Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Peru (Ratification: 1970)

The Committee notes the observations of the National Confederation of Private Business’ Institutions (CONFIEP) communicated with the Government’s report, as well as the observations of the Autonomous Workers’ Confederation of Peru (CATP), the Confederation of Workers of Peru (CTP), the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP) and the Single Confederation of Workers of Peru (CUT-Peru), received on 1 September 2021. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect.

Article 1 of the Convention. Scope of application and grounds of discrimination. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the list of grounds of discrimination prohibited in Act No. 30057, which does not include the criteria of colour or national extraction, is not closed or exhaustive, and it requested the Government to provide information on any cases of discrimination at work on grounds of national extraction or colour which have been dealt with. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that records are not kept of either inspection orders or administrative sanction procedures in relation to discrimination on grounds of national extraction or colour. The Government adds that in 2021 the ILO fundamental rights module was undertaken for inspection personnel, dealing with the subjects of equality of opportunity and non-discrimination, and that the Annual Capacity-building Programme for the Labour Inspection System for 2019 contains a module designed to promote fundamental rights, including equality and non-discrimination in employment. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on any cases of discrimination at work on grounds of national extraction or colour which have been dealt with. It also requests the Government, with a view to ensuring legal security and effective protection against discrimination in the public sector, to consider the inclusion of colour and national extraction among the prohibited grounds of discrimination set out in Act No. 30057.

Article 1 (19 (a). Discrimination based on sex. Sexual harassment. In reply to its previous request to make efforts to prevent and address cases of sexual harassment in employment and occupation, the Committee notes the Government’s indications that: (1) the “Work without sexual harassment” service has been developed, of which the implementation is being examined through an exploratory survey, which provides guidance and support for cases of sexual harassment, and through which 508 cases of sexual harassment were submitted in 2021 and 1,389 advisory services were provided; (2) the Virtual Platform for the Registration of Cases of Sexual Harassment at Work (Decree No. 014-2019-MIMP) became operational, through which employers can register cases of sexual harassment brought to their notice in enterprises, and through which 1,158 communications were filed up to July 2021; (3) the practical guide for the prevention and punishment of sexual harassment at the workplace in the public and private sectors was published with a view to providing guidance to workers, employers and organizations on the adoption of measures to prevent, eradicate and punish sexual harassment behaviour at work; and (4) the campaign “The State without harassment” of the Civil Service Authority (SERVIR) was undertaken through which guidance and proposed measures were provided for prevention, complaints, action, investigation and punishment of sexual harassment in public bodies and the Platform for reporting complaints of sexual harassment was set up to register complaints. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that 27 complaints of sexual harassment were made in 2019 and 60 in 2021, and that in 2021 a total of 121 inspection orders were issued and ten penalties imposed, as well as the indication by the CGTP, CUT-Peru, CTP and CATP that 65 responses resulted in a “report”, or in other words, no violations were found. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved through the various measures adopted for the prevention and treatment of cases of sexual harassment at work, including the “Work without sexual harassment” service and the campaign “The State without harassment”, and the impact of these measures in terms of the number of cases identified, sanctions and remedies granted, as well as the main challenges encountered.

Article 1(1)(b). Other grounds. Disability. The Committee notes the emphasis placed by the Government in its report on the inclusion in Objective five of the National Decent Employment Policy of specific services for persons with disabilities (such as awareness-raising campaigns, capacity-building at work and advice and support for the implementation of reasonable adaptations in the workplace), and its indication that item 5.1 refers to the implementation of effective measures to combat discrimination on various grounds, including disability. The Committee also notes the adoption in 2019 and 2020 of guidance on the granting in the public and private sectors of reasonable adaptations for persons with disabilities at the workplace and in the recruitment process, as well as criteria for the determination of a disproportionate or undue burden. The Committee further notes that, in its report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Government reports that the National Plan for Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder 2018-21 places emphasis on compliance with the employment quota and the National Human Rights Plan sets goals for the reduction of unemployment for persons with disabilities (CRPD/C/PER/2-3, 14 March 2019, paragraphs 16, 17 and 167). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted under the respective policies to promote equality in employment and occupation for persons with disabilities, and on the application in practice of the guidance on granting of reasonable adaptations.

Articles 2 and 3. Promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment irrespective of race or colour. In reply to its request for information on the specific measures adopted to ensure and promote equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation for indigenous and Afro-Peruvian men and women, the Government indicates that, under the National Development Plan for the Afro-Peruvian Population 2016-20, measures have been adopted to include an ethnic variable in 12 of the 30 surveys of the Survey Database of the National Institute of Statistics and Information Technology (INEI) and in the administrative records of Women’s Emergency Centres (CEM), as well as educational campaigns against ethnic and racial discrimination and capacity-building activities for the staff of the public administration with a view to strengthening knowledge of non-discrimination on ethnic and racial grounds. The Government adds that the National Policy for the Afro-Peruvian People 2030 is currently being formulated, and that its motivations include the high level of informality, the low level of access to and completion of higher education, the limited development of production initiatives and the persistence of discrimination in public and private areas, and that the National Decent Employment Policy includes measures to combat discrimination in the active population on grounds of ethnic or racial origin (item 5.1). With reference to specific measures in the field of labour, the Government refers to the capacity-building undertaken for Afro-Peruvian entrepreneurs in the “Onward Peru” (Impulsa Perú) programme, as well as capacity-building for self-employment and employment services within the context of the Strategic Institutional Plan of the MTPE, with 596 and 465 beneficiaries from vulnerable ethnic groups, including victims of ethnic discrimination, respectively. The Government also refers to the adoption of other measures for the promotion of equality and to punish racism and ethnic and racial discrimination in general (capacity-building for public employees dealing with cases; Bill No. 5442/2020-PE on the promotion of cultural diversity for the prevention and punishment of racism and ethnic and racial discrimination, with a view to the establishment of measures for State bodies and citizens to combat acts of discrimination; item 1.2 of the National Culture Policy 2030, relating to the development of mechanisms to address, prevent and punish racism and ethnic and racial discrimination in public and private bodies, as well as other awareness-raising campaigns, and the reformulation of the Map of the Afro-Peruvian People on the National Territory). The Committee also notes that, according to the information provided by the Government, between 2018 and 2021, the System for Dealing with Cases of Ethnic and Racial Discrimination recorded 14 cases of discrimination related to work, and that a draft Presidential Decree is being drawn up for the creation of an Ethnic and Racial Discrimination Guidance Service to strengthen investigation mechanisms and sanctions.

The Committee also notes the observations of the CGTP, CUT-Peru, CTP and CATP indicating that: (1) the information provided is not sufficiently detailed; (2) according to the 2019 data of the MTPE, there is a gap between the activity and occupation rates of the indigenous and Afro-Peruvian population in relation to the population that self-identifies as white and mixed race, and 76.7 per cent of the indigenous and Afro-Peruvian population only has basic education and is engaged in low quality jobs; (3) the labour informality rate for indigenous and Afro-Peruvian people was 82.1 per cent (compared with 65.8 per cent in the white and mixed-race population), and only 46.9 per cent of indigenous and Afro-Peruvian employees have employment contracts; and (4) according to the 2017 study on ethnic and racial discrimination, an assessment of the situation, State rules are inadequate due to the lack of training of labour inspectors and other officials. With reference to indigenous peoples, the Committee also refers to its comments on the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the evaluation of the National Development Plan for the Afro-Peruvian Population 2016-20, including the results achieved and the challenges identified in relation to the activity and occupation rates in the formal and informal economies of the indigenous and Afro-Peruvian population. The Committee also requests it to: (i) provide information on progress in the formulation and implementation of the National Policy for the Afro-Peruvian Population 2030; and (ii) continue providing information on the number of cases of ethnic and racial discrimination at work, and on the measures adopted to facilitate capacity-building for labour inspectors and other competent officials to deal with such cases.

Enforcement. Labour inspection. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that in 2021 a total of 18 inspection orders were issued in relation to discrimination in access to work, with a fine imposed by a higher body. The Government also indicates that the Labour Inspection Supervisory Authority (SUNAFIL) reports 1,481 inspection activities in relation to equality and non-discrimination in employment. The Committee further notes the indications by the CGTP, CUT-Peru, CTP and CATP that the labour inspectorate is not discharging its duties, as workers are continuing to report cases of discrimination, that SUNAFIL protocols are not resulting in an improvement in effectiveness and that the information provided by the SUNAFIL does not indicate a time period for the data, or the results of inspections. The confederations also refer to the statistical yearbook, which indicates that in 2020 there were 133 inspection orders issued in relation to discrimination on grounds of disability and 133 on grounds of gender, representing 0.2 per cent of the total. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures envisaged or adopted to provide the labour inspection services with the capacity and tools necessary to identify and deal with cases of discrimination in employment and occupation.