A—7

Such services should be staffed by trained and qualified persons whose remuneration And conditions of employment should be such as to secure adequate and suitable personnel. 7. Additional social services such as canteens, and provision of milk, essential ■clothing, and layettes, should be made available for mother and child as far as practicable from public funds or at low cost. B. Protection of Women engaged in Heavy Labour 8. Protection .from arduous conditions of work should be provided for women workers in occupations involving heavy labour who in some countries or occupations are excluded from protection of the existing laws in respect of hours of work, conditions of work, social security, and holidays with pay, &c., and this protection should extend to those women who work as helpers or are recruited under a contract system of employment in these occupations. 9. Protection from serious risks to the health of women engaged in these occupations should be provided progressively, with special regard for the following considerations : (a) Weights to be lifted, carried, or loaded or unloaded should be limited by national laws or regulations with due regard to the physique of the worker, the method employed in lifting or carrying, the instruction in such methods to be supplied to the worker, the distances and heights involved, and the frequency of lifting or carrying required, in accordance with scientifically established standards ; (b) Employers should be required to provide separate and suitable accommodation in work places to serve as wash-rooms, toilets, dressing-rooms, &c., for women ; (c) In the interests of the health and comfort of women workers, employers should be required to provide them with, wherever feasible, a sufficient number of seats at places of work and rest. 10. The foregoing measures of protection should be extended to women in largescale agriculture or plantations as soon as means and facilities for the enforcement of these measures are available. C. Vocational Training for Women 11. Facilities and opportunities should be provided progressively for vocational training and employment of women in semi-skilled and skilled occupations which involve dexterity and quickness of movement and are especially adapted to the capacities of women. 12. In view of the widespread illiteracy prevalent among women of many Asian -countries, special attention should be given to developing part-time programmes of basic education to reduce illiteracy and provide the education essential for admission to and proper utilization of vocational training facilities. D. Wages of Women Workers 13. Machinery for fixing minimum rates of wages should be applied to traditionally low-paid occupations where a considerable number or proportion of women are employed, with special attention to home industries. 14. In all cases where minimum wage rates are being fixed the same principles should be applied in determining the rates for women as for men ; in occupations where women predominate care should be taken that, in estimating the value of the work, the skill which it requires is assessed on the same basis as in the case of occupations where men predominate.

35