Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Maternity Protection Convention (Revised), 1952 (No. 103) - Ecuador (Ratification: 1962)

Article 4(5) of the Convention. Women who do not fulfil the necessary conditions for entitlement to benefit. In relation to women who do not fulfil the necessary contribution requirements to be entitled to maternity benefits, the Committee notes, according to the Government’s indications, that the employer is responsible for the provision of 100 per cent of their remuneration during the 12 weeks of leave. The Committee regrets to note that the entitlement does not exist to receive adequate benefits out of social assistance funds, as required by the Convention. In this context, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the entitlement to receive benefits out of social assistance funds for women workers who fail to qualify for benefits as a matter of right.

Article 4(4) and (8). Financing of maternity benefits. The Committee regrets that the Government has not provided information in reply to its previous comments. The Committee once again encourages the Government to move from a hybrid system in which employers bear part of the cost of cash maternity benefits to a system totally based on compulsory social insurance or supported by public funds, and to provide information on any progress achieved in this respect.

Finally, the Committee recalls that the ILO Governing Body, at its 349th Session (October–November 2023), upon the recommendation of the Tripartite Working Group of the Standards Review Mechanism, confirmed the classification of the Maternity Protection Convention (Revised), 1952 (No. 103), as an outdated instrument and included a preliminary item on the Agenda of the 121st Session of the International Labour Conference (2033) for its potential derogation.

The Governing Body requested the Office to take follow-up measures to actively encourage the ratification of the Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183), as the instrument on maternity protection considered to be the most up-to-date, by Member States in which Convention No. 103 is currently in force. The Committee therefore encourages the Government to consider the possibility of ratifying Convention No. 183 as the most up-to-date instrument in this field. In this regard, the Committee reminds the Government that it can avail itself of the technical assistance of the Office.