Gov’t officials, activists hold dialogue on women’s employment restrictions

AMMAN — Government officials and members of civil society met on Tuesday to discuss a ministerial decision in 2010 that restricted women’s working hours at night and their enrolment in certain professions 

The workshop, titled “Restricted Jobs and Working Hours for Women”, reviewed the pros and cons of abolishing restrictions on women’s jobs and working hours. The law currently prohibits women from working in sectors such as mining, excludes pregnant and nursing women from certain jobs where they might be exposed to toxins and prohibits women from working after 10pm at night, with exceptions to specific sectors. 

Labour Minister Samir Murad attended the meeting in Amman, which was organised by the Ministry of Labour, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Jordanian National Commission for Women, the National Committee for Pay Equity and the Women Partners for Progress (WPP).

International conventions, best practices and possible amendments around issues of women in the labour market were presented by Frida Khan of the ILO, to ensure that the review was in line with international labour standards.

The meeting aimed at creating social dialogue with stakeholders including legislators, civil society organisations, unions, governmental entities, employers and others, to allow women to have the choice to work in the professions and hours of their choosing, while at the same time ensuring that proper measures are taken to protect pregnant and lactating women from hazardous work environments, said Reem Aslan, the ILO’s gender adviser.

Aslan added that, at the moment, there is a ministerial decision that limits possible professions and working hours for women, but at the end of the workshop several recommendations were made.

The recommendations included removing all restrictions on women’s employment and working hours, ensuring women are protected at certain jobs and while working at night during pregnancy, after childbirth, nursing, and for agreed periods of time after maternity leave ends and is thought necessary for the health of the mother and child.

Earlier in the day, Secretary General at the Ministry of Labour Ziad Obeidat pointed out that women’s participation in the labour market stands at around 14 per cent.

“Increasing women’s participation in the labour market continues to be a big challenge for us, but we are working on amending laws and legislation that will hopefully increase women’s economic participation,” Obeidat told the gathering.

ILO Country Coordinator in Jordan Patrick Daru said that Jordan is establishing itself as a leader in promoting gender equality in the region.

In 2018, Daru told the gathering, Jordan reaffirmed its commitment to end gender pay discrimination at the Equal Pay International Coalition held during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“Jordan... pledged to ensure the digital payment of salaries for employees in different sectors in Jordan where women’s employment is high and the gender pay gap remains wide,” Daru said.

Digital payment mechanisms ensure transparency and openness in how women and men are remunerated, and help prevent common practices, such as reducing the number of women that are not receiving minimum wage, the ILO official added.

Daru maintained that Jordan’s work is “by no means complete”.

“We are hopeful that we can continue strengthening gender equality in laws [by], for instance, looking at measures to prevent violence and harassment in the world of work, increasing the maternity leave period and allowing women to choose their jobs and working hours freely with no restrictions,” Daru said.

Mayyada Abu Jabber, founder of the WPP coalition stressed that clauses in Labour Law Article 69, “deprive women from their freedom of choice when it comes to choosing their careers”.