Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

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

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its last report according to which no legislative reform has been undertaken in response to the Committee's previous comments. Therefore, it is bound to draw the Government's attention once again to its previous comments.

1. Article 3, paragraph 4, of the Convention. The Committee once again hopes that the Government will take all the necessary measures to include in the Labour Code provisions explicitly providing that in the event of a late confinement, the leave before the presumed date of confinement shall be extended until the actual date of confinement and the period of compulsory leave to be taken after confinement shall not be reduced on that account, in accordance with this particular provision of the Convention.

2. Article 5, paragraphs 1 and 2. In its earlier comments, the Committee had noted that, as a result of the revision of section 156 of the Labour Code by Act No. 133 of 1991, the provision authorizing a mother working in an enterprise of 50 or more workers to interrupt her work in order to nurse her child was abolished. In this regard, the Committee again draws the Government's attention to the need to introduce into legislation a provision expressly providing for nursing breaks for women working in such enterprises, in accordance with Article 5, paragraph 1, of the Convention. Furthermore, the Committee trusts that, in determining the length of such nursing breaks, the Government will take account of the real needs of mothers and children. (In this regard, the Committee draws the Government's attention to the fact that the 15-minute breaks provided for under the old paragraph 2 of section 156 of the Labour Code, which has been repealed, seem too short.)

3. The Committee notes that the Government's report provides no information on the coverage of the social security scheme and that the statistics that had been promised have not been received by the ILO. Under these circumstances, the Committee is bound once again to request the Government to provide in its next report statistics on the number of women workers employed in industrial undertakings or in non-industrial and agricultural employment who are covered by the compulsory insurance system or by the peasants social insurance schemes as a proportion of the total of number of women workers (including women wage- earners working at home). The Committee also hopes that the Government will be able to provide information on any new extension of the social insurance scheme in order to extend coverage to all the categories of women workers referred to Article 1 of the Convention.