 3 of the Convention. National Policy. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report, as follows: (1) according to the survey conducted in 2022 on use of time, women spend almost double the number of hours in unpaid work compared to men, representing 61.4 per cent of women’s total workload, against 35.9 per cent in the case of men; (2) occupational segregation and wage gaps persist, despite the legal framework aimed at eliminating barriers to securing and remaining in employment; and (3) in relation to the National Strategy for Gender Equality 2030, in 2024 an interinstitutional working group was established to analyse the legislative improvements required to guarantee transformative care policies that promote girls’ and boys’ health, women’s employment and gender equality. The Government indicates that the working group, in its final report, recommended that maternity, paternity and parental leave should form a continuum with care time, services and benefits, avoiding gaps that leave childcare exclusively in the hands of families, promoting shared social and gender responsibility. The Government also refers to the National Care Plan 2021–2025, the general objective of which was to support and deepen development of the Comprehensive National Care System (SNIC) with a focus on shared responsibility, equity and rights. The Committee welcomes the Government’s efforts and requests it to provide detailed information on: (i) the impact of the care policies adopted to improve the employment access and stability of these workers, in particular in rural areas and in the informal economy (for example, including data on the employment rates for men and women with family responsibilities); and (ii) continue to provide information on the plans and programmes adopted, including in the framework of the National Care Plan 2021–2025, and the follow-up to the report of the above-mentioned working group.

Article 4(b). Equality with relation to terms and conditions of employment. The Committee notes with interest the promulgation of the following Acts: (1) Act No. 19.729 of 2019, establishing paid leave for workers with children or relatives with disabilities or terminal illnesses; (2) Act No. 20.000 of 2021, introducing grants and increasing paternity and maternity rights in case of premature, multiple or births with complications; and (3) Act No. 20.312 of 6 August 2024, increasing paternity rights to ten working days or 20 calendar days, whichever option is more favourable to the worker, rendering this leave mandatory and inalienable and prohibiting the dismissal of the worker within the 30 days following the return to work after such leave. The Committee also welcomes the continuation of the Quality with Gender Equality Model, promoted since 2008 by the National Institute for Women (Inmujeres), which advocates for equality of opportunity in the world of work and which, up to 2023, had been applied in 33 public institutions and one private sector institution. The Model was updated in 2022, to increase its private sector outreach and engagement. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the effects of the legislative measures and the “Quality with Gender Equality” Model in reducing gender gaps in employment, particularly with regard to the use of paternity leave and more flexible working hours and other measures to support workers with family responsibilities. The Committee also reiterates its request for information on progress in the formulation of measures to equalize maternity leave in the public and private sectors.

Article 5. Assistance services for the care of young children and other family members. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the increased public offer of care services for infants and dependent persons, observing that the number of children cared for in the Child and Family Care Centres (CAIF) has continued to grow, reaching 76,841 girls and boys between zero and three years of age in December 2022. The Government also provides information on: (1) private cover, including through the programme of socio educational inclusion grants (BIS) for girls and boys in a situation of vulnerability living in areas with insufficient availability of public services or whose care-givers have difficulty in reconciling their working hours or studies with those of the public centres; and (2) the establishment, under Act No. 20.130 of 2023, of a Technical Commission on Policy Options for Care and Dependency, to carry out and commission studies to estimate existing care needs, in particular among elderly persons. The Committee also appreciates the Government’s efforts to ensure access to care services, especially: (1) for persons in a severely dependent situation, through the Personal Assistance Programme, which provides up to 80 hours of assistance monthly to persons under 30, or over 80 years of age, living at home and requiring support to carry out daily activities; and (2) for persons in rural areas, through the implementation of the Child and Family Care Centres (CAIF) for infants from 0 to 3 years of age, and the Citizens’ Community Houses, which have boosted the inclusion of children in remote areas. The Committee, while welcoming the Government’s efforts regarding care policies, requests it to continue providing updated statistical information on the number of persons benefitting from these services, as well as on the relation between supply and demand, especially as regards rural areas and areas with less access to public care services.

Article 6. Awareness-raising measures. The Committee notes the awareness-raising campaigns conducted by the Government, such as “Reconocer el trabajo no remunerado, construye igualdad” (“Recognize unpaid work, build equality”), which highlights gender inequalities in unpaid work and their impact on women’s employment, and “Vos también podés cuidar” (“You too can give care”) which aims to promote greater participation by men in care tasks, by deconstructing traditional gender roles and promoting fairer, shared responsibilities. The Committee also notes the creation of the section on “shared responsibility” in the SNIC webpage, which provides information, aimed at persons and enterprises, on the regulations in force and the tools available to promote shared responsibility for caring. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the awareness-raising activities conducted, including data on their implementation in rural and remote areas. The Committee requests information on the manner in which the impact and effectiveness of the measures taken is being evaluated, so as to continue reducing gender gaps.

Article 11. Participation of workers’ and employers’ organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that from the Fourth to the Seventh Round of Wage councils, 351 clauses that referred to shared responsibility were approved, of which 314 are still in force, inscribing childcare leave, flexible working hours and care services in collective agreements, and aimed at improving the balance between the employment and family responsibilities of women and men workers. The Committee observes, however, from the information provided by the Government, that only four branches of economic activity (the textile industry, the wood and wood-pulp industry, the print industry and forestry) have not included any clauses on care and are highly male-dominated. In light of the above, the Committee encourages the Government, in collaboration with employers’ and workers’ organizations, to promote the inclusion of clauses of this type in those sectors, together with the promotion of awareness-raising activities aimed at strengthening and mainstreaming shared gender responsibility. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to continue providing detailed information on the measures adopted in future rounds of collective bargaining and their impact on promoting shared responsibility and reducing gender gaps.