Gender Equality and Decent Work: Does National Context Matter?

O U R W O RK O U R L I V E S
4TH CONFERENCE ON WOMEN & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS DILI 1-2 SEPTEMBER 2011
SARA CHARLESWORTH

Presentation*
y Brief overview of the ILOs Decent Work Agenda and place of

gender equality y Regulating for gender equality (GE) & decent work (DW)  Overarching principles towards gender equality in paid work  Operationalising these principles:
International industry/occupational context: eg of Model Working Time Law for Domestic Workers (McCann & Murray 2010) National context

y Paper argument: both international and national contexts matter

 

International setting of operational principles/model laws crucial While GE and DW operationalised in specific national LMs, important national context not used as excuse to downgrade aspirations for GE & DW

* Draws on work as part of ARC-funded Discovery project (DP110102963)

ILOs Decent Work Agenda & Place of Gender Equality

Decent Work = opportunities for work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men. (ILO 1999)
  

moves beyond standard employment relationship attainment of GE more central than in more and better jobs /flexicurity agendas recognises relationship between paid & unpaid work (works place) critical for GE

Decent Work Agenda (DWA) = implementation of ILO's four strategic objectives

   

Creating jobs Guaranteeing rights at work Extending social protection Promoting social dialogue

Gender equality = a crosscutting objective

Gender equality @ heart of decent work campaign 2008-2009

Aims to:
y increase general awareness and

12 themes thru a gender lens inc:

y Womens empowerment

understanding of gender equality y issues in the world of work; y y highlight the specific linkages between y gender equality and securing decent y work for all women & men; y y promote the ratification and application of key ILO gender equality y labour standards; and y y advocate the importance of y overcoming existing barriers to y gender equality as beneficial for all y

Safe & healthy workplaces Work & family Social Dialogue Green jobs Women and men migrant workers Skills & entrepreneurship Rights jobs and social security Remove the obstacles Youth employment Maternity, paternity and work y Decent childhoods

Gender equality: an add on or central to DW?

y ILO 2011 report: thru decent work country programs 44 countries (inc TL) have

implemented activities to promote gender equality inc:

   

Mainstreaming gender equality Promoting female entrepreneurship, Improving working conditions for women Advancing equal employment and equal remuneration

y But GE not particularly visible/integrated in most DW country programs y ILO efforts focused on emerging countries - assumes developed countries have

sorted out GE in employment? y Decent work means all things to all people (bare minima? something more?) does not necessarily include GE... y And what does GE mean in DW Agenda? EEO, substantive, transformational ?
y DW central to realisation of GE - challenge is to operationalise GE as central to

DW

Regulating for gender equality and decent work

y Starting point:  Persistence of gender inequality in employment exacerbated by rise in precarious work = many women LM outsiders  Realising both GE and DW requires regulation (not only emp regulation) In most countries there is separation of mainstream employment & peripheral anti-discrimination regulation y Mobilising regulation to promote forms of regulation that are

genderequality friendly (Rubery 2011):



Empower individuals to exercise effective choices rather than facing highly constrained options Shape the environment in which those choices are exercised

The aim is to empower women to avoid the risk of being LM outsiders and to shape the environment to reduce the penalties of being an outsider

Model WT Law for Domestic Workers (McCann & Murray 2010)

y Part of intellectual work and advocacy behind the 2011 ILO

Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers which:



aims to provide minimum labour standards for a workforce traditionally excluded from the protections offered by emp regulation

y Model WT Law offers useful insights about potential for better

social protections thru labour regulation for realisation of DW in archetypal womens work y Builds on concept of framed flexibility:


framing standards, which place constraints on working time through limits on working hours, unsocial hours and rest periods flexibility standards that promote both employer and workerorientated forms of flexibility

Key principles underpinning Model WT Law for Domestic Workers

y Legal recognition of the value of care-work


proper valuing of knowledge, skill and accountabilitymakes skill level visible to all recognizes family & private lives of workers and needs for time & income security all workers equally entitled to WT protection no matter who their employer & within national context to same protections as exist for other workers provide minima necessary to enable workers certain degree of genuine choice over own WT design of regulation needs to take account of most vulnerable workers to be covered regulation needs to be attentive to the range of policy contexts that shape & support them ie emp regulation needs to be integrated with other regulation

y Work/family reconciliation


y Universality


y Regulated flexibility and working time capability



y The subject of regulation



y Working time laws in their policy environment



Operationalising WT for Domestic Workers

y National context: useful as benchmark to assess current WT standards in care

work y International context: useful as template for implementation/renovation 1. framing standards - constraints on working time thru limits on working hours, unsocial hours and rest periods eg:
 

 

written WT agreement at the start of employment setting out hours, schedule etc wages at level to sustain decent standard of living without recourse to excessive working hours 2 hrs minimum engagement paid annual leave of at last 3 working weeks & paid sick leave of 10 days pa

2.
  

flexibility standards that promote both employer and worker-orientated forms of flexibility eg:
7 days notice and limits to employer initiated adjustments to working hours worker right to request working time adjustments entitlement to five days paid emergency family leave

What might a gender-equitable decent job look like?

y Fair living wages that compensate for the (properly valued) level y y y y y y

of effort, skills and knowledge used in job Job security Time autonomy (quantum & scheduling of hours, paid leave, adjustment of WT arrangements) Job control over pace and content of work Provision of training/access to advancement Having a say/voice (eg in terms of emp contract, collective bargaining, workplace decision-making, in way work is done) Emp, AD and OH&S rights, inc to respect, dignity, safety, procedural & substantive fairness, that are enforced

Conclusion
y ILOs framing of gender equality @ heart of decent work - imp

opportunity to mainstream GE in emp regulation in all countries



Emerging economies - challenge is to ensure GE remains central to realisation of DW Developed economies - challenge is to move beyond narrow historical framings of minimum labour standards to gender-inclusive ones Need specific international standards that operationalise GE & DW

y Need DW indicators that provide sex disaggregated data &

measure progress towards GE at national and industry levels y Active civil society groups, unions and academics crucial to ensure that employment regulation supports:
 

Inclusive labour markets Empowered women

References
D. McCann & J. Murray (2010) The legal regulation of working time in domestic work, Conditions of Work and Employment Series No. 27, Conditions of Work and Employment Programme, International Labour Office, Geneva. J. Rubery (2011) Gender and regulation: the use and misuse of the gender equality cause Paper given to the 2nd RDW Conference, ILO, Geneva, 6-8 July 2011.