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Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) - Slovakia (RATIFICATION: 2002)

Article 2 of the Convention. Application to non-nationals. With reference to its previous comment, the Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report does not provide any new information on the number of foreigners with family responsibilities benefiting from social services from both public and private providers, as well as from employment services. Recalling that a new central statistics system was being developed, the Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide information, in its next report, on the number of foreigners with family responsibilities, disaggregated by sex, who are benefiting from childcare and employment services from both public and private providers.

Article 3. National policy. In reply to its previous request, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it is attaching a report on the implementation of the Gender Equality Strategy and its Action Plan for 2014-19, which included objectives relating to the reconciliation of family, private and professional life, such as supporting gender audits aimed at the reconciliation of work and family life. It notes, however, that the web link provided is invalid. The Committee is therefore bound to repeat its request to the Government to provide information on the implementation of the Gender Equality Action Plan 2014–19 (as well as any subsequent plan), with a specific focus on the measures taken to promote reconciliation of family, private and professional life, including on the results of the gender audits conducted to this end. It further requests the Government to provide information on the impact of such measures on achieving the objectives of the Convention, by providing any copy of assessment report or study undertaken on the implementation of the National Strategy for Gender Equality and its Action Plan for 2014–19, as well as on any follow-up measures.

Article 4(b). Working hours and leave entitlements. In reply to the Committee’s previous comment, the Government indicates that the “Reconciliation of Family and Working Life” national project mainly focuses on the creation of flexible and atypical jobs, such as part-time employment, domestic work and teleworking. The Committee notes that in the framework of this project, a group of experts on equality between men and women was created, tasked with the creation of analytical, conceptual and methodological materials to be made available to employers to raise their awareness on the concept of work and family life balance. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the results achieved under the “Reconciliation of Family and Working Life” project in terms of the creation of flexible and atypical jobs for the benefit of workers with family responsibilities. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made, through the new central statistics system, in collecting information on the number of men and women exercising their right to parental leave, as well as the number of men and women employees requesting flexible working-time arrangements, reduced working hours or remote work. Given that women continue to bear a disproportionate share of family responsibilities, the Committee requests the Government to strengthen its efforts to encourage employers to introduce flexible forms of work for workers with family responsibilities, as well as to encourage men to opt for paternity leave and flexible working arrangements, including in the framework of the “Reconciliation of Family and Working Life” project, and to provide information on the outcomes of these measures.

Article 5. Community services for children and other dependent persons. With reference to its previous comment, the Committee notes that a draft National Strategy for the Development of Coordinated Early Intervention and Early Care Services 2021-2030 is being prepared, which mainly targets the social inclusion of children with health or social disadvantages and their families, but also aims to develop services to support the reconciliation of family and working life for all parents. The Government also indicates that in 2019, 36 projects were implemented in the country to create effective tools for young mothers to have a better access to the labour market with, among others, the provision of flexible forms of childcare. The Committee further notes the adoption of Act no 209/2019 Coll. which came into effect in January 2021 and introduced compulsory pre-primary education for children, one year before they start of compulsory primary school. The Government adds that more than 11,000 places in kindergartens are currently being created through two projects funded by the European Union. The Government also indicates that by July 2021, a total of 147,595 parents had applied for parental allowance (142,773 women and 4,822 men). However, the Government does not provide most of the statistical information requested by the Committee in its previous comment. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to increase access to adequate and sufficient public and private childcare and other care services and the results achieved, as well as on the number of parents, disaggregated by sex, with children under 3 years of age who have requested parental allowance and the number of recipients of the childcare allowance. Referring to its previous comments, it once again requests the Government to provide information on:

• (i)the number of public and private childcare providers available;
• (ii)the number and age of children requiring care;
• (iii) the number of children attending public and private childcare facilities; and
• (iv)the number of parents making use of the existing childcare and family services facilities available. The Committee also requests the Government to give more specific information on the nature of the flexible forms of childcare created in 2019.

Article 11. Participation of employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes that, in reply to its previous comment, the Government refers to subsidies provided to non-governmental organizations who work in the area of equality between men and women. However, the Committee recalls that its previous requests concerned the participation of employers’ and workers’ organizations in devising and applying measures designed to give effect to the provisions of the Convention. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken, in collaboration with employers’ and workers’ organizations, to give effect to the provisions of the Convention, as well as on the results achieved by such measures.

Enforcement. Noting that the Government’s report does not reply to its previous comment on this subject, the Committee is bound to once again requests the Government to provide information on:

• (i)any complaints received or infringements detected by the labour inspectorate relating to discriminatory practices against workers with family responsibilities, as well as any cases dealt with by the National Centre for Human Rights, the Ombudsperson, or the courts in this regard;
• (ii)the measures taken to strengthen labour inspectors’ sensitivity to the issue; and
• (iii)any progress made in the adoption of the legislative bill aimed at strengthening the independence and effective functioning of the National Centre for Human Rights.