EMPLOYMENT

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1979. This landmark treaty was the first convention to address comprehensively women's rights within political, cultural, economic, social, and family life. In numerous countries, the treaty has become a proven and effective tool for improving equity. As of October 1999, 165 countries have ratified the Convention. The US is the lone industrialized democracy and one of only a handful of countries yet to ratify CEDAW.

Some of the most significant concerns of women's day-to-day existence involve the denial or limitation of economic rights. Equal employment opportunities for women remain illusory in the United States. Occupational segregation, sex-based wage disparities, and sexual harassment in employment continue to hamper women workers in the United States.

CEDAW CALLS FOR THE END OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN EMPLOYMENT

U.S. Law

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects women against discrimination in the field of employment. An employer with fifteen or more employees may not engage in gender-based discrimination with respect to any aspect of employment, including hiring and firing, promotion and transfer, working conditions, benefits, and remuneration. Under Title VII, sex discrimination includes sexual harassment.
  
  
• Title VII does not apply to small-operation employers with less than fifteen employees, certain religious organizations and private clubs, Native American tribes, aliens employed outside the US, and certain non-civil service employees of federal legislative and judicial branches. Consequently not all women in the US benefit from its protections.
  
  
• The Civil Rights Act of 1991 limits the amount of compensatory and punitive damages for intentional discrimination, including sex discrimination and sexual harassment, based on the size of the employer.
  
  
• The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits unequal pay for equal work performed by men and women. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits wage discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin or disability. However, women still earn 74.4c per a man's $1. Women's lower wages are due in part to the segregation of women into low-paying female-dominated occupations. The current law does not address the pay inequities created by occupational sex segregation.

How CEDAW Would Help

• In compliance with CEDAW, the US would take appropriate measures to remove the gaps that exist in addressing employment discrimination based on sex.
  
  
• In compliance with CEDAW, the US would be encouraged to study the development and adoption of job evaluation systems based on gender-neutral criteria. This would facilitate the comparison of the economic value of jobs in which women predominate with those in which men predominate.

CEDAW CALLS FOR THE PREVENTION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN ON THE GROUNDS OF MARRIAGE OR MATERNITY

U.S. Law

• The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1992 requires employers of 50 or more employees to provide up to four months of unpaid leave. In addition, most states have disability programs that provide women with paid disability leave after the birth of a child.
  
  
• Title VII requires that employers who provide paid personal leave for other reasons, such as sick leave and vacation, must allow women to take such leave for maternity purposes. Most states have disability programs that provide women with paid disability leave after the birth of a child.
  
  
• Current US law does not require paid maternity leave. Because women bear a disproportionate share of childcare responsibilities, their employment opportunities and career advancement are circumscribed in a way that men's are not. Women who work in small businesses (less than 50 employees) and women who cannot afford to take extended unpaid leaves continue to pay a penalty in the workplace for fulfilling family responsibilities.

How CEDAW Would Help

• In compliance with CEDAW, the US would take appropriate measures to introduce paid maternity leave without loss of employment, seniority or benefits.

CEDAW CALLS FOR THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN'S HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE

U.S. Law

• The federal health and safety law, Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA), imposes on employers an affirmative duty to protect their employees' health and safety from workplace hazards. However, it does not distinguish between the sexes in the duties it imposes on employers.
  
  
• OSHA does not contain provisions relating to pregnancy or dangers to women who are pregnant.

How CEDAW Would Help

• In compliance with CEDAW, the US would take appropriate measures to accommodate the health and work needs of pregnant women.

HOW CEDAW HAS HELPED WOMEN AND GIRLS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

• Twenty-two of the countries that have ratified CEDAW have instituted policies and enacted laws to promote women's equal opportunity in employment.
  
  
• After ratification of CEDAW, the Australian government passed national legislation in the area of sexual harassment in employment, and it relied on the new international obligations it had undertaken as giving it the necessary authority.
  
  
• Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the U.K., the Philippines and Guatemala are among countries that have improved maternity leave and child care provisions for employed women, some with varying degrees of restrictions.

---

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT THE CO-CHAIRS OF THE WORKING GROUP ON THE WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS TREATY:
Pat Rengel, Amnesty International, U.S.A.
tel: (202) 675-8577, fax: (202) 546-7142, E-Mail: prengel@aiusa.org,
Website: http://www.amnestyusa.org/commit
Kit Cosby, Bahá'ís of the U.S.
tel: (202) 833-8990, fax: (202) 833-8988, E-Mail: usnsa-oea@usbnc.org,
Website: http://www.us.bahai.org/cedaw