New PLC amendments ‘a step forward’ for women’s workplace protections

AMMAN — Women activists and economists praised recent Parliamentary amendments for their envisioned role in safeguarding the well-being of female workers.  

The Parliamentary Labour Committee (PLC) recently created the amendments, which aim to protect the rights of labourers. Some laws also pertain to equality and safety in the workplace, according to the head of the PLC, MP Tamam Riyati.

The amendments include a draft law related to providing a safe work environment for women, imposing strict workplace protection laws and regulating foreign labour, Riyati told The Jordan Times.

The amendments eliminate articles that imposed certain restrictions on women’s labour force participation, she added.

Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) Secretary-General Maha Ali praised the recent additions to the draft Labour Law.

The amendments will work to safeguard the working environment for both male and female labourers,” Ali told The Jordan Times.

This, Ali maintained, comes in line with the JNCW’s demands and strategy for the next 10 years, which aims to increase women’s participation in the labour market while ensuring a friendly working environment and equal opportunities for all. 

Meanwhile, founder and director of Phenix Centre for Economics & Informatics Studies Ahmad Awad said the amendments were positive, and “a step forward”.

However, he was quick to add that further amendments are needed, like introducing definitions to certain work violations “to be in line with the international definitions”.

According to Awad, this process entails including “co-workers alongside employers, as well as deterrent penalties against the perpetrators who violate work codes and ethics”.

It also requires comprehensive amendments to the Labour Law to enhance social protections for workers and to take into account basic rights in the workplace, Awad told The Jordan Times.

According to Gender Technical Specialist of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Regional Office for Arab States Reem Aslan, amending the labour law is considered an important step since the Ministry of Labour has adopted a violence and harassment prevention policy and a code of conduct.

Aslan explained that in June 2019, the Centenary Conference of the ILO, the Violence and Harassment Convention (No. 190) and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 206) were adopted, which call for the prohibition and prevention of violence and harassment in the world of work.

This convention is considered the first international treaty to recognise the right of everyone to a workplace free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment, Aslan told The Jordan Times.

“Thus far, 25 countries ratified the convention, and if Jordan goes ahead with its ratification as planned, it will be the first Arab state that ratifies and confirms the right of all workers to a world of work free from violence and harassment,” according to Aslan.

Since the adoption of the convention, the ILO in Jordan and its constituents (governments, employers and workers’ organisations), stakeholders and civil society actors have embarked on campaigns to build support for its ratification and implementation, Aslan added.

Aslan also stated that for the ILO to help legislators including the Parliamentary Labour and Development Committees (Lower House and Upper House) align national legislation with C190, the ILO commissioned a legal gap analysis that presented tangible recommendations, including introducing new terminology that “does not only focus on sexual harassment, but rather expands to include violence and harassment”.

It also emphasised the importance of introducing the world of work terminology and not limiting it to the workplace, Aslan stressed. 

“These terminologies were discussed at length with national partners in a number of meetings and conferences,” Aslan stated.