Colombia: Comptroller’s Office to Enable Mothers to Leave Earlier
Bogota. As from next Monday, the National Comptroller’s Office will introduce a revolutionary change in favor of striking a balance in the increasingly difficult “work-family” relationship: all women working in that Office who have children under 18 will be able to return home at 3 in the afternoon in order to spend more time with their children.
This is no gift, but rather a way of reorganizing time, since they will all complete their 40 weekly hours of work as stipulated by the Colombian Labor Code. How? By starting work at 7 in the morning.
According to several experts, the measure taken by Comptroller Sandra Morelli will have an enormous impact not only on the future of those children and their homes, but also on labor productivity.
Source: El Tiempo Newspaper www.eltiempo.com
Declaration by the Women’s Department of the Colombian Trade Union Center, CUT:
This exemplifying measure should also be adopted by other government agencies and private enterprises and applied to all men and women workers around the country. It proves that it is possible to implement flexible working programs for women with small children with a view to striking a balance between work and family.
The Women’s Department of CUT ratifies that the country must provide for the enforcement of Convention 156 in order to encourage governments and enterprises to adopt measures aimed at promoting the principles of equal opportunities and equal treatment, and at addressing the problems of women workers with family responsibilities, making sure that this will not be turned into fair grounds for dismissal. The ratification of the above-mentioned Convention is of utmost importance to men and women workers with family responsibilities and should be coordinated with the national laws that regulate the economy of care of women’s reproductive work and productivity.
Signed by
Ligia Inés Alzate Domingo Tovar Arrieta
Director - Women’s Department General Secretary
CUT Colombia CUT Colombia
Contact: UNI Colombia Solidarity Center leonor.sierra@uniglobalunion.org