WORLD Policy Analysis Center

Does legislation explicitly prohibit indirect discrimination on the basis of maternal status?

The term “maternal status” includes gender-neutral references to caregiving (‘parenthood’, ‘having children’, workers with ‘family responsibilities’), and gender specific references to ‘motherhood’ or ‘maternity.’ For the purposes of this variable, the term “maternal status” captures all of these definitions, but it does not capture job protections that narrowly apply to mothers’ leave-taking alone.

Indirect discrimination indicates a prohibition of imposing standards, criteria, or other requirements that disproportionately impact persons on the basis of maternal status and have the effect of discrimination on this basis. In these cases, legislation either explicitly prohibits indirect discrimination, or prohibits the imposition of unreasonable requirements that particularly disadvantage persons on the basis of maternal status. Legislative prohibitions of indirect discrimination may extend across any aspect of work, or specific aspects of work such as hiring.

No prohibition means that legislation does not take an explicit approach to prohibiting indirect discrimination on the basis of maternal status. This does not mean that legislation denies this guarantee.

General prohibition of indirect discrimination means that legislation prohibits indirect discrimination generally— for example, by prohibiting indirect discrimination based on “any status” or stating no worker may be indirectly discriminated against. This general prohibition is not specifically extended on the basis of maternal status.

Yes, prohibition on the basis of maternal status means that legislation extends an explicit prohibition of indirect discrimination on the basis of maternal status.

Countries

Afghanistan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Algeria - No indirect discrimination provisions

Angola - No indirect discrimination provisions

Antigua and Barbuda - No indirect discrimination provisions

Argentina - No indirect discrimination provisions

Bahamas - No indirect discrimination provisions

Bahrain - No indirect discrimination provisions

Bangladesh - No indirect discrimination provisions

Belarus - No indirect discrimination provisions

Belize - No indirect discrimination provisions

Benin - No indirect discrimination provisions

Bhutan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Bolivia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Botswana - No indirect discrimination provisions

Brazil - No indirect discrimination provisions

Brunei - No indirect discrimination provisions

Burkina Faso - No indirect discrimination provisions

Cambodia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Cameroon - No indirect discrimination provisions

Cabo Verde - No indirect discrimination provisions

Central African Republic - No indirect discrimination provisions

Chad - No indirect discrimination provisions

Chile - No indirect discrimination provisions

China - No indirect discrimination provisions

Colombia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Comoros - No indirect discrimination provisions

Democratic Republic of the Congo - No indirect discrimination provisions

Republic of the Congo - No indirect discrimination provisions

Costa Rica - No indirect discrimination provisions

Cote d'Ivoire - No indirect discrimination provisions

Cuba - No indirect discrimination provisions

Djibouti - No indirect discrimination provisions

Dominica - No indirect discrimination provisions

Dominican Republic - No indirect discrimination provisions

Ecuador - No indirect discrimination provisions

Egypt - No indirect discrimination provisions

El Salvador - No indirect discrimination provisions

Equatorial Guinea - No indirect discrimination provisions

Eritrea - No indirect discrimination provisions

Ethiopia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Gabon - No indirect discrimination provisions

The Gambia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Ghana - No indirect discrimination provisions

Greenland - No indirect discrimination provisions

Grenada - No indirect discrimination provisions

Guatemala - No indirect discrimination provisions

Guinea - No indirect discrimination provisions

Haiti - No indirect discrimination provisions

Honduras - No indirect discrimination provisions

Iceland - No indirect discrimination provisions

India - No indirect discrimination provisions

Indonesia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Iran - No indirect discrimination provisions

Iraq - No indirect discrimination provisions

Israel - No indirect discrimination provisions

Italy - No indirect discrimination provisions

Jamaica - No indirect discrimination provisions

Japan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Jordan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Kazakhstan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Kenya - No indirect discrimination provisions

Democratic People's Republic of Korea - No indirect discrimination provisions

Republic of Korea - No indirect discrimination provisions

Kuwait - No indirect discrimination provisions

Kyrgyzstan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Lebanon - No indirect discrimination provisions

Lesotho - No indirect discrimination provisions

Libya - No indirect discrimination provisions

Madagascar - No indirect discrimination provisions

Malawi - No indirect discrimination provisions

Malaysia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Mali - No indirect discrimination provisions

Marshall Islands - No indirect discrimination provisions

Mauritania - No indirect discrimination provisions

Mexico - No indirect discrimination provisions

Micronesia, Federated States of - No indirect discrimination provisions

Monaco - No indirect discrimination provisions

Mongolia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Morocco - No indirect discrimination provisions

Mozambique - No indirect discrimination provisions

Myanmar - No indirect discrimination provisions

Nauru - No indirect discrimination provisions

Nepal - No indirect discrimination provisions

The Netherlands - No indirect discrimination provisions

Nicaragua - No indirect discrimination provisions

Niger - No indirect discrimination provisions

Nigeria - No indirect discrimination provisions

Oman - No indirect discrimination provisions

Pakistan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Palau - No indirect discrimination provisions

Panama - No indirect discrimination provisions

Papua New Guinea - No indirect discrimination provisions

Paraguay - No indirect discrimination provisions

The Philippines - No indirect discrimination provisions

Poland - No indirect discrimination provisions

Qatar - No indirect discrimination provisions

Rwanda - No indirect discrimination provisions

San Marino - No indirect discrimination provisions

Saudi Arabia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Senegal - No indirect discrimination provisions

Seychelles - No indirect discrimination provisions

Sierra Leone - No indirect discrimination provisions

Singapore - No indirect discrimination provisions

Solomon Islands - No indirect discrimination provisions

Somalia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Sri Lanka - No indirect discrimination provisions

St. Kitts and Nevis - No indirect discrimination provisions

St. Vincent and the Grenadines - No indirect discrimination provisions

Sudan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Suriname - No indirect discrimination provisions

Sweden - No indirect discrimination provisions

Syria - No indirect discrimination provisions

Tajikistan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Thailand - No indirect discrimination provisions

Timor-Leste - No indirect discrimination provisions

Tonga - No indirect discrimination provisions

Trinidad and Tobago - No indirect discrimination provisions

Tunisia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Türkiye - No indirect discrimination provisions

Turkmenistan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Uganda - No indirect discrimination provisions

United Arab Emirates - No indirect discrimination provisions

United Kingdom - No indirect discrimination provisions

United States of America - No indirect discrimination provisions

Uruguay - No indirect discrimination provisions

Uzbekistan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Vanuatu - No indirect discrimination provisions

Venezuela - No indirect discrimination provisions

Vietnam - No indirect discrimination provisions

Yemen - No indirect discrimination provisions

Zimbabwe - No indirect discrimination provisions

Armenia - General prohibition of indirect discrimination

Azerbaijan - General prohibition of indirect discrimination

Bosnia and Herzegovina - General prohibition of indirect discrimination

Burundi - General prohibition of indirect discrimination

Georgia - General prohibition of indirect discrimination

Laos - General prohibition of indirect discrimination

Moldova - General prohibition of indirect discrimination

Peru - General prohibition of indirect discrimination

Albania - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Andorra - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Australia - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Austria - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Barbados - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Belgium - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Bulgaria - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Canada - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Croatia - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Cyprus - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Czech Republic - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Denmark - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Estonia - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Fiji - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Finland - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

France - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Germany - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Greece - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Guinea-Bissau - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Guyana - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Hungary - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Ireland - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Kiribati - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Latvia - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Liberia - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Liechtenstein - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Lithuania - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Luxembourg - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

North Macedonia - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Maldives - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Malta - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Mauritius - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Montenegro - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Namibia - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

New Zealand - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Norway - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Portugal - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Romania - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Russian Federation - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Samoa - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Sao Tome and Principe - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Serbia - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Slovakia - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Slovenia - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

South Africa - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

South Sudan - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Spain - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

St. Lucia - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Eswatini - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Switzerland - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Tanzania - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Togo - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Tuvalu - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Ukraine - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition

Zambia - Yes, maternal status-specific prohibition