Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Mauritius (Ratification: 2002)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report and the supplementary information provided in light of the decision adopted by the Governing Body at its 338th Session (June 2020).

Articles 1(a) and 2 of the Convention. Discrimination on the basis of race, colour, national extraction and social origin. In its previous comments, the Committee expressed concern at the situation of workers from the Malaise Creole community and urged the Government to take proactive measures to address without delay discrimination based on race, colour and ethnic and social origin. In its report, the Government indicates that Mauritius is a multicultural country and that no persons identified themselves as members of the Malaise Creole community during the last population census. The Committee notes that in its activity report 2016–19, the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) indicates that complaints of discrimination based on ethnic origin, race, caste and place of origin amount to 9 per cent of the total number of complaints. It also notes that, in its 2018 concluding observations, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) expressed concerned that the Creoles face de facto discrimination in all walks of life, are disproportionately vulnerable to poverty and have limited access to employment, housing, health care and education. The Committee notes with regret the fact that, as indicated by the CERD, the measures taken by the Government and the EOC have had a limited impact on improving the socioeconomic situation of the Creoles, and the lack of measures specifically targeted at improving their situation (CERD/C/MUS/CO/20-23, 19 September 2018, paragraph 26). The Committee once again urges the Government to take proactive measures to address discrimination in employment and occupation based on race, colour and ethnic and social origin, including against workers in Creole communities. The Committee also encourages the Government to undertake studies or research to analyse the situation of the different groups in the labour market with a view to eliminating discrimination in employment and occupation.

General observation of 2018. Regarding the above issues, and in more general terms, the Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention to its general observation on discrimination based on race, colour and national extraction adopted in 2018. In the general observation, the Committee notes with concern that discriminatory attitudes and stereotypes based on the race, colour or national extraction of men and women workers continue to hinder their participation in education, vocational training programmes and access to a wider range of employment opportunities, resulting in persisting occupational segregation and differences in remuneration for work of equal value. Furthermore, the Committee considers that it is necessary to adopt a comprehensive and coordinated approach to tackling the obstacles and barriers faced by persons in employment and occupation because of their race, colour or national extraction, and to promote equality of opportunity and treatment for all. Such an approach should include the adoption of interlocking measures aimed at addressing gaps in education, training and skills, providing unbiased vocational guidance, recognizing and validating the qualifications obtained abroad, and valuing and recognizing traditional knowledge and skills that may be relevant both to accessing and advancing in employment and to engaging in an occupation. The Committee also recalls that, in order to be effective, these measures must include concrete steps, such as laws, policies, programmes, mechanisms and participatory processes, and remedies designed to address prejudices and stereotypes and to promote mutual understanding and tolerance among all sections of the population.

The Committee draws the Government’s attention to its general observation of 2018 and requests the Government to provide information in response to the questions raised in that observation.

Article 1(2). Inherent requirements of the job. The Committee previously noted that section 13 of the Equal Opportunities Act, 2008 (EOA), provides for a wide range of cases in which an employer or a prospective employer may discriminate against a person on the basis of sex and that section 6(3) of the EOA and section 4(3) and (4) of the Employment Rights Act, 2008 (ERiA), provides that conditions, requirements or practices that have or are likely to have a “disadvantaging effect” are not deemed discrimination where they are “justifiable” or “reasonable in the circumstances”. It urged the Government to ensure that the exceptions permitted correspond in a concrete and objective way to the inherent requirements of a particular job. The Committee notes that the Workers’ Rights Act, No. 20 of 2019 (WRA), replaced the ERiA, but again provides in section 5(3) that “(a) person does not discriminate against another person by imposing or proposing to impose on that other person a condition, requirement or practice that has or is likely to have a disadvantaging effect, where the condition, requirement or practice is reasonable in the circumstances.” Furthermore, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Guidelines for Employers enumerate the provisions of section 13 of the EOA, without providing further guidance on their scope or implementation. In this regard, the Committee recalls that workers of both sexes should have the right to pursue freely any job or profession and that exclusions or preferences in respect of a particular job should be determined in a concrete and objective manner, taking into account the inherent requirements of a particular job and without reliance on stereotypes or negative prejudices about men’s and women’s roles. The Committee therefore asks the Government to review the application in practice of section 13 of the Equal Opportunity Act, 2008, and section 5(3) of the Workers’ Rights Act, No. 20 of 2019, to ensure that the exceptions permitted are in fact based on the inherent requirements of a particular job and do not restrict the right of workers of both sexes to pursue freely any job or profession. It also requests the Government to provide specific examples of the particular jobs concerned, as well as information on any judicial decisions interpreting these provisions or any advice, decisions or recommendations by the Equal Opportunity Commission dealing with this issue.

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