Moterų lygių galimybių užtikrinimas darbo santykiuose Baltijos valstybėse

• Lietuvos socialinių mokslų centro Teisės institutas: knygos tekstas

LTŠi studija yra orientuota į moterų lygių galimybių darbo teisiniuose santykiuose užtikrinimą trijose Baltijos valstybėse: Lietuvoje, Latvijoje ir Estijoje. Moterų ir vyrų lygių galimybių darbo santykiuose tema gali atrodyti nuvalkiota ir perteklinė. Juk galima nurodyti nemažą skaičių tarptautinių, Europos Sąjungos, galiausiai nacionalinių teisės aktų, įtvirtinančių lyčių lygybės reikalavimą, kuris, inter alia, apima ir darbinę sferą. Kaip dėsningus pavyzdžius galima paminėti lyčių lygybės principo įtvirtinimą ES chartijos 23 straipsnyje1 bei kitose direktyvose2 , taip pat nacionalinėse konstituci jose (Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucijos 29 straipsnyje3 , Latvijos Respublikos Kons titucijos 91 straipsnyje4 ir Estijos Respublikos Konstitucijos 12 straipsnyje5 ) ir kituose (ordinariniuose) įstatymuose (pvz., Lietuvos Respublikos moterų ir vyrų lygių galimybių įstatyme, Estijos Respublikos lyčių lygybės įstatyme). [...] [Iš Įvado].

ENThis study examines the problems of equal opportunities for women in the labour markets of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Despite the formal declaration of equality in international, European Union and national legislations, the position of women in the labour market remains worse than that of men. Although women have actively participated in the labour market in recent decades, at the same time, they still have a more significant share of household and family care responsibilities. Such work of women usually remains in the shadow zone as it is not included in any economic indicators of the states and is not reflected in their income. In addition, very often, the performance of the care function is incompatible with a career and prevents both the full realization of a woman in working relationships and the creation of a financial basis. Statistical data show that this problem is common in all three Baltic countries. It is aggravated even more by the ageing of the society, which is felt especially acutely in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In addition, older women face the specific problem of double discrimination. Such a situation only deepens the unequal position of women in labour relations. The worse position of women in the labour market is also evidenced by the large wage gap between men and women, which in the case of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia looks highly controversial in the context of high female employment. The unequal position of women is determined by social factors that affect women’s entire lives - stereotyping, discrimination, educational profiling, employment segregation, caregiving and non-standard employment. Part of these factors can be answered by utilizing labour law - establishing the principle of equal work, ensuring equal working conditions and providing the rights and guarantees of persons providing supervision.These three categories of measures are analyzed in order to assess the position of women in the labour relations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to determine the areas of legal regulation in which Lithuania is lagging behind in terms of ensuring women’s equality in labour relations and the means by which this backwardness could be overcome. It was found that Lithuania has implemented both the principle of equal pay provided for in the European Union legislation and most of the wage transparency measures in its labour law system, and in this area, it has far surpassed Latvia and Estonia. However, the practical implementation of the principle of equal pay still faces challenges, such as the minimal influence of collective labour relations on the size of wages, the declarative implementation of equality policy in companies, the confidential nature of wages are factors that prevent the Lithuanian wage system from being labelled as transparent. Also, the procedure for calculating wages after pregnancy, childbirth and childcare leave is unclear. In the Lithuanian labour law system, much more than in Latvia or Estonia, the additional guarantees of working conditions for socially vulnerable women during the maternity period (pregnant, recently given birth and breastfeeding mothers) testify to increased and not always adequate maternity protection. This limits a woman’s ability to receive a higher salary and reduces her chances of employment.Therefore, the main focus should not be on ensuring safety during early motherhood but on developing flexible working conditions for caregivers. Finally, the labour law norms of Lithuania provide for both the labour law norms mainly aimed at supervising persons and the most comprehensive circle of subjects than the laws of Latvia or Estonia. However, in the near future, in response to the challenges of an ageing society, the opportunities for caregivers to combine work and care obligations must be further expanded by providing for the employer’s obligation to enable them to work under a workplace sharing agreement, provide additional paid rest days per month, and other measures.