The Commission on the Right to Work of the National Assembly approved a non-binding report on the ten objections raised by the Executive to the organic bill on equal pay for women and men, to be considered in plenary session on Thursday, January 4, 2024, scheduled is 9:00 a.m.
The project aims to eliminate discriminatory practices in the workplace in order to eliminate the gender pay and compensation gap when performing work activities in accordance with their employment relationship.
These are the key points of the law on equal pay between women and men, which the National Assembly passed this week
The President of the Republic, Daniel Noboa, raised ten objections to the bill, some because of its form, others because of its precision regarding its scope.
The report recommends that the plenary session agree to two articles observed by the executive; The first related to the application and the second to the purpose of the law provided for in Articles 2 and 3 of the project.
As for the other objections, in order to preserve the normative spirit, it is recommended that eight presidential observations be confirmed, relating to fourteen articles.
Before approving the report, the Legislative Board welcomed Patricia Calero Terán, representative of UN Women, and Karina Ponce Silva of the Association of Women for Gender Equality and Autonomy in a general committee. MP Dallyanna Passailaigue (PSC) also took part in the debate.
Passailaigue explained that this law will provide concrete solutions for fair treatment of their work; Therefore, the Assembly should ratify eight objections and agree to two that would defend the work done by the Commission and the National Assembly to find answers to social problems in the case of women, she said.
The representative of Guayas emphasized that when the bill was drafted, together with legislator Marcela Holguín (RC), special attention was paid to ensuring that this legal instrument applies to both the private and public sectors, which is why it is appropriate to include this in Ratifying the wording guarantees it. In addition, he pointed out that there is judgment 3-19-JP/20 of the Constitutional Court on this aspect.
María Teresa Pasquel (before Construye) made the request for approval of objections 1 and 2 regarding articles 2 and 3 of the contested project; and the ratification in objections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. The rapporteur of this project will be the legislator Marcela Holguín (RC). The proposal was unanimously supported by the commission.
Patricia Calero of UN Women explained that there is no formal discrimination against women in terms of salary in Ecuador, but the reality is different in practice.
Figures were shown as of November 2023, when the unemployment rate for men was 97.3% and for women 95.4%.
The adequate employment rate was 40.8% for men and 28.7% for women; while the underemployment rate for men was 23.1% and for women 18.1%; The average earned income for a working man was $457.4 for men versus $405.6 for women.
According to Calero, these data show the existence of discrimination against women and respond to structural factors, i.e. social and cultural ideas and practices regarding the sexual division of labor and gender roles.
For this reason, he said that it is necessary to take special measures to achieve a change in these forms of discrimination and suggested that this law, which is being constructed, should provide mechanisms with effective tools for both the public and private sectors should ensure and also carry out follow-up measures.
Karina Ponce Silva from the Association of Women for Gender Equality and Autonomy suggested that the table agrees with objections 2 and 3 as well as the first transitional provision and that in the rest of the project the plenary session is ratified in the form originally approved, because the law must be applied ensure both public and private sectors. (JO)