Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Ecuador (Ratification: 1972)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Implementation of an active employment policy. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the measures adopted to promote gender equality and the employment of women in the labour market. The Government reports the adoption of the “Public Policy Violet Economy: For Economic Rights and Life Free from Violence for Women”. Among its objectives, this policy aims to: facilitate women’s access to finance and markets; reduce the barriers preventing women from acceding to and retaining employment; and provide alternatives for the workers in the feminized economic sectors most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the Ministry of Labour signed a memorandum of understanding with several institutions, including the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and UN Women, with a view to implementing awareness-raising activities and training in gender equality. Among other activities, the Government refers to the holding, in April 2021, of a virtual course entitled “Mainstreaming a Gender Approach in the Public and Private Sectors”, which aims at providing tools for applying a gender focus when evaluating labour policies, in business management, and also when providing care and assistance services. Between April and July 2021, a total of 3,386 women and 1,575 men took this course, of which 68.4 per cent were public servants and 31.6 per cent were from the private sector. The Directorate for Priority Groups also took steps to promote the employment of vulnerable persons, such as providing labour advisory services, and holding awareness-raising workshops to promote inclusion and avoid discriminatory practices, and to promote gender equality and respect for the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons. However, the Committee notes from the concluding observations of 24 November 2021 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), that the CEDAW expressed concern that during the COVID-19 pandemic, 50 per cent of paid domestic workers, mainly women, lost their jobs and one third of them lost their social security affiliation. CEDAW also observes that 75 per cent of unpaid care work is performed by women. Moreover, the unemployment rate among women is 1.5 times higher than among men, while the full-time employment rate of women is 11.9 percentage points lower than that of men. CEDAW also points to the persistent wage gap, and the persistently low labour market participation rate of migrant women, women belonging to ethnic minority groups, indigenous women and women with disabilities (CEDAW/C/ECU/CO/10, paragraph 31(a) to (e) and (g)). Finally, the Committee observes once more that the Government provides no information on the manner in which the employment policies and programmes are coordinated with other economic and social policy measures. The Government also fails to provide information on measures adopted to promote employment for workers from the informal economy. Consequently, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide detailed and updated information on the manner in which the employment policies and programmes adopted are coordinated with other economic and social policy measures. It also requests the Government to continue to send detailed and updated information on the measures adopted to achieve the objectives of the Convention and, in particular, on the manner in which these measures have helped beneficiaries (and especially women, persons with disabilities, informal economy workers, rural workers,Afro-Ecuadorian population and indigenous peoples) had equal access to full, productive and lasting employment. The Committee further requests the Government to continue to provide detailed information, disaggregated by sex, age and region, on the impact of these measures.

Persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that section 42(33) of the Labour Code provides, for public and private sector institutions with 25 or more workers, for a hiring quota of four per cent of persons with disabilities. In this respect, the Government reports the adoption of Ministerial Agreement MDT-2018-0175 of 7 September 2018, regulating the labour inclusion rate of persons with disabilities. The Government further refers to the publication of the “Manual of Best Practices for the Labour Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities”, aimed at the field of human resources, with a view to sharing the good labour inclusion practices applied by different public and private institutions. The Government also reports on the implementation of the “Acceso y Sostenibilidad del Empleo” (Getting and Keeping Employment) workshops, which promote the sustained participation of persons with disabilities in the labour market through soft skills training. Between 2018 and July 2021, a total of 5,780 women and 4,898 men took this training. Nevertheless, the Committee notes that, in its concluding observations of 21 October 2019, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) expressed its concern at the reduction in the number of persons with disabilities, especially women with disabilities, engaged in regular employment; the low level of compliance by the institutions of the State party itself and by businesses with the promotion of employment by means, inter alia, of assigned hiring quotas; the scant enforcement and lack of legislative measures for penalizing companies that are not hiring a sufficient number of persons with disabilities in regular positions; and the failure to promote opportunities for self-employment and entrepreneurship incentives for persons with disabilities (CRPD/C/ECU/CO/2-3, paragraph 47(b)). The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed and updated information on the nature and impact of the measures adopted to promote entrepreneurship and the employment of persons with disabilities, particularly women with disabilities, in regular employment.

Labour market trends. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, according to the National Survey of Unemployment, Underemployment and Employment (ENEMDU) of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC), between March 2019 and March 2021, the rate of full employment fell from 37.9 per cent to 31.6 per cent (35.4 per cent for men and 26.2 per cent for women), while unemployment rose from 4.6 per cent to 4.9 per cent (3.9 per cent for men and 6.4 for women). The Committee also notes that the unemployment rate for the Afro-Ecuadorian population in March 2021stood at 12.7 per cent. Underemployment rose from 18.7 per cent to 23 per cent (25.2 per cent for men and 19.8 per cent for women) during the same period. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing updated statistical information disaggregated by age and sex, on labour market trends, indicating the extent to which the trends affect young persons, indigenous peoples, the Afro-Ecuadorian population and persons belonging to other groups in vulnerable situations.

Youth employment. The Committee notes that the Government reports on the implementation, as from October 2018, of the Youth Employment Project (PEJ). The PEJ provides for a system of economic incentives aimed at facilitating the contracting by private enterprises of young persons aged from 18 to 26 years without work experience with the objective of reducing youth unemployment in a lasting manner. The Project also provides for measures to strengthen the skills and knowledge of young persons already in employment. The Committee notes, however, that the Government indicates that in 2019 the employment targets set were not reached, as a result of late allocation of resources and a change in the source of financing. In 2020, due to budgetary restrictions caused by the economic recession and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, several service points closed, and employment agency staff was reduced. The Government reports that between 2018 and 2020 a total of 5,812 young persons took part in the PEJ. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing detailed and updated information on the nature and impact of the measures adopted to create productive and lasting employment opportunities for young persons, including on those adopted under the Youth Employment Project (PEJ).

The popular and solidarity economy. The Government indicates that the National Institute for the Popular and Solidarity Economy (IEPS) has organized “Inclusivity Fairs”, to promote public procurement of goods and services from Popular and Solidarity Economy (EPS) organizations. The Government also reports that it has promoted the purchase of EPS products by the provincial directorates and hospitals of the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security. Other measures have been introduced to increase the EPS’ access to local and international markets, such as the implementation of 274 alternative marketing circuits at national level, to promote family farming. The Government reports that 5,548 producers and 96 family farming rural enterprises had benefitted from the circuits. Moreover, the so-called “Surti proposal” links together 70,000 small producers with a view to commercializing their products. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing detailed and updated information on the measures adopted or envisaged to support the popular and solidarity economy, and on their impact on the generation of lasting and productive employment, particularly in areas with lower levels of economic development.

Regional development and rural employment. The Committee notes with interest the adoption of the Basic Act for the Planning of the Special Amazonian Territory in May 2018. The Act provides the residents of the territory with a right of preferential access to public and private sector tenders and procurement. It also grants them preferential rights of access to natural resources; to the sustainable environment activities undertaken within the territory; and in service providing. The Act also stipulates that affirmative action should be taken to ensure compliance with the above principle (section 3(e)). The Government indicates that in February 2019 and March 2021, a number of rules regulating the implementation of the preferential right to employment and public inclusion of Amazonian residents belonging to the peoples and nationalities of the Amazon were approved. Moreover, the Government reports that the Red Socio Empleo (Socio-Employment Network) is putting a special process in place to compile information on the labour profile of persons in the rural communities of the Amazonian region of Ecuador. The process is implemented in collaboration with the community leaders and its objective is to increase the participation of citizens from these communities in selection processes organized by the Red Socio Empleo. Finally, the Government reports that between 12 February 2019 and 30 June 2021, 60,360 persons found employment through the Red Socio Empleo. The Committee nevertheless observes that, according to the ENEMDU, between March 2019 and March 2021, employment in rural areas fell from 20.2 per cent to 17.7 per cent, while unemployment rose from 2.2 per cent to 2.6 per cent. At the same time, underemployment rose from 19.1 per cent to 22.3 per cent. The Committee requests the Government to continue to send detailed and updated information on the measures adopted or envisaged to promote the creation of productive employment in rural areas, including those adopted under the Basic Act for the Planning of the Special Amazonian Territory. It also requests the Government to send information on the impact of these measures in generating productive and lasting employment for these persons.

Article 3. Participation of the social partners. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government regarding the sessions of the National Labour and Wage Board (CNTS) held during the period covered by the report. Throughout those sessions, the social partners participated in the design of labour policies aimed at promoting employment generation, such as the creation of new forms of contract, youth employment, the bill reforming the Labour Code, as well as several adjustments to the basic unified wage. The Government indicates that in June 2020, the guidelines produced during the health emergency to preserve jobs were made public, and a commission was set up, with the participation of the social partners, to formulate proposals aimed at ensuring the sustainability of employment and enterprises. The Committee also notes, drawing on information available on the Ministry of Labour website, the holding of the “Juntos por el Trabajo” (Together for Work) forum, between August and October 2020, to elaborate a national action plan for the long-term generation of employment, eliminating barriers to formal employment. The forum held roundtables, among other activities, to establish mechanisms to protect rights, and generate employment and capacities. The Committee requests the Government to continue to send detailed and updated information on the manner in which the social partners, including representatives of the rural sector and of the informal economy, as well as representatives of vulnerable populations (such as the indigenous populations, the Afro-Ecuadorian population and persons with disabilities) have participated in the design, the implementation and evaluation of the employment policies and their action programmes. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide detailed information on the results of the social dialogue forum “Juntos por el Trabajo”.