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Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) - Albania (RATIFICATION: 2004)

The Committee notes with interest that the 1995 Labour Code is being modified, and that the draft amendments are awaiting approval by the Council of Ministers. The draft text strengthens maternity protection and prohibits overtime by pregnant women and women with a child up to one year of age; it provides for postnatal leave of 63 days (42 days currently), the requirement for the employer to adapt work carried out by a pregnant woman to her condition, which includes the transfer to an equivalent position and the payment of benefits when the transfer is not possible, and paid nursing breaks of two hours or a reduction in working hours upon agreement with the employer. The Committee also notes the adoption of Act No. 10383 of 24 February 2011 on compulsory health insurance which, in accordance with Article 6(7) of the Convention, provides for free medical care for pregnant women (medical consultations and examinations, medication, treatment and hospitalization when necessary). The Committee requests the Government to provide it with a copy of the Act.

Article 6(5) of the Convention. Conditions required to qualify for cash benefits. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the statistical data provided by the Government which shows a steady increase in the number of beneficiaries of cash benefits. However, these same statistics show that women who are entitled to maternity benefits, who fulfil the condition of being insured for at least 12 months before pregnancy, do not seem to constitute the large majority of the women to whom the Convention applies (32.9 per cent in 2012). The Committee requests the Government to examine this situation with a view to ensuring that the conditions required to qualify for cash benefits enable a large majority of the women to whom the Convention applies to receive cash benefits.

Article 6(6). Cash benefits out of social assistance funds. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, firstly, a woman who is not insured receives no benefits and, secondly, the legislation on social assistance contains no provision concerning maternity benefits. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the obligations deriving from Article 6(6) of the Convention which provide that where a woman does not meet the conditions to qualify for cash benefits under national laws, she shall be entitled to adequate benefits out of social assistance funds, subject to the means test required for such assistance.

Article 8. Employment protection. The Committee notes the indication that, under section 147 of the Labour Code, a pregnant woman’s employment is protected for the payment period of temporary occupational incapacity benefit, which can last up to one year. In addition, the Committee notes the indication that there is no remedy available to the woman in the case of wrongful dismissal, as the Labour Code provides for compensation. The Committee recalls that the violation of the prohibition of dismissal set out in Article 8 entails, in the spirit of this provision, the nullity of the dismissal followed, in principle, by the reinstatement of the worker in her previous position. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the current provisions are sufficiently dissuasive to prevent the dismissal of women workers during the protected period and to take the necessary measures to provide for the reinstatement of the woman worker in the case of wrongful dismissal.