Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Maternity Protection Convention (Revised), 1952 (No. 103) - Ecuador (Ratification: 1962)

Article 4(5) of the Convention. Women who fail to qualify for benefits. The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report does not provide any information in reply to its previous comments, which it has been making since 2011, concerning benefits paid out of social assistance funds for women who have not completed the minimum qualifying period or paid 12 uninterrupted monthly contributions in order to receive maternity benefits through the social security system. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure the payment of maternity benefits: (i) paid out of social assistance funds for women who are still not covered by the social security system; (ii) in the context of social assistance for women who do not meet the conditions established by the Social Security Act, and to indicate the type and the amount of benefits provided in these two settings.

Article 4(4) and (8). Financing of maternity benefits. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that, under section 22 of the “General regulations on cash subsidies” (Resolution No. C.S. 318 of 1978), social security institutions and funds are partially responsible for cash maternity benefits and that the responsibility for paying these benefits is shared between employers (up to 25 per cent) and the Government (funded up to 75 per cent through social security). The Committee recalls that, under Article 4(4) and (8) of the Convention, the benefits shall be provided either by means of social insurance or through public funds. The Committee also recalls that the direct payment of maternity benefits by employers, even partially, imposes a financial burden on employers and may create a possible source of discrimination against women. The Committee encourages the Government to analyse and consider the possibility of moving gradually from a hybrid system in which employers also bear part of the cost of cash maternity benefits to a system totally supported by social security, and to share the results of such analysis and consideration.

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2025].