98/370/EC: Commission Recommendation of 27 May 1998 on the ratification of ILO Convention No 177 on home work of 20 June 1996 (notified under document number C(1998) 764)
Date: 1998-05-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EC recommendation, EU Member State, European Commission, International Labour Organisation, home working, international convention

L 165/32

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EN

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Official Journal of the European Communities

10. 6. 98

COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION

of 27 May 1998

on the ratification of ILO Convention No 177 on home work of 20 June 1996

(notified under document number C(1998) 764)

(98/370/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
the second indent of
Community, and in particular
Article 155 thereof,

Whereas ILO Convention No 177 on home work of 20
June 1996, as
supplemented by a recommendation
adopted on the same day, provides a framework for
protecting homeworkers;

Whereas that Convention requires countries which ratify
it to adopt, implement and periodically review a national
policy on home work aiming at improving the situation
of homeworkers;

Whereas the Convention also expressly states that the
national policy on home work should promote, as far as
possible, equality of treatment;

Whereas the aims pursued by the Convention meet the
objectives of the Commission as expressed in its me-
dium-term social action programme (1995 to 1997);

Whereas the aims pursued by the Convention help to
promote the objective of striking a balance between flex-
ibility of the labour market and security of the employees;

Whereas the second indent of
the first paragraph of
Article 118 of the Treaty gives the Commission the task
of promoting close cooperation between Member States in
the social field, particularly in matters relating to labour
law and working conditions;

Whereas the Community Charter of the Fundamental
Social Rights of Workers states (point 10) that ‘Every
worker of the European Community shall have a right to
adequate social protection and shall, whatever his status
and whatever the size of the undertaking in which he is

employed enjoy an adequate level of social security bene-
fits’;

Whereas 6,9 million people in the Community usually
perform their work at home, which at Community level is
equivalent to 4,9 % of the working population;

Whereas the particular vulnerability of homeworkers and
the need to provide them with appropriate protection are
acknowledged;

Whereas the nature of home work is evolving rapidly with
the introduction of new information technologies, making
the need for appropriate protection even more necessary;

Whereas most homeworkers are women; whereas they
choose homeworking as a way to combine earning a wage
needed for the household with taking care of dependants,
most commonly young children; whereas this choice
made by women is often a result of external factors such
as limited job opportunities or lack of childcare or other
supporting facilities,

HEREBY RECOMMENDS:

— that Member States which have not yet done so ratify
the ILO home work Convention, adopted on 20 June
1996,

— that Member States inform the Commission, within a
period of 18 months from publication of this recom-
mendation, of the steps taken pursuant to it.

Done at Brussels, 27 May 1998.

For the Commission

P ´adraig FLYNN

Member of the Commission