Convention
concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation
(Note: Date of coming into force: 15:06:1960.)
The General Conference of the
International Labour Organisation,
Having been convened at Geneva by the
Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its
Forty-second Session on 4 June 1958, and
Having decided upon the adoption of
certain proposals with regard to discrimination in the field of employment and
occupation, which is the fourth item on the agenda of the session, and
Having determined that these proposals
shall take the form of an international Convention, and
Considering that the Declaration of
Philadelphia affirms that all human beings, irrespective of race, creed or sex,
have the right to pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual
development in conditions of freedom and dignity, of economic security and
equal opportunity, and
Considering further that discrimination
constitutes a violation of rights enunciated by the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights,
adopts the twenty-fifth day of June of
the year one thousand nine hundred and fifty-eight, the following Convention,
which may be cited as the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation)
Convention, 1958:
Article 1
1. For the purpose of this Convention
the term discrimination includes-- (a) any distinction, exclusion or
preference made on the basis of race, colour sex, religion, political opinion,
national extraction or social origin, which has the effect of nullifying or
impairing equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation;
(b) such other distinction, exclusion
or preference which has the effect of nullifying or impairing equality of
opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation as may be determined by
the Member concerned after consultation with representative employers' and
workers' organisations, where such exist, and with other appropriate bodies.
2. Any distinction, exclusion or preference
in respect of a particular job based on the inherent requirements thereof shall
not be deemed to be discrimination.
3. For the purpose of this Convention
the terms employment and [ occupation include access to vocational
training, access to employment and to particular occupations, and terms and
conditions of employment.
Article 2
Each Member for which this Convention
is in force undertakes to declare and pursue a national policy designed to
promote, by methods appropriate to national conditions and practice, equality
of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation, with a
view to eliminating any discrimination in respect thereof.
Article 3
Each Member for which this Convention
is in force undertakes, by methods appropriate to national conditions and
practice--
(a) to seek the co-operation of
employers' and workers' organisations and other appropriate bodies in promoting
the acceptance and observance of this policy;
(b) to enact such legislation and to
promote such educational programmes as may be calculated to secure the
acceptance and observance of the policy;
(c) to repeal any statutory provisions
and modify any administrative instructions or practices which are inconsistent
with the policy;
(d) to pursue the policy in respect of
employment under the direct control of a national authority;
(e) to ensure observance of the policy
in the activities of vocational guidance, vocational training and placement
services under the direction of a national authority;
(f) to indicate in its annual reports
on the application of the Convention the action taken in pursuance of the
policy and the results secured by such action.
Article 4
Any measures affecting an individual
who is justifiably suspected of, or engaged in, activities prejudicial to the
security of the State shall not be deemed to be discrimination, provided that
the individual concerned shall have the right to appeal to a competent body
established in accordance with national practice.
Article 5
1. Special measures of protection or
assistance provided for in other Conventions or Recommendations adopted by the
International Labour Conference shall not be deemed to be discrimination.
2. Any Member may, after consultation
with representative employers' and workers' organisations, where such exist,
determine that other special measures designed to meet the particular
requirements of persons who, for reasons such as sex, age, disablement, family
responsibilities or social or cultural status, are generally recognised to require
special protection or assistance, shall not be deemed to be discrimination.
Article 6
Each Member which ratifies this
Convention undertakes to apply it to non-metropolitan territories in accordance
with the provisions of the Constitution of the International Labour
Organisation.
Article 7
The formal ratifications of this
Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General of the International
Labour Office for registration.
Article 8
1. This Convention shall be binding
only upon those Members of the International Labour Organisation whose
ratifications have been registered with the Director-General.
2. It shall come into force twelve
months after the date on which the ratifications of two Members have been
registered with the Director-General.
3. Thereafter, this Convention shall
come into force for any Member twelve months after the date on which its
ratifications has been registered.
Article 9
1. A Member which has ratified this
Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years from the date on
which the Convention first comes into force, by an Act communicated to the
Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration. Such
denunciation should not take effect until one year after the date on which it
is registered.
2. Each Member which has ratified this
Convention and which does not, within the year following the expiration of the
period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right of
denunciation provided for in this Article, will be bound for another period of
ten years and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of
each period of ten years under the terms provided for in this Article.
Article 10
1. The Director-General of the
International Labour Office shall notify all Members of the International
Labour Organisation of the registration of all ratifications and denunciations
communicated to him by the Members of the Organisation.
2. When notifying the Members of the
Organisation of the registration of the second ratification communicated to
him, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of the
Organisation to the date upon which the Convention will come into force.
Article 11
The Director-General of the
International Labour Office shall communicate to the Secretary-General of the
United Nations for registration in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter
of the United Nations full particulars of all ratifications and acts of
denunciation registered by him in accordance with the provisions of the
preceding Articles.
Article 12
At such times as may consider necessary
the Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall present to the
General Conference a report on the working of this Convention and shall examine
the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its
revision in whole or in part.
Article 13
1. Should the Conference adopt a new
Convention revising this Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new
Convention otherwise provides:
a) the ratification by a Member of the
new revising Convention shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of
this Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 9 above, if and when
the new revising Convention shall have come into force;
b) as from the date when the new
revising Convention comes into force this Convention shall cease to be open to
ratification by the Members.
2. This Convention shall in any case
remain in force in its actual form and content for those Members which have
ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.
Article 14
The English and French versions of the
text of this Convention are equally authoritative.