Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Lebanon (Ratification: 1977)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Protection of workers against discrimination, including sexual harassment. Law and practice. For more than 20 years the Committee has been requesting that the Government introduce a definition and a general prohibition of direct and indirect discrimination on the grounds set out in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention, within the framework of the Labour Code reform, applicable to all aspects of employment and occupation. The Committee recalls that the Labour Code currently in force (the Labour Code of 1946, as amended) only covers discrimination between men and women in certain aspects of employment (section 26) and does not provide effective protection against all forms of sexual harassment, namely quid pro quo and hostile working environment sexual harassment. Indeed, the only section of the Code that could be applied in cases of sexual harassment is a provision that authorizes employees to leave their jobs without notice when “the employer or his representative commits the offence of molestation of the worker” (section 75(3)). The Committee recalls in this regard that legislation under which the sole redress available to victims of sexual harassment is the possibility to resign, while retaining the right to compensation, does not afford sufficient protection for victims of sexual harassment since it punishes them and could therefore dissuade victims from seeking redress (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 792). The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report does not contain any information on the progress or content of the ongoing reform of the Labour Code. However, the Committee observes that, according to the third annual report (2015) on the implementation of the National Strategic Plan for Women in Lebanon (2011–21), the Ministry of Labour has prepared a bill criminalizing sexual harassment in the workplace. Consequently, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that the new Labour Code contains provisions defining and prohibiting direct and indirect discrimination on at least all of the grounds set out in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention, in all aspects of employment and occupation, as defined in Article 1(3), and all forms of sexual harassment (quid pro quo harassment and the creation of a hostile working environment). The Committee once again asks the Government to provide information on any progress made with a view to adopting the draft Labour Code. In the absence of full legislative protection against discrimination, the Committee also once again requests the Government to adopt specific measures to ensure, in practice, the protection of workers against discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, religion, political opinion, national extraction and social origin, and against sexual harassment in employment and occupation, including measures to raise awareness of these issues among workers, employers and their respective organizations, in order to improve prevention.

Foreign domestic workers. Multiple discrimination. For more than ten years, the Committee has been examining the measures taken by the Government to address the lack of legal protection for domestic workers, most of whom are women migrants, since these workers are excluded from the scope of the Labour Code and are particularly vulnerable to discrimination, including harassment, on the basis of sex and other grounds such as race, colour and ethnic origin. The Committee notes that, in its concluding observations, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) noted with concern that “abuse and exploitation of migrant domestic workers continues to occur in spite of the measures taken by the State party”. The CERD also noted with concern that “victims are often not able to seek assistance when they are forcibly confined to the residence of their employers or when their passports have been retained”. The CERD recommended the following measures: “abolish the conditions that render migrant domestic workers vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, including the sponsorship system and the live-in setting”; “extend the coverage of the Labour Code to domestic work, thereby granting domestic workers the same working conditions and labour rights as other workers, including the right to change occupation, and subjecting domestic work to labour inspections”; “ensure that any specific legislation on domestic employment is aimed at tackling migrant domestic workers’ increased vulnerability to abuse and exploitation”; and “conduct campaigns to change the population’s attitudes towards migrant domestic workers and to raise awareness of their rights” (CERD/C/LBN/CO/18–22, 5 October 2016, paragraphs 41–42). The Government reports that domestic workers are covered by the Code of Obligations and Contracts, and once again refers to the model contract and the Bill on the employment of domestic workers. The Government also indicates that a Bill to ratify the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), was submitted to the Council of Ministers and that the national steering committee of the Ministry of Labour, which is responsible for examining relations between employers and domestic workers, is currently developing significant measures to guarantee compliance with contracts and abolish the sponsorship system. However, the Government states that this process will take time. In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Labour and official bodies have not established restrictions regarding changes of employer and that this is an issue that only concerns the worker and the employer. Recalling its previous comments and noting with regret that the situation remains unchanged, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures, in cooperation with the social partners, to ensure genuine protection for migrant domestics workers, in law and practice, against direct and indirect discrimination on all of the grounds set out in the Convention, including against sexual harassment, and in all areas of their employment, either through the adoption of a bill on the employment of domestic workers or, more generally, within the framework of the labour legislation. The Committee asks the Government to supply information on any progress made in this regard and on any legislative changes to abolish the sponsorship system. The Committee asks the Government, in particular, to ensure that any new regulations envisaged on the right of migrant workers to change employers do not impose conditions or restrictions likely to increase these workers’ dependence on their employer and thus increase their vulnerability to abuse and discriminatory practices.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.