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Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Bahamas (RATIFICATION: 2001)

1. Article 1(a) of the Convention. Coverage of the laws. The Committee recalls its previous comments in which it noted that article 26 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination in law and by public officers or any public authority on the basis of race, place of origin, political opinion, colour, or creed, but not on the basis of sex. Also, the fact that no protection from discrimination on the basis of sex was available under article 26 of the Constitution could prevent workers from applying to the Supreme Court for protection from discrimination on the basis of sex (article 28). The Committee also noted that section 6 of the Employment Act, 2001, which covers both public and private sector employment, prohibits discrimination on the basis of, among other grounds, race, creed, sex and political opinion, but not national extraction, colour and social origin, which are listed in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to clarify in its next report whether “place of origin” referred to in article 26 of the Constitution also covers “national extraction” and “social origin”, and to indicate which mechanisms exist for workers to obtain redress for discrimination based on sex in law or by public officers or any public authority. The Government is also asked to consider amending the Employment Act of 2001 to prohibit discrimination in employment and occupation on the grounds of colour, national extraction and social origin, and to keep the Committee informed of steps taken in this regard.

2. Article 1(1)(b). Other grounds of discrimination. The Committee notes that section 6 of the Employment Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of marital status, age and HIV/AIDS. Section 6 applies also to “disabled employees unless the employer can show that the job requirements relied on as a ground for hiring the disabled person at a lesser rate of pay are reasonable or the disabled person cannot be accommodated without due hardship” (section 7). The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the practical application of sections 6 and 7 of the Employment Act of 2001 with respect to the grounds of age, HIV/AIDS, marital status and disability.

3. Articles 2 and 3. National policy and measures to promote equality. The Committee recalls the Government’s indication in its first report that the national policy designed to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation was reflected in the Constitution as well as in section 6 of the Employment Act. In addition, the Government had also indicated that access to vocational training in public high schools was free of charge and that the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) offered training for a minimal fee. In the absence of any further information in the Government’s report on this point, the Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide detailed and practical information on the concrete measures taken to promote equality of opportunity and treatment on all the grounds listed in the Convention, following the questions listed in Part II of the report form regarding Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. This information should highlight, inter alia, practical measures taken to ensure equality in employment in the public sector, to promote employment equality through education, training and awareness raising, and any cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations undertaken in this regard.

4. Equality between men and women in employment. The Committee notes the statistics of 2005 on the “employed persons in the hotel industry by occupation, sex, average hours worked and average wage per week – All Bahamas”, attached to the Government’s report on the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100). The statistics show that while men and women are more or less equally distributed in the higher occupational category of senior officials and managers (52.1 per cent and 47.1 per cent respectively), some occupational segregation appears to exist with respect to the type of posts in which they are employed. Occupations for senior officials and managers where men predominate appear to be of higher status and more highly paid. Also, 69.5 per cent of the highly paid “managers not elsewhere classified” are men. Men and women appear to be more evenly distributed amongst professionals although some occupational segregation does exist within this category. In the lower category occupations, women are predominantly employed in occupations such as technicians and associated professionals (67.9 per cent) as well as clerks (66.5 per cent), and men as skilled agriculture and fisheries workers, and craft and related trades workers. For occupational categories where men and women are more or less equally divided such as service shop and market sales workers, plant and machine operators assemblers as well as elementary occupations, occupational segregation of men and women is clearly evident with women often concentrated in so-called typically female occupations. The Committee asks the Government to indicate in its next report the measures taken, and the results achieved, to address the vertical and horizontal occupational segregation of men and women in the various job categories. The Committee also asks the Government to continue to provide statistics disaggregated by sex on the position of men and women in the labour market, both the private and public sectors, indicating their participation in the different sectors and occupations, as well as levels of responsibility.

5. Equality between men and women with respect to access to education and vocational training. The Committee notes the statistics disaggregated by sex attached to the Government’s report on Convention No. 100 on the number of college graduates in the different programmes and the number of graduates in the BTVI for the years 2005–06, as well as the results of the standard examinations in secondary education (2006). The Committee notes from these statistics the higher number of women graduates participating in these programmes, especially in the business and computer science programmes. With regard to the statistics of the BTVI, the Committee, however, notes that despite the higher number of women graduates (108 women as compared to 47 men) women are still concentrated in so-called typically female occupations such as cosmetology, office clerk and office systems administrator. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide statistical information on the participation of men and women in the different disciplines of vocational training and education, as well as to indicate the measures taken to encourage women to participate in training courses in which men traditionally predominate and which may have better career options.

6. Article 5. Special measures. The Committee refers to its previous comments in which it noted that the wording of article 26(4)(d) of the Constitution, by referring to the “special circumstances” of the persons protected from discrimination, would appear to allow for the taking of positive measures in favour of groups protected under the Convention. The Government is invited once again to further elaborate on the meaning of this constitutional provision and to indicate whether it has or intends to rely on it, for example in order to take positive measures to promote women’s employment, as appropriate.

7. Parts III and IV of the report form. The Committee notes that the Government has omitted to provide further details on the manner in which the Ministry of Labour, the Industrial Tribunal and the courts are enforcing the application of the laws. The Committee, therefore, reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on the concrete measures taken by the Ministry of Labour to promote and ensure equality in the workplace, including information on relevant activities by labour inspection services and the public labour employment exchange services. Please also provide any relevant decision of the Industrial Tribunal or the courts with regard to equality in employment and occupation, particularly decisions involving section 6 of the Employment Act, and indicate the number of complaints that have been filed in recent years alleging discrimination in employment and education, and the outcome of such complaints.