Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Tunisia (Ratification: 1959)

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women. For several years, the Committee has been requesting the Government to provide information on measures taken to promote real equality of opportunities between men and women in employment and occupation, particularly by combating segregation between men and women in the labour market and stereotypes concerning the capacities and aspirations of women. The Committee notes the Government’s indication once again in its report that section 5bis of the 1994 Labour Code generally prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. The Committee also notes that the new Constitution, adopted on 26 January 2014, provides that the State undertakes to protect, support and improve women’s rights, and that it guarantees equal opportunity between men and women when taking on different responsibilities in all areas (article 46). While noting the Government’s indication that it is continuing its efforts to more effectively integrate women into economic life, the Committee notes that, despite the fact that school attendance rates in secondary and higher education are higher for girls than for boys, and that two-thirds of higher education graduates are girls (67 per cent in 2014), women’s participation in the economy remains particularly limited. The Committee notes that, according to statistics of the National Statistics Institute (INS), in the second quarter of 2016, while women represented 50.9 per cent of the working-age population, their already low rate of participation in the workforce further decreased between 2014 and 2016, falling from 28.6 per cent to 26 per cent. Women’s unemployment rate is nearly twice as high as men’s (23.5 per cent compared with 12.4 per cent for men). The Committee notes that the rate of unemployment is highest for women who have graduated from higher education (40.4 per cent compared with 19.4 per cent for men). With reference to its comments relating to the application of the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), the Committee notes that women are particularly concentrated in traditionally female-dominated areas of study, such as the arts, which offer few or no job prospects or lead them to occupy lower-paid jobs. The Committee also notes that only 6.5 per cent of heads of enterprises are women and that women are barely represented in positions of responsibility (30.8 per cent of senior positions). The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the nature and impact of measures taken to promote secondary and higher education for girls and boys in non-traditional areas of study which offer real job prospects, and to combat gender stereotypes and occupational gender segregation with a view to promoting women’s participation in the labour market by enabling them to access a wider range of occupations, particularly occupations performed predominantly by men, and at senior and management levels. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated statistics on the situation of men and women in different economic activities, in both the private and public sector, specifying the proportion of men and women in management positions.

Discrimination on grounds other than sex. For many years, the Committee has been noting with regret the absence of information from the Government on measures taken to combat discrimination based on race, colour, national extraction, religion, political opinion and social origin in the context of a national policy of equality of opportunity and treatment, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the adoption of the new Constitution, which, notably, provides for the equality of citizens before the law without discrimination (article 21) and provides that all citizens have the right to decent working conditions and fair pay (article 40). The Committee notes with concern that the Government’s report still does not contain any information on measures taken or envisaged with a view to expressly prohibiting all discrimination on grounds other than sex, set out in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. It is therefore bound to recall that the purpose of the Convention is to protect all persons against discrimination in the field of employment and occupation, on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin. Noting that the new Constitution does not appear to afford protection against discrimination for the country’s citizens, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that the Convention applies to all workers, both nationals and non-nationals, in all sectors of activity, in the public and the private sectors, and in the formal and informal economy (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 733). Given that the elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation requires the development and implementation of a national policy of equality of opportunity and treatment in multiple areas, the Committee urges the Government to provide detailed information on:

• (i) measures taken or envisaged, in collaboration with the workers’ and employers’ organizations, to expressly prohibit all discrimination on the basis of race, colour, national extraction, religion, political opinion or social origin in law and practice;
• (ii) awareness-raising and training activities conducted for workers and employers, and their organizations, as well as for labour inspectors and judges to ensure better knowledge and understanding of the provisions of the Convention and to thereby foster equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation in practice; and
• (iii) the number and nature of cases of discrimination examined by labour inspectors; and to send copies of any administrative or judicial decisions issued on this matter.

The Committee reminds the Government in this regard that it may avail itself of the technical assistance of the International Labour Office.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.