Workplace discrimination persists - ILO

GENEVA: - Despite major advances in fighting discrimination at work, mounting inequalities in income and opportunities and significant and persistent forms of workplace discrimination are causing growing concern, according to a new report by the International Labour Office (ILO) published today.

In its most comprehensive report on discrimination on date, the ILO’s “Equality at work: Tackling the challenges” provides a global picture of job-related discrimination, citing both progress and failures in the struggle to fight discrimination ranging from traditional forms such as sex, race or religion, to newer forms based on age, sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS status and disability.

“The global picture of the struggle to overcome discrimination shows a mixture of major advances and failures,” the ILO report says, citing progress since its first edition issued four years ago and noting that most of the ILO’s 180 member States have ratified its two core conventions on discrimination and are thus committed to creating legislation and policies against discrimination.

A major theme of the Report is the persistence of gender gaps in employment and pay and the need for integrated policies addressing sex discrimination in remuneration and occupational segregation by sex, while reconciling work and family responsibilities.

For example, the report states that throughout the EU, the difference in average gross hourly earnings between women and men across the economy throughout all establishments has remained high at 15 per cent.

Female labour force participation rates continued to rise significantly, currently at 56.6 per cent, thus narrowing the worldwide gender gap in labour participation rates. However, the report states, progress has been uneven with North America at 71.1 per cent, 62 per cent in the European Union, East Asia and the Pacific at 61.2 percent and the Middle East and North Africa at 32 per cent.

The report also provides many examples of discrimination on the basis of race and religion, social origin, caste or indigenousness, as well as against migrant workers. And it warns of the consequences of discrimination against younger and older workers, as well as inequalities based on sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS status, or a person’s disability.

With approximately 470 million people with disabilities of working age, there is a growing concern regarding discrimination against persons with disabilities.

The report states that the likelihood of a person with a disability finding a job decreases as the level of disability increases. In Europe, a person aged between 16 and 64 has a 66 per cent chance of finding a job. This rate falls to 47 per cent for a moderately disabled person and 25 per cent for a person with a severe disability.

The Global Report recommends a series of steps to combat discrimination and achieve the ILO’s proposed action plan.