Convention 111 Discrimination (Employment and Occupation), 1958 Fundamental principle Design and implement policies to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation with a view to eliminating any discrimination in respect thereof

Ratifications 142 Member States Almost all States have included anti-discriminatory provisions in their national legislation or constitution and several of them have stated their intention to ratify the Convention or to study it with a view to ratification

Scope and fields covered All persons Employment and occupation (included self-employment) Access to vocational training (training, vocational guidance), to employment and to particular occupations (access to wage employment, access to non-wage employment, placement, access to the public service, access to employers’ and workers’ organisations) Terms and conditions of employment (advancement, security of tenure, equal remuneration, social security)

Definition of discrimination Any distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, which has the effect of nullifying or impairing equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation Large definition Discrimination in law and in practice (« de jure » and « de facto ») Direct and indirect discrimination

Indirect discrimination Any distinction or measure apparently neutral that, in practice, has the effect or result of disproportionately impacting on a particular group or sex. It is not evident at first glance but only after having analysed the de facto effects of policies or legal provisions.

Exceptions to definition Any distinction, exclusion or preference in respect of a particular job based on the inherent requirements of the job (they cannot be extended to an entire sector of activity) Special measures of protection or assistance provided for in ILO Conventions or Recommendations (maternity, health) Other special measures designed to meet particular requirements of persons, such as sex, age, disablement, family responsibilities or social and cultural status (indigenous and tribal peoples)

Grounds of discrimination Race Colour Sex Religion Political opinion National extraction Social origin Others determined by the State concerned after consultation with representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations

Grounds of discrimination RACE/COLOUR Ethnic minorities Shading indigenous peoples tribes/clans NATIONAL EXTRACTION Distinctions made within a country between its own nationals on the basis of foreign extraction or birth (naturalised citizens, descendants of foreign immigrants) persons belonging to groups of different national extraction living in the same State (national minorities)

Grounds of discrimination SEX Either sex but usually against women Often indirect Civil and marital status Family responsibilities Pregnancy and confinement Sexual harassment Protection may be disguised discrimination RELIGION Based on being or not being of a certain faith Expression or manifestation of belief, I.e. affiliation, clothing, ceremonies Includes atheism

Grounds of discrimination SOCIAL ORIGIN Individual’s membership in : –a class –social-economic category –caste Increasingly rare in most countries POLITICAL OPINION Activities expressing or demonstrating opposition to the established political principles, or simply a different opinion Protection applies to opinions either expressed or demonstrated. It does not apply if violent methods are used to express or demonstrate these opinions Membership in a political party Political or socio-political attitude, civic commitment, moral qualities Measures of security of the State not considered to be discrimination but appeal procedures must be available

Grounds of discrimination Other grounds Workers with family responsibilities Disabled persons State of health (AIDS/HIV) Age Language Trade union membership Sexual orientation...

Suggestions to adopt an additional optional protocol OBJECTIVES harmonise Convention 111 with other ILO standards and with other international human rights instruments reflect the evolving character of discrimination and promotion of equality EXPECTED CONTENT other grounds of discrimination (age, disability, family responsibilities, language, matrimonial status, nationality, property, sexual orientation, state of health and trade union affiliation shifting the burden of proof in cases of discrimination