Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Iran (Islamic Republic of) (Ratification: 1964)

Further to its observation, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the following points.

1. Discrimination on the basis of political opinion or religion. The Committee recalls the discussion in the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in 2003. It notes that the Worker members, referring to a report prepared by Amnesty International for the 2003 International Labour Conference, raised questions relating to the practice of "gozinesh", which impaired equality of opportunity and treatment on the basis of political opinion, previous political affiliation or support, or religious affiliation for all those seeking employment in the public sector and in parts of the private sector, contrary to article 23 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Committee notes that in reply to these comments, the Government indicated that a Bill had been adopted in Parliament asking for a review of this practice. Noting that no further information regarding this issue has been received, the Committee requests the Government to provide further information in its next report regarding this practice and the impact of the Bill to which the Government refers.

2. Discrimination based on sex. Sexual harassment. Further to its 2002 general observation on Convention No. 111, the Committee requests the Government to provide further information in its next report on the measures taken or envisaged to prevent and prohibit sexual harassment in employment and occupation.

3. Employment of women. The Committee notes the Government’s statement in its 2004 report that, when assessing women’s participation in the labour market, account should be taken of the large number of women engaged in domestic work, home work, work on family farms, part-time work and casual work, which are not reflected in the statistics. While appreciating that these jobs may provide employment opportunities for women and may assist them in reconciling work and family responsibilities, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that care should be taken that these "atypical" employment relations, many of which are prejudicial to income and job security, do not unduly disadvantage women on the labour market. The Committee would therefore encourage the Government to continue to take measures and even increase its efforts to improve the economic status of women and to increase their participation in quality employment, including higher level decision-making positions, and to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that "atypical" employment relations do not disadvantage women in the labour market.

4. Social dialogue. The Committee notes the statement by the Government that, with the emergence of dispute settlement boards, the ground necessary for the active participation of women in issuing verdicts in dispute settlement boards has been created. Emphasizing the importance of women participating in social dialogue for the promotion of equality, the Committee requests the Government to provide information, disaggregated by sex, in its next report on the representation of men and women in dispute settlement boards.