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Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Senegal (RATIFICATION: 1967)

Article 1 of the Convention. Protection of workers against discrimination and promotion of equality of treatment. Legislation and collective agreements. For several years, the Committee has been emphasizing that the Constitution (article 25) and the Labour Code (sections L.1 and L.29) do not cover all the prohibited grounds of discrimination set out in the Convention, as they omit national extraction and colour, and they do not refer explicitly to social origin, but only to origin or origins. The Committee notes that the Government reaffirms its willingness to provide a better framework for combating discrimination at work and that it once again refers to the labour legislation revision process still under way, in which issues related to protection against discrimination have been taken into account. It welcomes the creation of the steering committee for the reform of the Labour Code by order of 15 June 2021 of the Ministry of Labour, Social Dialogue and Relations with Institutions. The Committee also notes with interest that the new national inter-occupational collective agreement, signed on 30 December 2019, provides that “no one may be barred from the recruitment procedure or access to internships or on-the-job training, or be subjected to a discriminatory measure based race, colour, age, sex, trade union activity, belonging to a religion, fraternity or sect, political opinion, national extraction, ethnicity, social origin, disability, pregnancy, family situation, health status or HIV status, and which has the effect of destroying or impairing equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation”. It adds that “no employee may be penalized, dismissed or subjected to a discriminatory measure for witnessing or reporting the conduct defined in the above paragraphs” and that “the employer must ensure respect of equality of treatment among employees relating to working conditions, as well as remuneration, training and professional promotion”. Noting the willingness expressed by the Government with regard to combating discrimination and promoting equality of treatment in employment and occupation, the Committee urges it to ensure that the reform of the Labour Code extends protection to workers against discrimination based on all the grounds listed under Article 1(1)(a), including national extraction, colour and social origin, as well as any additional grounds that the Government deems it appropriate to include, such as those listed in the 2019 national inter-occupational collective agreement. It also requests the Government to take measures to raise awareness among workers and employers and their respective organizations of the provisions of the new collective agreement prohibiting discrimination and promoting equality of treatment.

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