English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

CEDAW and the Law:
improve health and strengthen the material and spiritual welfare of female workers
for the purposes of assisting female workers to achieve their professional potential
effectively and to combine harmoniously wok and family life.
Subsequent legal document provides further elaboration. First, Article 3 of the Decree
on Women Labourers states: “Proceeding from the character, working conditions and nature
of work of the enterprises, the employers of women labourers shall take initiative to discuss
with the trade union organizations the plan to assign women labourers to flexible time tables,
shorter work day, and shorter work week, and to assign them jobs that can be done at home
so as to create conditions for women labourers to be employed on a regular basis, according
to their legitimate aspirations.”
Second, the Circular on Women Labour describes the different regimes in the working
regimes for women: (a) the ‘flexible working regime’ is the assignment and use of female
labourers according to a time schedule (starting and ending times) different to the time
schedule commonly applied at the agency or unit; (b) the ‘regime of incomplete working day’
is the use of female labourers for a lesser number of working hours in a day than commonly
applied at the agency or unit; (c) the ‘regime of incomplete working week’ is the use of female
labourers for a lesser number of days in a week than commonly applied at the agency or unit;
(d) the ‘regime of at-home work’ is the assignment of jobs to be done at home (the family) by
female labourers, provided this does not affect the requirements of production and business. 485
The Circular on Women Labour also provides principles for the application of the
regime: (a) the enterprise must determine what working regime is best suited to female labour
but in no case should the working time exceed eight hours in a day and 48 hours in a week;
(b) the working regime must not be used to discipline female labourers who violates labour
discipline; and (c) the ‘flexible working regime’ must not be misused to assign women for nightshift
work in contravention of the current laws. 486
The enterprise and trade union, subject to discussion with the labourers, will decide on
the jobs and the forms and organization of the work. These conditions will be recorded in the
collective labour bargaining agreement. Women will register for these jobs with the form of
work of their choice. Priority will be given to pregnant women for three months or more, women
nursing babies aged less than 12 months, women with frail health, and women with difficult
family situation. 487
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These provisions, although cognizant of women’s multiple burden, do not address its
cause and only provide temporary solutions. By doing so, they make women less competitive
in the labour market. This is another form of protectionist legislation that, on its face, benefits
women but, in the end, disadvantages them due to loss of job and employment opportunities.
Recommendation: A review of the working regimes for women, in particular
flexible hours, incomplete working day, incomplete working week and home work must
be undertaken for its revision as follows: (a) the regimes must be applicable only to
pregnant women in advance stages of pregnancy, when certified as unable to carry out
485
Circular on Women Labour, Part II.1
486
Ibid., Part II.2
487
Ibid., Part II.3
Review of key legal documents and compliance with CEDAW