英國職場上促進兩性平等法制之研究─兼述我國相關法律之規定

Abstract

中西社會皆存有兩性不平等的現象，職場上的女性於報酬、工作條件、升遷、職業訓練上與男性相較，皆處於不利益的地位。為促進社會公平正義，中、英兩國皆透過法律的制定來剷除職場上的性別歧視。 英國在促進兩性平等的制定法包括有「同酬法」（Equal Pay Act 1970）與「性別歧視法」（Sex Discrimination Act 1975），前者所規範的內容只限於促進兩性勞動條件的平等且必須是當事人間有勞動契約關係存在，而後者所適用的範圍較廣，包括一切在就業上基於性別所為之歧視行為。此外在促進女性就業措施方面，所涉及的法律相當廣，有「勞僱權利法」（Employment Rights Act 1996）來規範產前照顧假與產假，至於親職假、父職假與收養假則由「勞僱權利法」與「勞僱法」（Employment Act 2002）共同規範之。 我國憲法第七條明文保障男女法律上的地位平等，但台灣職場中兩性不平等的情形，已存有相當長的時間。一般勞動法規雖對男女工作平等權的保障有所規範，如「工廠法」、「勞動基準法」對同工同酬的規定；「就業服務法」之禁止性別歧視，可惜過於零散且不足，無法發揮社會期待的功能。因此有「兩性工作平等法」之制定。 性別歧視不僅有違社會正義，在經濟發展過程中若歧視現象普遍存在，則可能阻礙女性勞工發揮所長的機會，進而影響一國經濟發展，因此正視性別歧視問題是現代國家不可輕忽的課題。由於英國有關兩性平等之立法已有近三十年的歷史，實施以來有其成效與缺失，而我國兩性工作平等法僅實施三年未滿，故本論文藉由探討英國的法制，以作為我國日後修法或解決因職場上的性別歧視所產生爭議之處理參考。Gender unequality exists in both eastern and western societies. In the field of employment, women’s pay, working conditions, position promotion and on-work training are inferior to men’s. In order to promote the justice and equality in the societies, both Taiwan and Britain should get rid of gender discrimination in the field of employment by making laws. In Britain, the laws to improve gender equality include Equal Pay Act 1970 and Sex Discrimination Act 1975. The former confines its rules only to the equality of both sexes’ working conditions and there should be employment contracts between the employees and the employers, while the latter is suitable to a wider range, including all the behaviors that are regarded as sexual discrimination. Moreover, there are quite a lot of laws relating to the measures to increase women’s rate of employment, such as Employment Rights Act 1996, to confine ante-natal and maternity leave, Employment Act 2002, to confine parental leave, paternal leave and adoption leave. The seventh item of Taiwan’s Constitution clearly protects sexual equality by law, but it’s been a long time since unequal sexual situations exist in the field of employment. Common labor laws protect equal working rights of both men and women, such as Factory Act and Standard Labor Act confine equal pay for equal work; Employment Service Act prohibits sexual discrimination. But unfortunately because they are not well-organized, they fail to meet the expectation of the society. Therefore, Sexual Equality Employment Act is made. If sexual discrimination generally exists throughout the economical development process, it will not only violate social justice but also block female employers’ opportunities to show their abilities and talents and to influence the economical development process. So, how to deal with the problem of sexual discrimination is an issue that a modern country cannot be prevented from. In Britain, laws relating to gender equality have a history for nearly 30 years. Through the exercise of these laws, some reach their goals, but some have their own defects. Here in Taiwan, Equal Working Act for Both Sexes has only been put into effect for less than 3 years. So this thesis is for the purpose to provide our government with the reference to improve the relating laws or to solve the argument resulting from sexual discrimination in the field of employment.