Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Termination of Employment Convention, 1982 (No. 158) - Yemen (Ratification: 1989)

The Committee notes with concern that the Government’s report has not been received. It expects that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 2 of the Convention. Exclusions. Protection of domestic workers against unfair dismissal. In response to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government reiterates that a copy of the amended Labour Code will be provided to the Office as soon as it is adopted. The Government indicates that there is limited employment of domestic workers in Yemen, adding that no cases have been brought before the Labour Arbitration Committees with regard to domestic workers. The Committee notes that domestic workers in Yemen are currently excluded from the protections afforded to other workers under the Labour Code, Act No. 5 of 1995, including from protection against unfair dismissal. The Committee once again expresses its concern regarding the exclusion of domestic workers from the protection of the Convention. It therefore requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which domestic workers are provided with protection from unfair dismissal.

Application of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that unemployment has increased in Yemen since the beginning of the crisis and that hundreds of thousands of workers, mostly young people, have been laid off. The Government refers to the ILO report, Yemen Damage and Needs Assessment: Crisis Impact on Employment and the Labour Market of January 2016, which indicates that there has been a dramatic reduction in employment from what was an already very low baseline and that certain groups were more affected than others, notably women and young persons. The Government reports that about 100 cases alleging arbitrary dismissal were lodged in 2017 and claims in relation to unpaid wages were lodged with Labour Arbitration Committees in the liberated areas only, and that all of the cases concerned claims alleging arbitrary dismissal and unpaid wages. The Committee also notes the information provided by the Government concerning the definition of “misconduct” as “practices that disrupt the establishment’s work system”. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the activities of the Labour Arbitration Committees in relation to cases lodged against unfair dismissals, the number of cases registered yearly, the outcome of such claims and the average time taken for a request to be examined and decided. Please provide examples of the Labour Arbitration Committee decisions in relation to claims of unfair dismissal.