Workers With Family Responsibilities
Workers With Family Responsibilities : ILO Convention No. 156 (1981) aims to create effective equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women workers with family responsibilities. The Convention applies to men and women workers with responsibilities for their dependent children or other members of their immediate family where such responsibilities restrict their possibilities of participating in economic activity. It provides that the ratifying Member State shall make it an aim of national policy to enable these persons to engage in employment without being subject to discrimination and, to the extent possible, without conflict between their employment and family responsibilities. All measures compatible with national conditions and possibilities shall be taken to enable the workers in question to exercise their right to free choice of employment and to take account of their needs in terms and conditions of employment and in social security. The Convention then provides for corresponding measures to be taken in community planning and in the development or promotion of community services such as childcare, and family services and facilities. It provides for information and education to engender broader understanding of the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women workers, and of the problems of workers with family responsibilities. It also lays the basis for specific measures in the field of vocational guidance and training. The Convention states that family responsibilities shall not, as such, constitute a valid reason for termination of employment. See: Childcare; EQUAL; Equal opportunities