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

Maternity Protection Convention (Revised), 1952 (No. 103) - Sri Lanka (Ratification: 1993)

Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention (read in conjunction with Article 3, paragraphs 4, 5 and 6). The Government indicates that the legislation does not explicitly provide for the possibility of extending maternity leave in the event of delayed confinement or illness following pregnancy or confinement; however, in such cases the female employee may take leave without remuneration. The Committee recalls that in conformity with Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention any extension of maternity leave resulting from the application of paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 of Article 3 must qualify for cash benefits. The Committee hopes that the Government will indicate in its next report the measures taken or envisaged to ensure the full application of these provisions of the Convention.

Article 4, paragraphs 4 and 8. The Government indicates in its report that the employer is responsible for cash benefits paid to female employees during maternity leave as well as, in the case of certain plantation employers, medical benefits granted within the framework of the system of alternative benefits. The Committee recalls that under Article 4, paragraph 8, of the Convention, in no case shall the employer be individually liable for the cost of such benefits due to women employed by him. Consequently, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that maternity benefits shall be provided either by means of compulsory social insurance or by means of public funds, in accordance with Article 4, paragraph 4, of the Convention.

Article 7 (read in conjunction with Article 1). The Committee notes that following the information communicated by the Government and the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers' Union (LJEWU) that female employees working at home and certain female employees in the informal rural sector do not enjoy benefits guaranteed by the Convention. Equally female domestic workers employed in private households are not covered by any legislation. The Committee notes that the Government of Sri Lanka has not envisaged provisions under Article 7 of the Convention enabling States to provide, at the moment of ratifying the Convention, exemptions to the application of this instrument in particular as regards paid domestic work performed in private households, paid female employees who work at home and work performed in agricultural enterprises other than plantations. Under these circumstances, the Committee hopes that the Government will re-examine this question and indicate in its next reports the progress achieved to ensure the protection of these female employees as laid down in the Convention.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 1999.]