Employers Reminded to Promote Gender Equality in the Workplace

Through Labor Advisory No. 03, series of 2023 issued on 7 March 2023, the Department of Labor and Employment reminded employers to promote gender equality considering the diversity in the workplace. Gender equality may be advocated by implementing laws, policies, and programs that:

• Uphold the principles of equal pay for equal work and equal access to work-related resources and opportunities;
• Consider the protection of women workers from risk and hazards in the workplaces through a comprehensive and effective Occupational Safety and Health Program;
• Facilitate women employees’ access to women-related leave benefits such as the maternity leave, parental leave for solo parents, leave for victims of violence against women and their children, and special leave for women, among others;
• Provide facilities and benefits that take into account their maternal functions and enhance their welfare, such as lactation stations and lactation breaks for breastfeeding women and flexible work schedule for pregnant women;
• Ensure women employees’ protection against any form of gender-based sexual harassment (“GBSH”) in the workplace through the creation of a workplace policy against GBSH and the establishment of a Committee on Decorum and Investigation in cases of sexual harassment and gender-based sexual harassment in the workplace; and
• Recognize, protect, fulfill, and promote women’s right.