Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694868556473.pdf (Georgia)
Assessment of Gender Impact of Labor Legislation Reform Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia With the support of US Agency of International Development (USAID) Good Governance Initiative (GGI), United Nations development Program (UNDP) and National-Democratic Institute (NDI) November, 2017 Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in the document may not reflect the views of supporting donor organizations of the project 1 Task force for the assessment of gender impact 1.
Nino Janashia – consultant (group leader); 2.

Ketevan Lepsveridze – Human Rights Committee (group coordinator); 3.

Natia Zedgenidze –The Environmental Protection and Human Resources Committee; 4.

Nikoloz Varzanishvili –Healthcare and Social Issues Committee; 5.

Marina Metreveli – Sector Economy and Economic Policy Committee; 6.

Nato Natroshvili – Committee on European Integration; 7.

Gulisa Gugulishvili - Budget and Finance Committee; 8.

Shorena Kakhidze – Parliamentary budget Office; 9.


Nestan Gafrindashvili - Parliamentary budget Office; Definition of terms 2 Formal or de jure gender equality – recognition of the principles of gender equality in the normative system and creating the formal guarantees for the enjoyment and exercise of equal political, economic, social or cultural rights.
Essential gender equality - assessment of equality based on not only normative system (formal gender equality) but also the assessment of a wider context which includes analysis on the grounds of practices and statistical data.

„Glass ceiling” (vertical segregation) – an invisible obstacle which prevents women’s professional development and holding high positions regardless of their qualification and experience.
Horizontal (sectoral) segregation-on grounds of gender identity –women’s concentration in relatively low income sectors of economic activities.

Gender mainstreaming- analyzing gender-specific problems existing in practice while developing the policy, their integration in the process and determining the ways of their solution.
Assessment of gender impact- assessment of the existing situation and rends according to gender criteria and their comparison with the events taking place as a result of introduction of the recommended policy.

Gender segregated data - statistical data sorted out according to gender identity providing information separately on women’s and men’s groups.

3 Contents Summary report review .................................................................................................................. Error!
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Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.

Gender equality – national normative system and international legal instruments ❖ Gender equality national normative system and mechanisms; ❖ Gender equality in international legal instruments.

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Labor legislation in view of gender equality – national normative framework and international legal instruments.

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 Natinal normative system and mechanisms of gender equality ... Error!

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Labor legislation in view of gender equality – national normative framework and international legal instruments.
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Chapter I The aim of proposed changes .................................................... Error!

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▪ Why is legal intervention necessary?

▪ What is the objective of the proposed changes?

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Chapter 2 – Relevance of the proposed changes in view of gender equality ▪ The role of proposed changes in the establishment of gender equality; ▪ The proposed changes in view of the current challenges of gender equality in the country; ▪ Target groups for the proposed changes; ▪ The impact of proposed changes on target groups.

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.................................................................................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 3 Gender analysis of proposed changes ...................................................................................... 18 1.
Elimination of discrimination in the precontractual period ....................................................................................................................................................... 18 1.1 Gender analysis of the situation; ....................................................................................................................................................... 18 1.2 Reasons causing the existing situation .................................................................................. 20 4 1.3 Legal basis for the discrimination in pre-contractual period ............................................. 20 2.
The need for creating stable working environment ............................................................. 21 2.1 Gender analysis of the situation ............................................................................................. 21 2.2 Reasons causing the existing situation ................................................................................... 22 2.3 Legal basis for creating stable working environment ........................................................... 22 3.
Regulating the duration of work and its adaptation with the parental responsibilities ....... 22 3.1 Gender analysis of the situation ........................................................................................... 22 3.2 Reasons causing the existing situation ................................................................................. 23 3.3 Legal basis for adapting duration of work with parental responsibilities ............................ 23 4.
Ensuring the right to professional sevelopment ..................................................................... 24 4.1 Gender analysis of the situation ..................................................................................... 24 4.2 Reasons causing the existing situation .......................................................................... 24 4.3 Legal basis for ensuring the rightto professional development ........................................ 25 5.
Regulating the issue of equal remuneration ............................................................................ 25 5.1 Gender analysis of the situation ..................................................................................... 25 5.2 Reasons causing the existing situation ........................................................................... 26 5.3 Legal basis for ensuring equal remuneration ................................................................. 26 6.
Prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace and adequate response ....................................................................................................................................................... 26 6.1 Gender analysis of the situation .................................................................................... 26 6.2 Reasons causing the existing situation .......................................................................... 27 6.3 Legal basis for prohibition of sexual harassment ............................................................ 27 7.
Protection of maternity and paternity at workplace ........................................................... 28 7.1 Gender analysis of the situation ..................................................................................... 28 7.2 Reasons causing the existing situation .......................................................................... 29 7.3 Legal basis for for the protection of maternity and paternity ......................................... 29 Chapter 4 Impact of proposed changes on gender equality .................................................................................................................................................................... 30 1.
Gender impact of the elimination of discrimination in pre-contractual period; ....................................................................................................................................................... 31 2.

Gender impact of initiated changes on creating stable working environment; ................ 31 3.
Gender impact on regulating duration of work and adapting these regulations to parental responsibilities; .......................................................................................................................... 32 4.

Gender impact of ensuring the right to professional education; ....................................................................................................................................................... 32 5.
Gender impact of regulating the issue of equal remuneration; ............................................ 32 5 6.

Gender impact of regulating the prevention of sexual harassment at workplace and adequate response; ...................................................................................................................................................... 32 7.

Gender impact of regulations related to protection of maternity and paternity at workplace.
....................................................................................................................................................... 33 Chapter 5 – Recommendations on the reduction of gender inequality in labor relationships ................................................................................................................................................................... 33 1.
Recommendations on regulating pre-contractual period; ....................................................................................................................................................... 33 2.

Recommendationson on ensuring stable working environment .................................................... 34 3.

Recommendations on regulating working hours and adapting these regulations to parental responsibilities 34 4.
Recommendations on ensuring professional development .................................................... 35 5.

Recommendations on regulating the issue of equal remuneration ............................................... 35 6.

Recommendations on the prevention of sexual harassment at workplace and adequate response ......................................................................................................................................... 36 7.
Recommendations for proper protection of paternity and maternity at workplace ................. ....................................................................................................................................................... 36 Annex 1- Table of recommendations ....................................................................................................... 39 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................... 42 6 Summary report review The report represents gender analysis on changes for the reform of the Labor Code proposed to the Parliament of Georgia.
Irrespective of certain positive changes implemented in the sphere of labor rights in recent years in Georgia, ensuring de facto gender equality in labor relations and creating favorable environment for women’s economic empowerment still remain a challenge.

Inequality in labor relations does not meet the fundamental principle of human rights – protection of gender equality and the state’s obligation to ensure de facto gender equality, which also impede the sustainable development of the country’s economy.
The report has attempted to highlight gender impact of the proposed changes on target groups by means of assessing gender impact.

Given the different conditions and interests that men and women have, the policy cannot be gender-neutral.

Consequently, it is important to take their different needs and priorities into account during the policy making process and adjust them to existing challenges.
The above process is called gender mainstreaming, which implies analyzing the existing gender-specific problems in the policy- making practice, their integration into the process and working out the ways of their solution.
According to the interpretation of the Council of Europe: “Gender mainstreaming is the improvement and development of the policy processes so that a gender equality perspective is incorporated in all policies at all levels at all stages by the actors involved in policy-making”.1 One of the major tools of gender mainstreaming is gender impact assessment.
On the definition of European Commission, “Gender impact assessment is the process of comparing and assessing, according to gender relevant criteria, the current situation and trend with the expected development resulting from the introduction of the proposed policy” The purpose of the report is to examine the existing situation on the labor market in view of gender identity and compare it with the expected outcome resulting from the reform.
To this end, the report assesses the challenges with regard to gender equality, which implies revealing gender inequality in the national normative system, as well as in practice.

The proposed changes are aimed at affecting gender inequality on the labor market and cover the following: 1.
Elimination of discrimination on grounds of gender identity during pre-conractual period and appropriate regulation of job announcement and interview processes, as well as provision of a justified reason by the employer for refusing a candidate in case of alleged discrimination.

2.

Ensuring stable working environment and for this purpose regulate the issue of agreement concluded verbally and for a fixed term.

1 “Equality between men and women”, Council of Europe, 2009 7 3.
Regulating the duration of work and adjusting it to parenal responsibilities, regulating overtime working and determining the corresponding rate for overtime remuneration; 4.

Ensuring the opportunities for the professional development of women and overcoming the vertical segregation problem; 5.

Regulating the issue of equal remuneration and elimination of gender pay gap; 6.

Prevention of sexual harassment at workplaces and elaboration of relevant response mechanisms; 7.
Protecting maternity and paternity at workplace, which includes regulating maternity leave remuneration issue, taking the needs of working women in the period of pregnancy and child care into consideration as well as exercising the right of both parents to equally enjoy the paid leave for childcare reasons.
While assessing gender impact, the working group made gender analysis for each of the above-listed issue (chapter 3):  The first step in the analysis is to assess the practical situation, based on studies and statistical data;  In the next step it was assessed to what extent the national normative framework and the attitudes and stereotypes that are commonly spread in the society cause the above mentioned inequalities;  Finally, the group analyzed international instruments providing the grounds for ensuring gender equality regarding all seven issues mentioned above.
Having conducted an in-depth gender analysis, the working group attempted to assess the gender impact of particular changes based on the existing data (chapter 5) in regard to each thematic area (Chapter 4).

When assessing gender impact, the expected trends were defined without intervention; the future impact of the reform was also assessed.

The assessment of gender impact has shown that the proposed changes can reduce the level of gender inequality in labor relations regarding all seven thematic areas.
8 Introduction Gender equality is the fundamental principle of human rights law and implies the obligation of guaranteeing equal rights for everyone irrespective of gender differences.
Complying with gender equality principle requires taking into consideration the diverse interests and needs of women and men, girls and boys and proiding equal opportunities for their development.2 Apart from formal- de jure –gender equality which implies the recognition of gender equality principles in the country’s normative system and provision of guarantees for men and women to enjoy equal political, economic, social or cultural rights, the researchers emphasize the importance of de facto gender equality principle as well, which comprises de jure gender equality.
It implies creating equal environment not only in terms of recognition of principles, but also provision of equal opportunities of development and achievements for men and women.
Consequently, ensuring de facto gender equality implies the assessment of equality not only on the basis of normative system, but in a wider context as well, which includes practice and analysis based on statistical data, taking into consideration the common attitudes and stereotypes established in the society.3 Aside from the fact that gender equality is the fundamental principle of human rights law, it is also recognized as the precondition of sustainable economic development of the country and one of its indicators.
Consequently, it is considered that the aim of considering diverse interests, needs and priorities of men and women is not only to ensure equality but also to support the process of development as well.4 One of the UN sustainable development goals – the fifth one is to achieve gender equality.

Nine indicators of the fifth goal, among other issues include ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls and the need for developing clear and efficient policy in this respect.

1.
Gender equality – national normative system and international legal instruments ❖ National normative system and mechanisms Constitution of Georgia 2 UN Women, Gender Mainstreaming – Concepts and definitions, available at: www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/conceptsanddefinitions.htm 3 Concepts and Definitions by European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) 4 UN Women, Important concepts underlying gender mainstreaming, available at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/pdf/factsheet2.pdf 9 According to Article 11 of the Constitution of Georgia: “ Everyone is born free and is equal before the law regardless of race, color of skin, language, sex, religion, political or other opinions, national, ethnic and social affiliation, origin, property or social status, place of residence”.
In its resolution N2/7/219, 2003, Constitutional Court of Georgia interprets the principle of equality, which implies “equal recognition and protection of the rights and freedoms of everyone who is under equal conditions and has adequate attitude to the issue prescribed by law.

The above principle comprises the whole spectrum of state legislation in order that individuals under equal conditions and circumstances enjoy equal privileges and carry out equal responsibilities.
Certainly, dissimilar legal regulation will not be considered the violation of the principle of equality in all cases.

Lawmaker has the right to determine different conditions but such difference must be justifiable, reasonable and relevant.
Besides, equal level of differentiation should be ensured for the subjects under similar conditions.” Therefore, Constitutional Court admits the possibility of applying differentiated approach to groups of individuals being in different conditions with the aim of achieving de facto equality.

According to Article 11 of the new version of the Constitution of Georgia, “The state shall ensure equal rights and opportunities for men and women.
The state undertakes special measures to provide de facto equality and eradicate inequality”.
Law of Georgia on Gender Equality The Law on Gender Equality adopted in 2010 defines gender equality as “part of human rights which implies equal rights and duties, responsibilities and equal participation of men and women in all spheres of personal and public lives;” The purpose of the law is to ensure that there is no discrimination in any aspect of public life; create proper conditions for realization of equal rights, freedoms and opportunities for men and women; prevent and eliminate any discrimination.
Law of Georgia on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination The law “On the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination” adopted by the Parliament of Georgia in 2014 (anti-discrimination law) prohibits direct and indirect discrimination and is intended to ensure equal rights of every natural and legal person under the legislation of Georgia, irrespective of race, skin color, language, sex, age, citizenship, origin, place of birth or residence, property or social status, religion or belief, national, ethnic or social origin, profession, marital status, health, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, political or other opinions, or other characteristics.” National mechanisms of gender equality With the purpose of efficient implementation of gender equality principle, there are three state bodies functioning in the country at a central level: Gender Equality Council at the Parliament of Georgia, Inter-agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in the executive branch and Gender Equality Department- at Public Defender’s Office.
At a local level, self-governing bodies need to establish gender equality councils whereas Mayor’s offices should assign a public servant to be responsible for gender equality issues.

It has been planned to 10 establish the above mentioned bodies in each self-government unit after local self-government elections of 2017.

➢ Gender Equality Council Advisory Council on Gender Equality at the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia was set up in 2004.
After adopting the law on “Gender Equality” in 2010, Gender Equality Council has become a standing body.

The main purpose of the council is to ensure systematic and coordinated activity on gender issues.

Its major functions are: to analyze Georgian legislation and develop proposals for the elimination of existing gender inequality, as well as provide expertise for initiated draft bills in view gender equality assessment.
The council facilitates definition of main directions of the state policy on gender issues set by the Parliament.

The Council is also responsible for elaboration and development of the legislative base in gender equality sphere, provision of consideration and endorsement of the respective strategy and oversight of agencies’ activities accountable to the Parliament of Georgia.
One of the important directions in the activities of the Council is raising public awareness on gender equality and facilitative undertakings to boost women’s activities.

For this purpose, the Council cooperates with the Gender Equality Councils at the Supreme Councils of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Adjara, Gender Equality Councils in Municipalities and with the female members of the City Assemblies of the Municipalities and the Advisors on Gender Issues.
The Council is chaired by the Chairperson of the Parliament or one of the Deputies on Chairperson’s assignment.
➢ Inter-agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Inter-agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence was set up on the order #286 of June 2017, as an interministerial executive body authorized to facilitate and coordinate efficient work of relevant state agencies on the issues of gender equality, violence against women and domestic violence.
For the purpose of implementation of the set goals and objectives, the inter-agency commission is entitled to prepare proposals and recommendations and present them to the government of Georgia.

Besides, the commission represents the platform for cooperation of international organizations and local civil society.

➢ Gender Equality Department at Public Defender’s Office 11 The Department of Gender Equality of the Public Defender’s Office was established on May 15, 2013.
The goals of the department are: to supervise provision of state guarantees of protection of human rights and freedoms, monitor the implementation of national and international acts concerning protection of gender equality in Georgia, as well as examine and respond to violation of gender equality rights and prepare relevant conclusions/recommendations/ proposals.
Gender equality mechanisms in local self-government bodies To cohform with gender equality principles, it is necessary to establish gender equality councils at local self-governing bodies, whereas city councils should assign public servants to deal with gender equality issues.

The above-mentioned bodies shall elaborate and take actions in compliance with the law of Georgia to reveal and eliminate discrimination in situ.
The functions of gender equality councils and the persons in charge of gender equality issues, it remains essential to define their status and authority, as well as the councils’ composition in most local self-governing bodies.

❖ Gender Equality in International Legal Instruments Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) recognizes the principle of equality between men and women as one of the fundamental rights and prohibits any form of discrimination.
Discrimination is likewise prohibited by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966).

The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1979), which is the most comprehensive document in the sphere of protection of gender equality, prohibits any form of discrimination against women and obliges the countries to ensure de jure, as well as de facto equality.
The Convention covers all aspects of gender equality, among them the issue of women’s economic empowerment.

One of the goals of sustainable development laid down in the document of the UN adopted in 2015, namely the fifth goal, directly refers to gender equality and the countries are bound to achieve the prescribed goals by 2030.
In EU-Georgia Association Agreement and its Agenda, it is specified that gender equality and equal treatment of men and women in social, political and economic lives must be ensured.

Georgia undertakes obligation to prepare for the implementation of EU legislation in the sphere of gender equality.

2.
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Labor legislation on grounds of gender equality – national normative framework and international legal instruments 12 Part three of Article 2 of the Labor Code of Georgia prohibits any type of discrimination in labor relations, including discrimination due to gender.

Article 6 of the Law on Gender Equality refers to compliance with gender equality principle in labor relations, as well as the state responsibility to ensure equal employment opportunities for both men and women.
Many other international legal instruments refer to provision of gender equality principle in labor relations.
Among them is The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which holds the signatory countries liable to ensure equal employment and professional development opportunities for men and women, as well as equal remuneration, acces to insurance system, especially in the cases of unemployment, sickness and incapability, the right to paid leave, the right to healthcare and sound working environment.
The Convention also prescribes specific obligations regarding motherhood and childcare.

The 10th goal of sustainable development referring to the reduction of inequality gap appeals the states to provision of equal opportunities for everyone and narrowing the gap of inequality emerging as a result of economic relations.
Conventions on International Labor Organizations prescribe a number of obligations for the states, among them is the Equal Remuneration Convention concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value (#100), as well as Convention on Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (#111).
In view of the above, Georgia has undertaken the obligation under EU-Georgia Association Agreement and 2017- 2020 Agenda, namely regarding the implementation of legal norms provided in EU labor legislation, such as: health and safety at workplace, also gender equality and anti- discrimination.

The Agenda of Association Agreement obliges Georgia to integrate international labor organization standards into national legislation.

Chapter 1 The purpose of proposed changes Why is legal intervention necessary?
Elaboration of labor legislation based on equality principles and carrying out the relevant policy is the essential precondition for women’s economic empowerment in the country, which in its turn represents the most important element in the country’s sustainable development.
The UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Women's Economic Empowerment recognize that women’s economic empowerment is not only the “right decision” for ensuring conformity with internationally recognized human rights principles, but it is also a “clever decision” for sustainable development and economic growth.5 5 UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Women's Economic Empowerment, January, 2016 13 One of the constituent parts of women’s economic empowerment, along with availability of productive resources, is women’s equal participation in labor market, where they must be provided with equal employment and professional development opportunities.
According to 2016 Global Gender Gap Index report, Georgia occupies the 90th place among 144 countries, which is explicitly an undesirable indicator meaning that the country has to respond to many challenges in regard to gender equality.
According to women’s economic opportunities’ index, which analyzes women’s equal involvement in economic activities through 29 different indicators, among them normative framework, practical situtions, traditions and attitudes, Georgia occupies the 59th place.6 According to several reports, Georgian economy is characterized both by vertical and horizontal segregation.
Horizontal segregation is expressed in women’s employment in low income sectors, while for vertical segregation it is characteristic that women, as compared to men, hold lower-income positions and have limited opportunities for promotion.

7 Besides, on the data of statistical agency, despite the fact that majority of Georgian population are women, in economically active 8 population there are much fewer women than men.
Number of economically active women equals to 58% of the total number, whereas 78% of men of the total number are economically active.
It is important that 17% of working age women name the reason for their economic inactivity being housewives or in other words family responsibilities, whereas the above reason has never been mentioned by men.9 In view of legislation, the above mentioned situation of inequality does not meet the state obligation to protect the fundamental principle of human rights - ensuring gender equality and de facto gender equality, and as for economy – it impedes the country’s sustainable economic development.
Therefore, the legislative package on labor rights has to play an important role in the intervention into labor relations to reduce the level of gender inequality.

What is the objective of proposed changes?

A clear objective of the proposed changes is to reduce gender inequalities in labor relations and ensure equal opportunities for men and women.
Gender inequality in labor relations in Georgia are caused by several factors, such as: ▪ Discrimination on the grounds of gender in pre-contractual period; 6 According to 2012 data, the mentioned report has never been updated since then 7 Millenium Challenge Fund – Georgia, “Social and Gender Integration Plan”, 2014 As Geostat explains, economically active means- employed, self-employed or a job-seeker.

Publication by National statistical Service of Georgia “A Man and a Woman in Georgia.” 2017.
8 9 14 ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Unstable working environment, where the employer in frequent cases discretionally enters into verbal agreement for a fixed term and working women are often on the other side of these unequal relations; Irregular working hours that is hard to adjust to parental responsibilities, if not often impossible; Insufficient opportunities for women’s professional development, which makes the existing vertical segregation in almost all sectors even stronger; Differences in salaries on grounds of gender as a result of horizontal, as well as vertical segregation.
However, comparing the salaries of men and women employed in the same sector holding the same positions, can clearly show that women have lower remuneration; Sexual harassment at workplace; Protection of maternity and paternity at workplace.
The current challenges are caused by normative framework which presently does not meet international standards of gender equality and international obligations undertaken by the state, also by attitudes and stereotypes established in the society, according to which it is a woman who bears the burden of domestic work, taking care of the old-aged and children.

As well as that, the society considers a man the main breadwinner and does not value woman’s work very highly.
Given the existing inequality, the legislative package is aimed at responding to the challenges of the normative framework which should result in the establishment of gender equality principles in labor relations.
Chapter 2 Relevance of the proposed changes in view of gender equality In order to assess the relevance of the proposed changes in view of gender equality it is important to determine the general role of labor legislation in the establishment of gender equality on the one hand, and on the other, how efficiently the proposed initiative responds to major challenges existing in the country in this sphere.
The role of labor legislation in the establishment of gender equality Gender equality cannot be achieved without women’s economic empowerment and their equal involvement in economic activities.
Women’s economic empowerment is a certain process of transformation, as a result of which “women enjoy their rights to control and benefit from resources, assets, income and their own time and have the ability to manage risk and improve their economic status and wellbeing.” 10 10 Oxfam, Conceptual framework on women’s economic empowerment, 2017 15 Women’s economic empowerment is measured by equal involvement in labor market and their equal access to productive resources.11 Thus, equal labor rights, as a precondition for equal involvement in labor market is an essential element in women’s economic empowerment and in general for ensuring gender equality.
International Labor Organization considers that inequality in the labor market on one hand wastes human talent and potential possibilities for innovations, but at the same time it is also the violation of fundamental human rights.12 The organization names several challenges for the achievement of gender equality revealed in labor relations on a global scale: o Double burden of domestic unpaid work and paid work rests mainly on women; o There are more women involved in informal economic activities than men; o Poverty affects far more women than men; o Much fewer women are employed, despite the fact that their number is growing increasingly; o Unemployment affects women more than men, even when women have higher level of education; Gender pay gap exists almost in every country; o o Segregation and segmentation exist almost in all countries; o Women have fewer opportunities for professional development; o Increasing demand on flexibility and mobility has a negative impact on women, since due to domestic burden, they often have to refuse to take responsibilities at work; o Very few women have managed to break the so called “glass ceiling” and hold top managerial positions.
As has been mentioned in the goal of legislative initiative above, such challenges also exist in Georgia’s reality.

The aim of proposed changes is to respond and at the same time establish gender mainstreaming and gender impact assessment practice in legislation.
Proposed changes in view of gender equality challenges existing in the country Proposed changes aiming at the elimination of discrimination against women and establishment of gender equality will result in the following: ● Specifying the list of signs of discrimination in Labor Code; ● Banning the use of discriminative terms in pre-contractual relations; regulating the stage of the interview; ● ● Obliging the employer to justify refusing to employ a candidate in the case of alleged discrimination; Determining maximum duration of working hours per day, the length of holidays and the rate of overtime pay.
Overtime work will be banned for nursing mothers or persons with parental responsibilities without their consent; 11 Wisconsin-Madison University Public Administration School, “Indicators of Women’s Development in Developing Countries”, 2013 12 International Labor Organization “Gender in Labor Policy – Guidelines”, 2009 16 ● ● ● ● ● ● Drawing up agreement for a fixed term shall be regulated in order to ensure stable working environment; Determining the possibility of women’s equal participation in qualification enhancement activities; Regulating the issue of equal remuneration; Prohibiting sexual harassment at workplace; Regulating the issue regarding the provision of the environment suited to the needs of parental responsibilities; Prohibiting the dismissal of pregnant women and women on maternity leave due to the expiry of the contract.
Target groups for proposed changes Target group for the proposed changes is economically active population, both men and women, as well as their family members, including children and in general, the whole society.

Economically active population according to the National Statistics Office of Georgia is anyone who is of working age whether they are employed or job-seekers.

On 2016 data 13 there are 1 576 500 women and 1 385 100 men of working age in Georgia.
The number of economically active women equals to 58%, whereas this indicator among men is 78%.

Considerable difference can be observed between unemployed women and men –number of women is twice higher than that of men.

Namely, in 2016, the number of unemployed women was 661.

9 thousand and the number of men – 301.3 thousand.

Impact of the proposed changes on target groups Banning discrimination in labor relations and improved working environment will have a direct impact on the target group.
Banning discrimination in pre-contractual relations will be directly reflected on the state of job-seeking women and increase the opportunities of their employment.

Provision of stable working environment by regulating the term of the agreement and concluding written agreement will have a positive effect on the employee.

Regulating working hours and adapting them to parental responsibilities will be positively reflected on working women as well as quality of life and health of their children.
Ensuring professional development will reduce the so called “glass ceiling” problem and increase the chances for women’s progress and promotion.

Regulating the issue of equal remuneration will be directly reflected on the employed and the economic state of their families.

13 Publication of the National Statistics Office of Georgia “ Men and Women in Georgia” 2017 17 Maternity and paternity protection at workplace will directly affect the health and wellbeing of parents and children.
Prevention of sexual harassment and having relevant response mechanisms in place will ensure safe working environment.

Elimination of discriminative attitudes, stable and safe working environment, combining professional and personal duties and equal opportunities for growth and development will positively affect the employer organization since all the above will also affect employees’ motivation and work efficiency, reduce the loss of professional staff and enhance corporate loyalty.
Elimination of discriminative attitudes in pre-contractual period will favor creation of competitive environment and the selection of staff on grounds of professionalism.

The initiative will have an indirect impact on the whole society, since ensuring gender equality in labor relations will support the country’s sustainable economic development.

Besides, the initiative will help defy the stereotypes about the role of men and women and establish equal attitudes in this regard.
Chapter 3 Gender analysis of proposed changes In order to assess the gender impact of the draft bill it is necessary to make gender analysis of each initiated issue.

All gender relevant regulations have an impact on the state of men and women- their life conditions and the possibility to access resources.

The above impact is called gender impact.

The aim of gender impact assessment is to predetermine the impact that the regulation will have on de facto equality with maximum possible precision.
Consequently, Gender impact analysis should: ▪ On the one hand compare the current situation without any intervention with the situation to be created in the future; ▪ On the other hand, measure, within the bounds of possibility, how much the planned intervention will change the current situation.

The chapter below presents gender analysis of each initiated issue with the aim of gender impact assessment.

1.
1.

Elimination of discrimination in pre-contractual period 1.1 Gender analysis of the situation In Georgian reality, discrimination in pre-contractual relations is expressed in several ways: 18 ▪ Vacancy announcements frequently contain discriminative language.

One research which was carried out in this sphere14 has studied 71360 online job adverts during the period of 2010- 2014, and 5643 out of them contained gender-sensitive language.
For instance “good looks” was used 1589 times, “man” – 1088 times and “lady” -607 times.

▪ In frequent cases there are job advertisements in which the criteria for candidates’ selection are not related to professional skills, experience or education of a potential employee.
In another research: 15 o 25% of respondents indicated that during vacancy search they had come across the announcement, which contained such selection criteria that were irrelevant to skills, education or experience needed for the position; o 75% of respondents mentioned that they had noticed job announcements containing age discrimination words; o 21% of men and 9% of women respondents have seen advertisements offering jobs to women only; o 20% of men and 14% of women have seen advertisements that offered jobs to men only.
▪ It is also frequent when the employer refrains from taking on a female employee, due to her family status and responsibilities.

Consequently, employers often ask the candidate personal questions at job interviews which have nothing in common with their future professional activity.
According to one of the studies16: o 64% of women and 67% of men were asked about their family status at a job interview; o 43% of women have been asked about the number of children; o Every fifth respondent that have ever attended a job interview have been asked a question about their arriage plans; o 20% of men and 16% of men have been asked if they were planning to have children; ▪ Frequently, candidates have an impression that the reason for refusal in giving them a job is discriminative and is not related to not satisfying the job requirements.
17 Within one study18, 71% of respondents noted that they had not been notified about the reasons for refusing to give a job.

▪ The data of one study19 have proved that only above 50% of respondents had taken part in the job (friends, respondents mainly use family/acquaintances) for getting a job and 63% have found jobs via their friends, family members or acquaintances.
interview, 44% of social capital their 14 Article 42 of the Constitution, “Gender Discrimination in Labor Relations”, 2014 15 Center for Social Sciences, ,,Gender Discrimination on the Labor Market in Georgia”, 2014 16 Center for Social Sciences, ,,Gender Discrimination on the Labor Market in Georgia”, 2014 17 ibid 18 ibid 19 Center for Social Sciences, ,,Gender Discrimination on the Labor Market in Georgia”, 2014 19 The above findings prove that equality principle is not quite often taken into account in the process of employng the stpersonnel.
The above situation strengthens gender segregation even more, since women have more contacts with women and men with men.

1.2 Reasons causing the existing situation The existence of such discriminative environment in pre-contractual period is caused by drawbacks in the legislative framework on the one hand, and on the other, by stereotypical attitudes established in the society.
▪ Labor Code of Georgia prohibits discrimination due to race, skin color, language, sex, age, citizenship, origin, place of birth or residence, property or social status, religion or belief, national, ethnic or social origin, profession, marital status, health, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, political or other opinions, or other characteristics The above list does not contain prohibition of discrimination due to such factors, as health, appearance, pregnancy and maternity.
▪ Labor Code does not specify prohibition of discrimination in pre-contractual period.

According to the Code, prohibition of discrimination refers to labor relations, i.e.

the period after reaching mutual agreement.

▪ Vacancy announcements or the interview stage are not regulated at a legislative level.

Besides the employer is not required to justify the decision in the case of refusing to employ a candidate.

On top of the above “gender holes”, there are also stereotypical attitudes in the society.
According to one of the studies20, Georgian society does not consider publishing announcements containing gender-biased language as discrimination.

According to the survey conducted by the Center for Social Sciences21, majority of respondents consider it a normal practice to ask questions about personal life at the interview.
According to special report of the Public Defender – “About Discrimination against Women”, some participants of the discussion, which was held with the aim to study stereotypes, justifies the interest of an employer about the candidate’s marital status, health state, future plans, and even give examples.

For instance, in their opinion, the employer may refrain from employing a woman in the position requiring frequent trips.
They also consider it reasonable when the employer gives advantage to a man if the job is highly responsible and requires achieving the goal within strict deadlines.

Even women respondents that are holding senior positions, consider that giving advantage to men by employer is often justifiable.
1.3 Legitimate grounds for the prohibition of discrimination in pre-contractual period #111 Convention of the International Labor Organization concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation prohibits discrimination of any grounds, among them on grounds of gender.
20 21 Center for Social Sciences, ,,Gender Discrimination on the Labor Market in Georgia”, 2014 , 2014 ibid 20 The Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Union prohibits discriminative criteria and terms of employment in the process of selection of candidates for the job.

22 Directive 76/207/EEC of Council of Europe about Equal Treatment of Men and Women prohibits discrimination in pre-contractual labor relations.
According to Article 3 of the Directive “Application of the principle of equal treatment means that there shall be no discrimination whatsoever on grounds of sex, including access to all jobs or posts and selection criteria.” 23 On the explanation of the International Labor Organization, men and women must enjoy equal treatment at any stage of pre-contractual relations24, which will entail legal results in the above relations.
Consequently, the Organization considers that job advertisements published by employers must not contain discriminative terms, which directly or indirectly puts some candidates in a disadvantaged position and only serves the employment of one or the other sex and artificial selection or reduction of their number.25 It is important that besides employers, vacancy advertisements are published by the companies and organizations in their own newspapers or webpages.
By the standards of European Union, both, employers and the companies publishing job advertisements have the obligation of equal treatment.

According to the Directive 97/80/EC of the Council of Europe of 15 December 1997 on the burden of proof concerning discrimination on grounds of gender, in the case of any allegations of the violation of equal treatment principle, the burden of proof should rest on the defendant party which has to prove that equal treatment principle has not been violated.

2.
2.

Need for the creation of stable working environment Defining guarantees for the creation of stable working environment is important for the purpose of protection of employees’ rights and provision of fair working conditions.

2.1 Gender analysis of the situation The obstacles on the way of creation of stable working environment are verbal agreements on one hand, and on the other, the frequency of concluding fixed-term agreements.
საქართველოს პროფესიული კავშირების გაერთიანების დაკვირვების საფუძველზე, არარსებობა აქვს შემთხვევებს, როდესაც წერილობითი ხელშეკრულების ადგილი შეუძლებელს ხდის შრომითი ურთიერთობის არსებობის დადასტურებას.

For proper protection of an employee’s rights, it is important to draw up written agreements.

Based on the observation of the Trade Union Confederation of Georgia, there are cases when it is impossible to prove the existence of labor relations without any written agreement.
Unstable working environment can also be created if the employers draw up a fixed-term contract at their discretion.

This is a problematic issue in view of gender equality as well, since the employees on the other side of these unequal relations often are women.
22 Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation 23 Directive2002/73/EC of the Council of Europe, Article 3, clause 1, sub-clause “a” 2002, 23 September Equal Treatment of Men and Women in Employment and Occupation 24 ILO, General Survey 2012, para 752, 753, 754.
See: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_174846.pdf 25 ILO, General Survey, 2012 21 International Labor Organization, which highlights the increasing number of fixed-term labor contracts,26 explains that engagement into fixed-term employment is often an involuntary choice for workers.
The Organization also considers that fixed-term contracts offer a lower level of protection since the employer does not have to justify the termination of labor relations after the expiry of the agreement term, even when the employee has a reasonable expectation of extending labor relations.

Consequently, ILO calls on countries to regulate fixed-term contracts so that employees’ rights are protected.
2.2 The reasons causing the existing situation Provisions envisaged by Georgian legislation concerning verbal and fixed-term agreements do not guarantee the proper level of protection for the employee.
of compliance clause with In 11 Article 6, of the Labor amount of work Code, “a labour agreement shall be in writing, if labour relations last for more than three months” Also, clause 12 of Article 6 of the Labor Code admits concluding labor agreement for a fixed term if a if or seasonal work specific an employee being temporarily absent from work due to suspended labour relations is replaced; However, clause 12 (e) of Article 6 makes it rather vague, since it also considers other objective circumstances justifying conclusion of a fixed-term agreement without clarifying which criteria should serve the basis for objective circumstances that would allow to conclude the fixed-term agreement.
performed be or to is 2.3 Legal basis for creating stable working environment ILO Convention #158 concerning the termination of employment as well as Convention #166 establish the International Labor Organization standard with regard to regulation of employment contracts concluded for a specified period of time.
The above conventions define specific restrictions to avoid the discretional and regular use of fixed- term contracts providing that the legislation exhaustively defines the basis for concluding agreements for a specified period of time.

The issue of a fixed-term agreement is regulated by 99/70/EC and 2003/88/EC Directives of European Union.
Apart from that, Article 2 of European Social Charter concerning the right to just conditions of work, sets the norm, according to which contracting parties should enter into written agreement in the shortest possible time, but not later than two months from the date of commencement of work.
Therefore, taking into consideration the standards provided by ILO and EU, Labor Code of Georgia has to precisely define the grounds for the conclusion of agreements for a specified period of time to avoidthe use of discretional mechanism by the employer, and on the other hand it should ensure conclusion of agreements in writing if labor relations last longer than two months.

3.
3.

Regulating working hours and adapting them to parental responsibilities 3.1 Gender analysis of the situation 26 “Nothing more permanent than temporary?

Undesratnding fixed-term contracts”, Policy Brief, ILO.

22 No data exist in Georgia on unpaid domestic work; however, it can be observed that the burden of family and childcare responsibilities mainly rests on a woman.

Consequently, women have to turn down the job requiring long working hours.
Besides, working persons cannot refuse to work overtime out of fear of losing the job.

This is an especially heavy burden for women having family responsibilities.

In 2014, 22% of the employed in Georgia stated that they had to work overtime, i.e.

they worked over 40 hours a week.27 Moreover, since the issue of remuneration of overtime work is not regulated, the employer often determines the rate of remuneration discretionally.
It is clear, that due to objective circumstances, performance of overtime work can be determined as the employee’s obligation as it is provided by the Labor Code of Georgia, however, the burden of such work should equally rest on employees and employers and must be adequately remunerated.
3.2 The reasons causing the situation According to Article 14 of the Labor Code of Georgia, the duration of working time shall not exceed 40 hours a week, however, the duration of working time in enterprises with specific operating conditions requiring more than eight hours of uninterrupted production/work process must not exceed 48 hours a week.

The list of industries with specific operating regime is determined by the government of Georgia, which includes almost all sectors of economy.
Thus most employers can establish a 48-hour working time a week.

Due to the fact that the list of industries with specific operating regime is incomplete, it is impossible to determine whether this or that enterprise has specific operating conditions according to the industry alone.

Also, Georgian legislation does not define the maximum number of working hours a day, neither does it specify the number of rest days and overtime remuneration rate, which contradicts international standards.
Undefined overtime work rate causes various problems in practice during the negotiation between the employer and the employee and in most cases the rate bears only a symbolic character.

As well as that, Labor Code is familiar with cases when it is unavoidable to work overtime and sometimes without any remuneration.
The given Article does not contain any exclusion clause concerning the working pregnant women or breastfeeding mothers, mothers of infants and children under 3 years old or women taking care of the person with disabilities.

3.3 Legal grounds for adapting duration of working time with parental responsibilities According to part 1 of Article 2 of the European Social Charter, the employee should be provided with reasonable daily and weekly working hours.
According to 2003/88/EC Directive of European Union concerning certain aspects of organizing working time, employees must be guaranteed that maximum working hours a week, including overtime, must not exceed 48 hours a week.

Article 4 of the European Social Charter also defines that overtime must be remunerated at an increased rate.
27 http://iset-pi.ge/index.php/ka/iset-economist-blog/entry/2015-12-03-14-46-42 23 According to European Social Charter, as well as ILO 156th Convention on Workers with Family Responsibilities, national legislation should ensure that workers with family responsibilities enjoy equal rights with other employees without discrimination and without conflict between their professional and family responsibilities.

4.
Ensuring the right to professional development 4.1 Gender analysis of the situation A Committee established under the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (hereinafter referred to as CEDAW Committee) and International Labor Organization have noted that Georgian labor market is distinguished by horizontal segregation, which implies women’s concentration in low paid sectors, as well as vertical segregation, which means the existence of the so called “glass ceiling” for women at their workplace, due to which they have little opportunities for professional progress and promotion and as a result, higher positions are occupied mostly by men.
Women in Georgia are not widely represented in executive and decision making positions either in private or public sectors.

Vertical segregation, which is one of the signs of gender discrimination in labor relations, is often revealed when promotional or professional development opportunities are offered where the employer gives advantage mostly to men.
Despite the fact that no comprehensive gender segregated data on the employees working in managerial positions in public and private sectors exist, in one of the studies 28 it was revealed that 65% of respondents have men as their immediate chiefs and only 31% have women bosses.

There are fewer opportunities for professional trainings and development for women who have returned to work after childcare and parental leave, which prevents them from successful reintegration into their professional space.
One of the studies conducted in Georgia29 has shown that working women are mostly engaged in unskilled work, despite the level of their education.

Overwhelming majority of these women are not involved work in decision making jobs, but they rather have lower level jobs.

Even though women often do more labor-intensive work, they stay in the shade and fail to get promoted according to their working skills and qualification.
4.2 Reasons causing the existing situation One of the reasons causing the above situation is cultural stereotypes and the perception of a woman’s role in the society.

Society considers man to be a breadwinner and consequently attaches more importance to his professional development.

While paid work for woman is often perceived as third-rate.

28 29 Center for Social Sciences “Gender Discrimination on Labor Market in Georgia”, 2014.
“Article 42 of the Constitution”, Gender Discrimination in Labor Relations”, 2014.

24 Besides, legislation does not take into consideration the employer’s responsibility to support employees’ professional development by protecting gender equality and creating equal conditions for men’s and women’s development.
4.3 Legal grounds for ensuring professional development According to Article 10 of European Social Charter, everybody has the right to have access to professional trainings; Article 20 specifies that skills trainings must be ensured without any gender discrimination; Article 27 draws attention to the employees with family responsibility and defines their right to professional development.
According to Human Resource Development Convention 142 of the International Labor Organization, the countries should develop such policy which will enable all persons, on an equal basis and without any discrimination whatsoever, to develop and use their capabilities for work in their own best interests and in accordance with their own aspirations, account being taken of the needs of society.

5.
5.

Regulating the issue of equal remuneration 5.1 Gender analysis of the situation On 2016 data 30 the average monthly salary for hired labor in Georgia is GEL 940.

Men’s average monthly salary is GEL 1116.6 and women’s GEL 731.2.

It is noteworthy that woman’s salary in the country is lower than average.

Gender pay gap is 34.5%, which is a very high indicator.

Comparing the data, it can be seen that the total index of gender pay gap in OECD member countries is 15% and 30 % - worldwide.
Based on Geostat data, Man’s remuneration exceeds that of woman’s in all sectors.

This issue has also been addressed in the 2014 recommendations of the CEDAW Committee where it expresses the following concern: Due to gender-based salary differences and horizontal and vertical segregation in the labor market, women are mainly represented in low income positions.
Consequently, the Committee appeals to the country: to take measures for the implementation of equal remuneration principle in order to enable the elimination of gender pay gap and continuous assessment of men’s remuneration in all spheres.

According to International Labor Organization standard, equal remuneration should be interpreted as wider context as possible.
Apart from base salary, it also includes bonuses or benefits that are awarded regularly or on some occasions, as well as wage bonuses, business trips, trainings, health insurance, food, free travel which the employer covers, compensation for using own car or mobile phone, etc.31 According to the research32 conducted in Georgia, there is a considerable difference in getting bonuses, additional benefits and compensations.
It was revealed that men get bonuses more often 30 http://geostat.ge/?action=page&p_id=148&lang=geo 31 “Equal pay, an introductory guide”, ILO, 2013.

Center for Social Sciences“Gender Discrimination in the Labor Market in Georgia”, 2014.

32 25 than women.

66% of men have received bonuses or compensation, whereas this figure in women is almost twice lower and equals to 34%.

Also 60% of men have been given premium, while only 41% of women have had such experience.
The same research shows that every fifth woman has experienced unequal treatment when getting paid, including overtime payment.
5.2 The reasons causing the existing situation Such high indicators in gender pay gap are determined by several factors: o Women are often employed in low-income professions in Georgia (Horizontal/sectoral segregation, which affects the income); o As well as that, mostly men occupy relatively higher positions (vertical segregation); o However, if we compare the salaries of men and women holding the same positions, women’s pay is much lower than men’s.
Besides, there is no clause in the legislation regulating the issue of equal remuneration.

5.3 Legal basis for ensuring equal remuneration Various international legal instruments clearly state the right to equal pay for work of equal value.

According to Article 11 of the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the member states are obliged to guarantee women’s right to employment opportunities and equal remuneration.
“Equal Remuneration Convention” (N100) of International Labor Organization appeals to countries to “ensure the application of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value”.

The organization considers that the base salary is only a small part of the whole remuneration; consequently, equal pay in base salaries cannot ensure the principle of “equal remuneration”.
In order to measure the difference between remunerations, it is necessary to take benefits, bonuses and any other extra payment into consideration, as envisaged by labor relations.

The 8th goal of sustainable development regarding employment and decent work sets “equal pay for work of equal value” as one of its goals.

Equal remuneration principle is defined by EU Directive 2006/54/EC.
Its aim is laid down as “ ensuring equal access to employment and equal treatment of men and women regarding employment and professional activities”, among them are “working conditions, including remuneration”.

6.

Prevention of sexual harassment at workplace and adequate response 6.1 Gender analysis of the situation Sexual harassment at workplace is one of the most tabooed topics in Georgia.
Very often the victim does not apply to the court due to having no hope for winning the case and also to avoid the stigma which often follows publicity.

26 Actually neither court practice, nor any statistical data regarding sexual harassment exist in Georgia.

The law on gender equality (Article 6) prohibits sexual harassment in workplace; however, there are no relevant implementation mechanisms in practice.
In its concluding remarks about the 4th and 5th periodic reports on Georgia, CEDAW Committee notes that the state must “strengthen the efforts in regard to the prevention and elimination of sexual harassment in workplace against women”.

According to a survey conducted within one of the studies,33 only 3% of respondents mentioned sexual harassment at workplace.

With asking more specific questions followed by the description of various situations, this indicator increased.
Consequently, it can be said that the awareness about the concept of sexual and gender harassment is very low.

Although, on the one hand, some situations are not perceived as harassment, and on the other hand, people do not consider some situations as harassment.

When asking questions which contained various examples of harassment, men were less displeased than women.

However, men often chose the answer “I cannot imagine”.
The above indicates the fact that women are more likely to be in the role of a potential victim.

Harassment is still viewed as a situation which one should cope with alone.

In a survey conducted within the scope of a study, 34 only 3% of respondents mentioned sexual harassment at workplace.

Consequently, it can be said that the awareness of the concept of sexual and gender harassment is very low.

Some situations are not perceived as harassment.


(Repetition) 6.2 Reasons causing the existing situation Georgian legislation does not interpret sexual harassment as the form of discrimination.

Gender Equality Law, which prohibits sexual harassment at workplace, does not specify effective mechanisms of implementation.
In private and public organizations, no internal policy or the obligation of elaborating appeal procedure exist in practice and neither is the employer’s responsibility defined in case of ineffective response to complaints.

Besides, there is a lack of information in the society regarding the above issue.

Public opinion often stigmatizes the victim rather than abuser, which inhibits prevention of such facts and also stops the victim from talking about it publicly and demanding the response.
According to one of the studies,35 89% of respondents stated that if they became the victims of harassment they would not tell their boss about it and 97% said they would not report to police.
6.3 Legal grounds for the prohibition of sexual harassment In the 19th recommendation of the Committee and the Convention on all Forms of Discrimination against Women, sexual harassment is defined as a form of violence and 33 Center for Social Sciences“Gender Discrimination in the Labor Market in Georgia”, 2014 34 ibid.

35 “Gender Discrimination on the Labor Market of Georgia” , http://tanastsoroba.ge/ka/explore_data?filter_variable=&row=G5_3&col= 27 discrimination against women.
The recommendation points out that equality in labor relations is considerably restricted when women fall victims to gender- based violence and sexual harassment in workplace.

The Committee defines sexual harassment as unwelcome sexual advances, among them physical contact or attempt of physical contact, requests for sexual favors no matter whether it is expressed verbally or physically.
The Committee considers that the action is discriminative, if a woman has a reasonable doubt that protesting the case will have a negative effect on her work conditions, be it getting a job or promotion and that such protest will result in creating hostile atmosphere at work.
According to European Law, sexual harassment straightforwardly contradicts equal treatment principle of men and women and represents gender-based discrimination, which is manifested not only at work but also in the process of employment, promotion and vocational trainings.

Consequently, such behavior must be prohibited by applying proportional and effective measures.

7.

Protection of maternity and paternity There are many challenges regarding proper protection of maternity and paternity at workplace.
The challenges refer to maternity leave pay, as well as job retention after maternity leave.

The issue of allowing free time during pregnancy for medical check-ups also needs to be regulated.

It is important: to regulate paternity leave; define the length of additional holidays for parents taking care of a child with disabilities; also the issue of job retention during pregnancy.
7.1 Gender analysis of the situation 7.1.a)Remuneration of maternity leave Women employed in private sector get only GEL1000 as onetime payment during maternity leave from the state budget, while the employer has no responsibility to pay out compensation for the difference between the salary for 183 calendar days and GEL 1000 onetime allowance.

Due to such regulation, the employee is compelled to return to work in the shortest possible time in order to get a salary.
Given the above, there is a high risk of violating the right to use maternity leave which frequently happens in practice.

Public servants do not have to face the above problem, since women employed in public sector get a full salary from the state budget during maternity leave.

7.1. b) The issue of job retention after maternity leave Apart from the above, Georgian Labor Code does not guarantee retention of the job for women after the expiry of maternity leave.
Women working in public sector do not face the problem since they are protected against dismissal for three years after the childbirth.

Such differentiated approach represents discrimination on grounds of employment sector.

In practice, women employed in public sector often face the dilemma – to choose between having a child and job retention.
7.1.c) Availability of free time for medical check-ups during pregnancy Free time for medical check-ups is not available for a pregnant woman employed in private sector.

The hours of absence from work due to doctor’s visits are not regarded as excusable and can be considered the violation of labor agreement.

28 7.1.d) Paternal leave In compliance with the Labor Code, men and women can enjoy equal leave for childcare.
Although the Code does not define the stages of the leave by any norm, which makes it impossible for a father to enjoy a paternal leave due to childcare, independently.

Besides, only women working in private sector are entitled to get onetime payment in the amount of GEL 1000, since the above is connected directly to childbirth.

As for public sector, in frequent cases fathers are refused to be granted the leave due to child care.
7.1.e) Extra leave of absence for the employees taking care of a person with disabilites Labor Code of Georgia does not envisage different needs for employees taking care of persons with disabilities.

It is important that “Labor Code of Georgia” and the law of Georgia on “Public Service” take into consideration employees having dependent persons in the family with special needs and establish relevant benefits for them.
Namely, an employee taking care of a child with disabilities should be given the right to enjoy additional paid leave of absence for a day each month, apart from holidays as well as have an opportunity to work flexible hours.

7.1.f) Termination of labor relations during the period of pregnancy The issue of termination of labor relations during pregnancy is problematic.
Labor Code protects pregnant women against dismissal from work; however, the law admits the possibility of termination of labor relations due to the expiry of the term of agreement.

There are frequent cases in practice when the employer refuses pregnant women to renew the agreement due to the expiry of the term, although concludes another agreement for the same position with other candidates.
7.2 Reasons causing the existing situation The reason for the above challenges is an unregulated normative framework, which does not provide sufficient guarantees for maternity rights for working women and also restricts the right to enjoy paternal leave.
7.3 Legal grounds for the protection of maternal and paternal rights Convention 183 of the International Labor Organization, Article 8 of the European Social Charter , as well as 89/391/EEC Directive of the European Union on the Safety and Health Improvement Measures for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women, define that the state should take measures for the protection of women during pregnancy, breastfeeding, maternity leave and childcare and take relevant steps.
According to Article 6 of the above-mentioned Convention, cash benefits shall be at a level which ensures that the woman can maintain herself and her child in proper conditions of health and with a suitable standard of living.

Also medical benefits shall be provided for the woman and her child in accordance with national laws and regulations.
Prohibition of dismissal from work due to pregnancy and maternity leave is the standard on termination labor relations of International Labor Organization as well as EU.

According to the EU standard, parents’ right to return upon the expiry of maternity leave to the same or equivalent job should be ensured in accordance to labor agreement and relations.
29 “Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention” #156 of International Labor Organization as well as Maternity Protection Convention #183 and recommendations specify that upon returning from maternity leave, an employee should be afforded the opportunity for enhancing qualification to be able to fully engage in labor relations and remain competitive on the labor market.

EU standard on pregnant and breastfeeding women defines the obligation of their special protection at workplace.
It is the employer’s liability to create relevant work conditions for them, including affording free time for medical check-ups or breastfeeding, adapted working environment and possibly flexible working hours.

Complying with Association Agreement Agenda, Georgian legislation should be made compatible with high standards for the protection of employed women in the period of pregnancy, breastfeeding and childcare set by EU Directives.
These are: ● 92/85/EEC Directive on Maternity Leave; ● 2010/18/EU Directive on Parental Leave; ● 2006/54/EC Directive on Equal Treatment; ● 97/81/EC Directive on Part-time Work and International Labor Organization Conventions and Recommendations: ● Maternity Protection Convention #183 (2000); ● Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention #156 (1981); ● Maternity protection Recommendation #191 (2000).
Chapter 4 Impact of proposed changes on gender equality In-depth gender analysis of proposed changes (chapter 3) allows us to assess the gender impact of each initiative, or in other words, what impact the proposed changes will have on the state of women and men, their life conditions and accessibility to resources.
As it has already been mentioned, the aim of gender impact assessment is to predetermine the particular effect, which the regulation will have on existing de facto gender equality between men and women, with maximum precision.

Consequently, the aim of this chapter is: ▪ To compare the current situation without any intervention with the one to be created in the future, on one hand; ▪ On the other hand, to measure to what extent the planned intervention can change the existing situation.
When measuring the gender impact of proposed changes, it should be noted that a number of changes envisaged by the draft bill does not allow to measure precisely due to the absence of initial quantitative data.

30 1.

Gender impact of elimination of discrimination in pre-contractual period In-depth gender analysis has shown that the facts of discrimination in pre-contractual period cover the periods of announcement of job vacancies and interviews.
The stages of job announcement and interviews are not regulated at a legislative level.

Neither are employers required to justify the refusal in giving the job to a candidate.

No studies regarding the above issue point to any noticeable the improvement of the situation over time.

Therefore, we should assume that discriminative attitudes will not improve without any legislative changes.

Application of legislative changes will considerably diminish the facts of discrimination in pre- contractual period.
Prohibition of the use of discriminative terms in vacancy advertisements will reduce the practice of discriminative announcements to the minimum.

As a result of this change the vacancy announcement will not contain such discriminative terms that would directly or indirectly put some of the candidates to any disadvantage.

This, in its turn, will increase the equal access to employment for men and women.
Regulation of the manner of conducting the interview will enable to avoid inappropriate intervention into personal life; the authority of the employer to obtain the information which only refers to the performance set in the job description will be defined.

Consequently, the legitimacy of interview questions for the given job will favor the establishment of a sound and competitive environment free from discriminative attitudes during the selection process of candidates.
The above regulation will also enhance the likelihood of employing the personnel based on their professional skills which will increase the level of professionalism of the staff.

Provided that the employer has an obligation to provide a justified reason for turning down the candidate, the employer will be made accountable to candidate, which will considerably decrease the likelihood of employer’s refusal of giving the job to a candidate on grounds of discrimination.
The proposed regulations will indirectly affect raising the awareness of candidates and employers, as well as of the society, regarding the issues discussed above.

2.

Gender impact of proposed changes on creating stable working environment Unstable working environment will reflect negatively on the protection of employees’ rights and their working conditions.

As can be seen from gender analysis, this problem is even more severe for working women.
The problems causing unstable working environment are not regulated by legislation.

There is a high likelihood that the existing situation will not change without intervention and the discretional use of fixed-term agreements as well as verbal agreements by employers will still frequently occur on the labor market.

Regulation of fixed-term agreements and obligation of conclusion of labor agreements in writing will considerably favor the creation of stable working environment.
Existence of written labor agreements is a strong guarantee for the protection of labor rights.

Consequently, legal intervention will ensure stable working environment, which will directly be reflected on working conditions of employees and the level of organization’s efficiency.

31 3.
31 3.

Gender impact of regulating working hours and their adaptation to parental responsibilities Unregulated working hours, discretional institution of overtime work responsibilities without adequate remuneration will have a negative effect on the quality and wellbeing of the employee’s life.

There is a high likelihood that the existing situation will persist without intervention.
Regulation of working hours and their adaptation to parent’s responsibility, defining overtime terms and rates, as well as the length of weekly rest will be directly reflected on the income and wellbeing of working men and women and the life and health of their family members, including children.

4.
4.

Gender impact of ensuring the right to professional development Few opportunities for women’s professional development and chances for promotion aggravate the existing vertical segregation on the labor market of Georgia even more.

There is less likelihood of changing the existing situation without legal intervention.
Defining responsibilities of employers for allowing equal participation of men and women in professional training activities will reduce the so called “glass ceiling” problem and increase the opportunities for women’s progress and promotion.

Equal promotional and professional development opportunities will also ensure the improvement of economic conditions of working women and their families and favor the establishment of gender equality in high positions.

5.
5.

Gender impact of regulating equal pay Gender analysis has shown that difference in salaries on grounds of gender is very big in Georgia and exceeds the world average indicator.

There is no clause in the legislation regulating this issue.

The studies show that the elimination of gender pay gap will take over 200 years worldwide.

Likewise, the above problem is highly unlikely to be settled in Georgia without any intervention.
The proposed regulation which ensures equal pay for women and men holding equivalent positions will be positively reflected on economic wellbeing of women and their families and favor the establishment of gender equality at workplace.

6.

Gender impact of regulating the prevention of sexual harassment at workplace and adequate response As it can be seen from gender analysis, sexual harassment at workplace is one of the deep-seated taboos in Georgia.
Legislation does not contain effective prevention and response mechanism of sexual harassment at workplace.

As well as that, public awareness about the issue is rather low.

32 The situation is very unlikely to change without legal intervention and raising public awareness.

The proposed regulation defining the employer’s responsibility to create the environment free from sexual harassment at workplace will decrease the number of such facts and raise the awareness on the issue.

7.
7.

Gender impact of regulations regarding protection of maternity and paternity at workplace The existing challenges regarding the proper protection of maternity and paternity at workplace negatively affect the health and wellbeing of mothers and children, and neither do they favor father’s equal involvement in the process of taking care of a newly- born child.

In this direction no studies have revealed positive dynamics.
Therefore, it can be assumed that the above problem will be hard to settle without intervention.

The proposed regulations concerning maternity leave pay as well as job retention after pregnancy and maternity leave, the issue of availability of free time for medical check-ups during pregnancy will definitely have a beneficial effect on the health and wellbeing of mother and child.
Regulating paternal leave will positively affect equal distribution of childcare and domestic work and will favor weakening gender stereotypes about the role of men and women in the family.

Defining the length of additional leave for parents taking care of children with disabilities will improve the state of these children.
The above changes will have a positive effect on combining professional and family responsibilities and improve the opportunities for professional development and progress of women with family responsibilities.

Chapter 5 Recommendations in labor relations on reducing the level of gender equality 1.
Recommendation on regulations of pre-contractual period To improve the environment of gender inequality during pre-contractual period it is important to implement particular changes in legislation concerning the regulation of job advertisement procedure (a), regulation of interview process (b), definition of subjective criteria (c) and justification of refusal (d).

1.a) Regulating the procedure of vacancy announcement Article 5 of Labor Code refers to pre-contractual relations.
It is advisable to add special Article 51, which will specify that the vacancy announcement shall not contain discriminative terms.

1.b) Regulating the interview process Article 5 of Labor Code, which defines exchange of information before concluding labor agreement should be worded in the manner that the employer shall be obliged to obtain information directly connected with taking decision about employing the candidate and with no other information that does not refer to work performance.
33 1.c) Regulating defining subjective criteria during selection of candidates Clause 3 of Article 2 of the Labor Code prohibits discrimination in pre-contractual relations.

The following should be added to this part: prohibition on grounds of gender identity, health state, appearance, pregnancy and maternity.
1.d) Justifying the decision on refusing to employ the candidate Clause 8 of Article 5 under current edition of Labor Code specifies that the employer shall not be obliged to justify the decision on refusing to employ the candidate.

The above clause should be modified as follows: in case of allegiance of discrimination in pre- contractual relations, an employer shall be obliged to present the list of important reasons, on which basis the candidate is given the advantage.
Consequently, in clause 5 of Article 8 it should be specified that upon request, an employer should justify the decision on refusing to employ a candidate.

2.

Recommendations on ensuring stable working environment To ensure stable working environment it is important to fully define the grounds for concluding fixed-term agreement (1), and to have an obligation of concluding labor agreement in writing (2).
2.a) Specifying grounds for fixed-term agreement Clause 12 (e) of Article 6 of the Labor Code should be annulled, since it is very vague and gives the employer a discretional right to conclude fixed-term agreement.

2.b) Conclusion of labor agreements in writing Clause 11 (e) of Article 6 of the Labor Code should specify that the agreement shall be concluded in writing if labor relations last for more than 2 months.

3.
3.

Recommendations on regulating duration of working time and adapting it to parental responsibilities Regarding regulation of working hours and adapting it to parental responsibilities, the following changes should be made to the Labod Code: 3.a) Duration of working time Part 1 of Article 14 of the Labor Code should specify duration of working time which in total should not exceed 40 hours a week and 8 hours a day.
While the duration of working time including overtime work, it should not exceed 48 hours a week.

3.b) The duration of daily rest In the regulation of working time and duration of daily rest, it is necessary to take European Union Standard36 into consideration, according to which, every worker is entitled to a minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours.

3.c) Duration of weekly rest Duration of weekly rest should be determined.
Consequently, part 11 should be added to Article 14 with the following wording: “ Weekly rest days are: Saturday and Sunday, if not otherwise specified in individual labor agreement”.

When detrmining rest days in the individual labor 36 EU Directive 93/104/EC 34 agreement, it is necessary to take EU standard into consideration, according to which an employer is obliged to entitle every worker to a minimum uniterrupted rest period of 24 hours weekly.
3.d) Extra pay for a night job The extra pay for working at night should be determined as 50% of the salary.
Consequently, Article 17 should be changed as follows: “An employee shall be obliged to perform overtime work: a) for preventing natural disasters and/or eliminating their consequences with adequate compensation as prescribed by clauses 4 and 5 of Article 17; b) for preventing industrial accidents and/or eliminating their consequences – with adequate compensation as prescribed by clauses 4 and 5 of Article 17 3.e) Obligation of regulating overtime work in view of maternity protection Employing persons with disabilities, minors, pregnant women, women having recently given birth, as well as employees whose child is up to three years old or has a dependent person with disabilities to work overtime without their consent shall be prohibited.
Consequently, clause 6 of Article 17 should be worded as follows: „ Employing persons with disabilities, minors, pregnant women, women having recently given birth, as well as employees whose child is up to three years old or has a dependent person with disabilities to work overtime without their consent shall be prohibited.

“ 4.
“ 4.

Recommendations on ensuring professional development To ensure professional development and overcome vertical segregation, an employer is obliged to support the empoyees’ qualification training and participation in trainings providing equal opportunities for men and women and by complying with principle of equality.
For this purpose Article 12 (1) should be added to the Labor Code under the following wording: ● An employer shall be obliged to support employees’ qualification training and participation in trainings, if such take place.

● The decision on employee’s participation in triainings or any other professional development course based on the selection according to signs listed in clause 3 of Article 2 of this Code, shall be prohibited and considered discrimination.
● An employee has the right to apply to the organization or directly to the employer if s/he considers that prohibition envisaged by clause 2 is not complied and within 10 working days demand employer’s justification for the decision in writing containing information about education, qualification, working skills and other circumstances around the selected employee, serving the grounds for being privileged.

5.
5.

Recommendations on regulating equal remunaration It is important to make changes in the Labor Code regarding regulating equal remuneration.
For this purpose part 7 should be added to Article 2 of the Labor Code of Georgia with the following wording: „An employee has the right to equal remuneration for work of equal value, which in its turn means particular salary or any other remuneration, which the employer pays directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind.” Besides, for effective implementation of this norm, it is important to determine specific methodology, which will enable to define the criteria for equal pay and equal remuneration.
All components of the remuneration package should be taken into consideration, including the base 35 salary, bonus, salary supplements and recurring payments.

6.

Recommendations on the prevention of sexual harassment at workplace and adequate response It is important that Labor Code regulates the issue of proibition of sexual harassment at workplace, which shall oblige the employer to provide harassment-free workplace.
For this purpose, Article 351 should be added to the Labor Code with the folowing wording: ● „An employer shall be obliged to provide equal and safe workplace free from discrimination, including harassment and sexual harassment.

● Sexual harasment shall be considered any kind of unwelcome sexual advances and other verbal or physical harassment of sexual nature, aimed at or causing humiliation of a person’s dignity or creating derogatory, hostile or offensive environment.
● An employer shall be obliged to protect the employee against negative impact who is an alleged victim of sexual harassment, also an employee who stood up against harassment and sexual harassment.

● An employer shall be obliged to efficiently respond to discriminative conduct, ensure its prevention nd elimination.

● Compliance with the 1st clause of this Article shall be supervised by the State Labor Inspection Department, within the authority vested by the law.” 7.
Recommendations on the protection of moternity and paternity at workplace 7.a) Remuneration of maternity leave Legislation should regulate the issue of compensation of the paid leave due to pregnancy, childbirth and childcare.

It is essential to determine the concrete scheme of compensation for private sector.
7.b)The issue of job retention after maternity leave Sub-clause “n” of clause 1 of Article 37 of the Labor Code should be worded as follows: “ Circumstances excluding termination of labor agreement shall be considered the concrete period after returning from the leave due to childbirth which shall equal to 1 year.” Clause “f” should be added to clause 3 of Article 37 of the Labor Code (inadmissibility of termination of labor contract) to be worded as follows: “granting additional leave during the following 1 year due to pregnancy, childbirth and childcare, as well as adoption and care, except for grounds prescribed for under clauses “b”, “e”, “g”, ”h” , “j”, “l” .” As well as that, part two should be added to Article 29 of the Labor Code under the following wording: “An employer shall take all measures (trainings, professional development courses) with the purpose of enhancing qualification for the women who return to work due to pregnancy, childbirth and childcare leave to enable them to be involved in these activities and remain competitive on labor market after a temporary absence, caused by family responsibilities.” 7.c) Free time for medical check-ups during pregnancy and workplace adapted to health needs of employees The following provisions should be added to Article 26 of the Labor Code: ● Absence from work due to medical investigations of an employee shall be considered legally excusable in case of presenting documentation confirming the above and the salary shall be retained.
The same shall apply to pregnant women.

● If an employee’s health state on the grounds of medical conclusion does not provide any 36 possibility to continue working in the same position, the employee shall have the right to demand transfer to another position within the same organization or another similar state structure to hold the position relevant for the health state of the empoyee.

The employee shall be given the pay relevant to the new position, if it exceeds the amount of the previous salary.
If the salary in new position is lower than the previous one, the old salary shall be retained; ● If there is no possibility to transfer a pregnant woman during the pregnancy period to a lighter job under easier conditions taking into considration the period of time indicated in medical conclusion, the employee shall be released from performing the duties and responsibilities, with retention of the salary but no longer than for three months, which will not be considered as temporary disability as is prescribed in clause “i” of Article 36 of the Labor Code; ● Upon submitting her application, a woman shall be entitled to yearly paid leave due to pregnancy or childbirth in the same enterprise, organization, whether or not 11 months have elapsed from the date of her employment.” 7.d) Paternal leave The law should define new terms such as maternity leave, paternity leave, and parental leave.
After that the types of leaves need to be differntiated, which will clarify that both parents are entitled to the right to take a leave.

7.e) Additional leave for employees taking care of persons with disabilities Labor Code of Georgia and the Law on Public Service should establish benefits for parents and persons responsible for taking care of persons with disabilities concerning holidays, additional rest days, overtime, and night work.
Consequently, the changes should be made to part 2 of Article 17 of the Labor Code with the following wording: “Women during pregnancy and after childbirth, or women supporting persons with disabilities or a child with disabilities, minors, shall not be employed to work overtime without their consent.” Also Article 19 (1) should be added to the Labor Code, which will define additional break for a parent or guardian/trustee taking care of a child with disabilities to be worded as follows: ● Parents or a guardian/trustee (bread-winner) or a supporter taking care of a child with disabilities have the right to require additional paid rest per month, apart from rest days and work flexible hours on the agreement of the administration ● Leave of absence due to the need of medical examination or other similar procedures for persons with disabilities for parents or guardians/trustees or supporters taking care of persons with disabilities shall be deemed payable.
The above has to be confirmed by medical certificate or other documentary evidence.

The missed working hours shall not exceed 1/8th of the employee’s working hours during one month.
● Additional break due to the need of medical examination of a person with disabilities taken by Parents or guardians/trustees or supporters taking care of persons with disabilities shall be deemed working time and shall be paid.” 7.f) Termination of labor relations during pregnancy period Provisions laid down in the Labor Code of Georgia where they specify that expiry of an agreement term may cause the termination of the labor relations for pregnant women and women being on a maternity leave, should be removed from the Labor Code.
37 38 Annex 1- Table of recommendations Recommendations Recommendations on regulating pre-contractual period Regulation of job vacancy announcements It is advisable to add special Article 51, which will specify that the vacancy announcement compiled by an employer shall not contain discriminative terms.
Regulating the procedure of the job interview Article 5 of the Labor Code should be worded so that an employer shall be entitled to obtain information only directly connected with taking decision about employing the candidate and no other information that does not refer to work performance.
Regulation on defining subjective criteria during selection of candidates Prohibition of discrimination should be added to Article 2 of the Labor Code on grounds of gender identity, health state, appearance, pregnancy, and maternity.
Justifying the decision on refusing to employ the candidate Clause 8 of Article 5 under current edition of Labor Code should be modified as follows: in case of allegiance of discrimination in pre-contractual relations, an employer shall be obliged to present the explanation of important reasons, due to which the selected candidate is given the essential advantage.
Recommendations on ensuring stable working environment Specifying grounds for fixed-term agreement Clause 12 (e) of Article 6 of the Labor Code should be annulled.

Conclusion of labor agreements in writing Clause 11 (e) of Article 6 of the Labor Code should specify that the agreement shall be concluded in writing if labor relations last for more than 2 months.
Recommendations on regulating working hours and adapting them to parental responsibilities Duration of working time Part 1 of Article 14 of the Labor Code should specify duration of working time which in total should not exceed 40 hours a week and 8 hours a day and the duration of working time including overtime work should not exceed 48 hours a week.
39 Duration of daily rest Regulation on working time and duration of daily rest should take into consideration European Union Standard, according to which every worker is entitled to a minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours.

Duration of weekly rest Duration of weekly rest needs to be determined.

Consequently, part 11 should be added to Article 14 with the following wording: “Weekly rest days are: Saturday and Sunday, if not otherwise specified in individual labor agreement”.
When detrmining rest days in the individual labor agreement, it is necessary to take EU standard into consideration, according to which an employer is obliged to entitle every worker to a minimum uniterrupted rest period of 24 hours weekly.

Extra pay for a night job The extra pay for working at night should be determined in the amount of 50% of the salary.
Consequently, Article 17 should be changed as follows: “An employee shall be obliged to perform overtime work: a) for preventing natural disasters and/or eliminating their consequences with adequate compensation as prescribed by clauses 4 and 5 of Article 17; b) for preventing industrial accidents and/or eliminating their consequences – with adequate compensation as prescribed by clauses 4 and 5 of Article 17.” Regulating the obligation of overtime work in view of protection of maternity It shall be prohibited to employ persons with disabilities, minors, pregnant women, women having recently given birth, as well as employees whose child is up to three years old, or the one who has a dependent person with disabilities, to work overtime without their consent.
Consequently, clause 6 of Article 17 should be worded as follows: „ Employing persons with disabilities, minors, pregnant women, women having recently given birth, as well as employees whose child is up to three years old or has a dependent person with disabilities to work overtime without their consent shall be prohibited.
“ Recommendations on the provision of professional development For this purpose Article 12 (1) should be added to the Labor Code under the following wording: An employer shall be obliged to support employees’ qualification training and participation in trainings, if such.
The decision on employee’s participation in triainings or any other professional development course which is based on the selection according to signs listed in clause 3 of Article 2 of this Code shall be prohibited and considered discrimination.
An employee has the right to apply to the organization or directly to the employer if s/he considers that prohibition envisaged by clause 2 is not complied and within 10 working days demand employer’s justification for the decision in writing containing information about education, qualification, working skills and other circumstances around the selected employee, serving the grounds for being privileged.
Recommendations on regulating equal remunaration Part 7 should be added to Article 2 of the Labor Code of Georgia with the following wording: „An employee has the right to equal remuneration for work of equal value, which in its turn means particular salary or any other remuneration, which the employer pays directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind.” 40 Recommendations on the prevention of sexual harassment at workplace and adequate response Article 351 should be added to the Labor Code with the folowing wording: „An employer shall be obliged to provide equal and safe workplace free from discrimination, including harassment and sexual harassment.
Sexual harasment shall be considered any kind of unwelcome sexual advances and other verbal or physical harassment of sexual nature, aimed at or causing humiliation of a person’s dignity or creating derogatory, hostile or offensive environment.

An employer shall be obliged to protect the employee against negative impact, who is an alleged victim of sexual harassment, also an employee who stood up against harassment and sexual harassment.
An employer shall be obliged to efficiently respond to discriminative conduct, ensure its prevention and elimination.

Compliance with clause 1 of this Article shall be supervised by the State Labor Inspection Department, within the authority vested by the law.” Recommendations on the protection of maternity and paternity at workplace Remuneration of maternity leave Legislation should regulate the issue of compensation of the paid leave due to pregnancy, childbirth and childcare.
It is essential to determine the concrete scheme of compensation for private sector.

Free time for medical check-ups during pregnancy and workplace adapted to health needs of employees The following provisions should be added to Article 26 of the Labor Code: Absence from work due to medical investigations of an employee shall be considered legally excusable in case of presenting documentation confirming the above and the salary shall be retained.

The same shall apply to pregnant women.


If an employee’s health state does not provide any possibility to continue working in the same position on the grounds of medical conclusion, the employee shall have the right to demand transfer to another position within the same organization or another similar state structure to hold the position relevant for the health state of the empoyee.

The employee shall be given the pay relevant to the new position, if it exceeds the amount of the previous salary.
If the salary in new position is lower than the previous one, the old salary shall be retained; If there is no possibility to transfer a pregnant woman during the pregnancy period to a lighter job under easier conditions taking into considration the term indicted in medical conclusion, the employee shall be released from performing the duties and responsibilities, with retention of the salary but no longer than for three months, which will not be considered as temporary disability as is prescribed in clause “i” of Article 36 of the Labor Code; Upon submitting her application, a woman shall be entitled to yearly paid leave due to pregnancy or childbirth in the same enterprise, organization whether or not 11 months have elapsed from the day of her employment.” Paternal leave The law should define new terms such as maternity leave, paternity leave and parental leave.
After that the types of leaves need to be differntiated which will clarify that both parents are entitled to the right to take a leave.
41 Additional leave for employees taking care of persons with disabilities Changes should be made to part 2 of Article 17 of the Labor Code with the following wording: “Women during pregnancy and after childbirth, or women supporting persons with disabilities or a child with disabilities, minors, shall not be employed to work overtime without their consent.” Also Article 19 (1) should be added to the Labor Code, which will define additional break for a parent or guardian/trustee taking care of a child with disabilities with the following wording: Parents or a guardian/trustee (bread-winner) or a supporter taking care of a child with disabilities have the right to require additional paid rest per month, apart from rest days and work flexible hours on the agreement of the administration Leave of absence for parents or guardians/trustees or supporters taking care of persons with disabilities shall be deemed payable if the leave is taken due to the need of medical examination or other similar procedures for persons with disabilities.
The above has to be confirmed by medical certificate or other documentary evidence.

The missed working hours shall not exceed 1/8th of the employee’s working hours during one month.
Additional break taken by parents or guardians/trustees or supporters taking care of persons with disabilities due to the need of medical examination of a person with disabilities shall be deemed working time and shall be paid.” Bibliography  National Normative Framework  Constitution of Georgia  Labor Code of Georgia, 2010;  Law of Georgia on Gender Equality, 2010;  Law of Georgia on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination, 2014;  Provision on Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia;  Provision of Inter-agency Commission on Gender equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence;  Provision of Public Defender’s Office;  Resolution N2/7/219 of 2003 of the Constitutional Court of Georga.
---------------------------------  Convention on the Elimination on all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Committee recommendations for Georgia; Sustainable Development Goals, UN 2030   EU-Georgia Association Agreement Agenda for 2017-2020  European Social Charter 42 --------------------------------- International Labor Organization Conventions and Recommendations  Convention#100 Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value  Convention #142 Human Resources Development;  Convention #156 on Workers with family responsibilities and its accompanying Convention #166 ;  Convention #183 on Maternity Protection;  International Labor Organization Recommendations for Georgia.
--------------------------------- EU Directives         76/207/EEC 92/85/EEC 97/81/EC 99/70/EC 2002/73/EC 2003/88/EC 2006/54/EC 2010/18/EU Studies, manuals ILO, “Equal pay, an introductory guide”, 2013; ILO, General Survey, 2012; ILO, “Nothing more permanent than temporary?
Understanding fixed-term contracts”, 2015; UN Women, Gender Mainstreaming – Concepts and definitions; Concepts and Definitions by European Institute for Gender Equality; UN Women, Important concepts underlying gender mainstreaming; European Institute for Gender Equality Gender Impact Assessment, gender mainstreaming toolkit, 2017; European Commission, Manual for Gender Mainstreaming, employment social inclusion and social protection policies, 2008; UNDP, Scrutinizing legislation from a gender perspective; NCPE, Gender mainstreaming in practice, step by step guide for gender impact assessment, 2010; UN, Revised list of global sustainable development goal indicators; Oxfam, Conceptual framework on women’s economic empowerment, 2017; International Labor Organization „Gender in Kabor Policy – Guidelines”, 2009; Global Geder Gap Report 2016; Women’s Economic Opportunity Index Report 2012 Article 42 of the Constitution „Gender Discrimination in Labor Relations”, 2014; 43 Center for Social Sciences, ,,Gender Discrimination in Georgian Labor Markt”, 2014; Millenium Challenge Fund – Georgia , “Social and Gender Integration Plan”, 2014; Publication of National Statistics Office of Georgia „Women and Men in Georgia”, 2017; The UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel Report on Women's Economic Empowerment , 2016; Wisconsin-Madison University Public Administration School, “Indicators of Women’s Development in Developing Countries”, 2013 44