Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Ghana (Ratification: 1961)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Repetition

Article 1 of the Convention. Prohibited grounds of discrimination. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that its previous comments suggesting the explicit inclusion of the ground of “social origin” in sections 14(e) and 63(2)(d) of the Labour Act of 2003 and the replacement of the terms “politics” and “political status” with the broader term “political opinion”, in line with the Convention, have been noted and were communicated to the Minister for appropriate action. Recalling that national legislation should cover, as a minimum, all the prohibited grounds of discrimination listed in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the concrete steps taken with a view to amending the Labour Act.

Discrimination based on sex. Sexual harassment. The Committee notes that its previous comments on a possible amendment of section 175 of the Labour Act to ensure that the definition of sexual harassment also covers a hostile environment were transmitted to the Minister for consideration. With regard to the measures taken to prevent and combat sexual harassment at work, the Government indicates that such steps include workplace inspections, education on the law and training programmes for labour officers. The Committee requests the Government to indicate any legislative developments with regard to the extension of the definition of sexual harassment to explicitly cover a hostile environment. While noting that no complaints concerning sexual harassment at work have been brought before the competent authorities under the Labour Act, the Committee encourages the Government to take concrete steps aimed at achieving better knowledge and understanding of the existence of sexual harassment and means of preventing and addressing it among labour officers, judges and other relevant public officials as well as employers and workers and their organizations.

Article 2. Gender equality in employment and occupation. The Committee notes that in the statement on the policy for affirmative action towards equality of rights and opportunities for women in Ghana, the Government undertakes to establish a more clear-cut administrative framework for handling women’s affairs, to mainstream women’s issues, to ensure adequate representation of women at district and sub-district levels of administration (a target of 30 per cent was set rather than 40 per cent previously fixed), to make the education and training of women more effective and to raise public awareness on affirmative action. The Committee also welcomes the policy on gender equality for 2008–12 developed by the Ghana Trades Union Congress, which includes the increase of women’s representation in the leadership of the labour movement and in union activities and the intensification of gender educational programmes for both men and women. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the measures taken within the framework of the affirmative action policy, including indications of the timeframe for their implementation and their impact on gender equality in employment and occupation. Please also indicate steps taken to collect and process statistical information on the situation of women in employment in the private and the public sectors.

Article 2. Equality in employment without any distinction of race, colour, religion and national extraction. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation with a view to eliminating any discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, religion and national extraction. Please also provide information on any cases of discrimination in employment based on these grounds identified by or reported to the competent authorities and, if any, on the manner in which they were dealt with.

Article 3. Education and vocational training. The Committee notes that the Government is promoting the access of girls and women to education, in particular within the framework of the National Functional Literacy Programme which puts a special emphasis on women and the poor rural population. The Committee also notes the adoption of the Education Act 2008 which repeals the 1961 Education Act. However, it also notes that the Government has not taken the opportunity of the revision of the Education Act to prohibit discrimination in education on the basis of all the grounds listed in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that such provisions will be included in the Education Act. The Committee also encourages the Government to continue its efforts to promote access of girls and women to education and training, including to technical institutes and tertiary education institutions to enable them to gain access to a larger range of jobs and occupations and requests it to continue to provide information on measures taken to that end and on their impact.

Article 5. Special measures. Workers with disabilities. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that the recently established National Council on Persons with Disability is in the process of collecting data on persons with disabilities and on the implementation of the special incentive scheme for employing persons with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to communicate such data in its next report.

Parts III and IV of the report form. Enforcement. Noting that the report contains no reply to its previous request regarding labour inspection, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the specific measures taken or envisaged to revise the labour inspection form to include a specific reference to discrimination on the grounds listed in the Convention and to sexual harassment. It asks the Government to provide information on any measures taken or envisaged to enhance the capacity of labour officers to identify and address discrimination in employment and occupation. Please also indicate whether labour inspectors and other competent national bodies, such as the National Labour Commission and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, have dealt with any discrimination cases.