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Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) - Guinea (RATIFICATION: 1995)

Article 4 of the Convention. Right to leave. With regard to the matter of extending to men the possibility granted to women of taking a maximum nine months’ unpaid leave, as provided for in section 153.4 of the Labour Code, following the birth of a child, the Committee notes the Government’s brief indications that it will take account of the Committee’s concerns in the context of the forthcoming revision of the Labour Code and requests ILO technical assistance with respect to the revision of the Code. In this regard, in the general observation which it adopted in 2019 on workers with family responsibilities, the Committee underlines the importance of challenging traditional stereotypes of gender roles in caregiving, unpaid work and paid employment in order for families to be free to divide and share care-giving responsibilities regardless of gender and to allow them to reconcile those responsibilities with employment to the fullest extent possible. Thus, the Committee calls for the extension of measures adopted at the national and workplace levels enabling the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities also to apply to men. While recognizing the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on all developments in this regard.

Article 5. Childcare and family services and facilities. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that considerable efforts are made by the State, through the communes, to create care and leisure facilities for children and that, in parallel, non-governmental organizations support the provision of care for children, including healthcare, and assistance for families. The Committee welcomes the Government’s indication that community support centres for the children of workers with family responsibilities have been constructed or rehabilitated (628 public care structures and 348 private care structures providing childcare, and 1,746 urban, suburban and rural community support centres). The Government adds that the State has set up family care and assistance centres for children and women while creating facilities to cater for them but that it is difficult to provide statistics on the capacity and exact number of these structures, including because many of them are informal. The Committee underlines the importance of establishing such services and facilities and recalls that if workers with family responsibilities are unable to secure the necessary services and care for their family members while engaging in employment, in practice they are forced to give up their jobs. Furthermore, it recalls that the objective of the Convention, which is to ensure equal treatment for workers of both sexes who have family responsibilities and between these and other workers, should also be reflected in the resources provided so that these workers can discharge these responsibilities in all areas of their lives. In light of the above, the Committee requests the Government: (i) to continue taking measures to take account of the needs of workers with family responsibilities in community planning, at the local or regional level, and to intensify its efforts; (ii) to develop or promote the creation and implementation of public or private community services, such as childcare and family services and facilities; and (iii) to provide information on any measures taken in this regard. The Committee also once again requests the Government to provide all available data on the number and capacity of existing childcare structures.

Article 7. Labour market integration. Vocational guidance and training. The Committee notes that the Government, in response to its request to provide information on the training courses that are actually offered to workers following an absence due to family responsibilities, refers to the provisions of the Labour Code and Act No. L/2019/0027/AN issuing the general regulations on maternity leave for civil servants. The Committee recalls that Article 7 of the Convention provides that “[a]ll measures compatible with national conditions and possibilities, including measures in the field of vocational guidance and training, shall be taken to enable workers with family responsibilities to become and remain integrated in the labour force, as well as to re-enter the labour force after an absence due to those responsibilities.” This refers in particular to vocational guidance, counselling, information and placement services which are staffed by suitably trained personnel and are able to respond adequately to the special needs of workers with family responsibilities (Paragraph 14 of the Workers with Family Responsibilities Recommendation, 1981 (No. 165)). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any measures relating to vocational guidance, training, development, placement, reorientation or re-integration taken to enable workers with family responsibilities to become and remain integrated in the labour force, as well as to re-enter the labour force after an absence due to those responsibilities (for example, when returning to work after maternity or parental leave or after raising children).

Article 11. Employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes that the Government reaffirms that the tripartite Labour and Social Legislation Advisory Commission deals with matters relating to workers with family responsibilities, under section 515.1 et seq. of the Labour Code. Referring to its general observation of 2019, the Committee highlights the importance of social dialogue and collective bargaining in the application of the Convention and expresses the hope that employers’ and workers’ organizations will continue to participate in the formulation and implementation of national, sectoral and workplace policies, and of innovative measures aimed at giving effect to the rights established by the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the Labour and Social Legislation Advisory Commission has recently discussed these matters and made proposals in this regard, indicating, if applicable, their content.

General observation. Regarding the above issues and more generally, the Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention to its general observation on workers with family responsibilities, adopted on 2019. In such observation, the Committee recalls the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work’s aim to achieve gender equality at work through a transformative agenda and stresses the importance of the Convention in achieving this goal. The Committee calls for member States, and employers’ and workers’ organizations, to strengthen efforts towards: (i) making non-discrimination of workers with family responsibilities and the adoption of measures to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities explicit aims of their national policy; (ii) regularly monitoring and assessing the results achieved within the framework of the national policy towards achieving the aims of the Convention with a view to adjusting the measures adopted or envisaged; (iii) launching regular public information campaigns to promote the sharing of family responsibilities and remove misconceptions around care roles; (iv) ensuring that workers with family responsibilities have effective equal opportunities and rights to enter, re-enter and remain integrated in the labour market; (v) expanding and increasing access of all workers to voluntary and protected measures of working arrangements and leave that facilitate reconciliation of work–family life; (vi) expanding measures that support the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities within social protection systems; (vii) establishing and expanding adequate quality childcare and family services at community level; (viii) promoting social dialogue, collective bargaining and other measures to strengthen, facilitate and encourage the implementation of the principles of the Convention; and (ix) enhancing the capacity of enforcement authorities, including labour inspectors, tribunals, courts, and other competent bodies, to identify, prevent and remedy cases of discrimination in employment and occupation related to family responsibilities. The Committee asks the government to provide information on any measures taken or foreseen to apply the points referred to above.