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The Committee notes the Government's report and annexes and the comments of the General Confederation of Industry (CONFINDUSTRIA) on the application of the Convention. It also notes with interest the creation in 1996 of a Ministry of Equal Opportunity attached directly to the Office of the Prime Minister.

1. Having noted in its previous comment the Government's statement that one of the main factors responsible for the persistence of a wage gap between men and women is the greater family responsibilities assumed by women, the Committee requested the Government to provide details regarding the measures taken or contemplated in order to give practical effect to one of the objectives of Act No. 125 of 1991 (on positive actions to achieve equality at work between men and women), namely to promote a better balance between family and professional responsibilities. In reply, the Government reiterated its conviction that the best strategy to combat segregation in the labour market is to concentrate on the arrangement of working time to allow all workers -- especially women -- to reconcile their family and professional obligations. This conviction is strengthened, furthermore, by the conclusions of a recent study (February 1996) carried out jointly by the National Commission for Equality of Opportunity and the National Statistics Institute according to which the fact that men and women play very different roles in the family has consequences on their management of time. The Committee notes with interest that the Government has therefore decided to adopt the European Directive on the regulation of working hours (in particular, the provision on the 40-hour working week) and the Directive on parental leave; to include measures to encourage the reduction and reorganization of working time in the labour pact, which it signed in September 1996 with labour and management; and to promote the initiatives taken by certain institutions (rearrangement of school and shop closing times, etc.) -- especially at local level -- to help workers in making their family and professional obligations more compatible. The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply information on the concrete measures taken in rearranging working time to allow women and men to exercise an occupation without conflict with their family responsibilities and on the impact of these measures on reducing the wage gap between men and women.

2. The Committee notes the statistics supplied by the Government illustrating the situation of women in the public sector which confirms the statement the Committee made in its previous comment, namely the concentration of women in low-paying positions. The Government affirms, however, that the situation of women in the public sector should improve gradually following the adoption of Legislative Decree No. 29 of 3 February 1993 which is designed to rationalize the organization of public administrations and to revise the regulations on employment in the public sector, and the renewed commitment it has taken to implement positive action plans for the benefit of female staff in the public sector. The Committee therefore requests the Government to supply detailed information on the content of the positive action plans undertaken in the public administration and on the real impact of Act No. 29 of 3 February 1993 on equal remuneration between women and men for work of equal value. Knowing that the difficulties encountered in applying the principle of equal remuneration are generally closely linked with the general status of women in employment and society, the Committee draws the Government's attention to Paragraph 6 of the Recommendation on equal remuneration which advocates that action should also be taken on vocational guidance, vocational training and placement with a view to facilitating application of the principle of the Convention. For further details, the Committee refers the Government to paragraphs 180 to 198 of its 1986 General Survey on equal remuneration.

3. The Committee notes that the conflict between CONFINDUSTRIA regarding application of section 9 of the Ministerial Decree of 8 July 1991 on the collection of statistics has finally been resolved and that, as from 1998, firms will be required to communicated detailed data on their staff situation (internal and external mobility, information broken down according to gender, union affiliation, etc.). It also notes that, according to CONFINDUSTRIA, the enterprises in its sector have not waited for 1998 to transmit the statistics required in paragraph 9 of that Decree. Consequently, the Committee requests the Government to supply recent statistics on average rates of remuneration of men and women in the private sector.

4. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in regard to the provision of Act No. 125/91 transferring the burden of proof in certain cases of indirect discrimination based on sex. It also notes the statement by CONFINDUSTRIA to the effect that it was not a real reversal of the burden of proof but rather an alleviation since the burden of proof still fell on the defendant. The new element was that once the person claiming to be the victim of discrimination has proved a fact establishing a reasoned presumption of discrimination the burden of proof is transferred to the defendant employer who must prove the non-existence of discrimination based on sex. Noting that, according to the report, this provision has not been used since the entry into force of Act No. 125/91, the Committee requests the Government to supply information on the measures taken or contemplated to make it known to the general public.

5. Finally, in regard to the "caporalato" system (illegal fee-charging placement agencies) which prevails in the agricultural sector, the Government states that the investigative committee created within the Senate Labour Commission to study this form of corruption existing in the south of Italy has formulated a proposal to reform employment agencies and make them correspond more closely to the real and specific imperatives of the local labour market, and that the reform is currently being reviewed by the authorized institutions. The investigative committee also formulated recommendations concerning improved control of violations. The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply information on its efforts to resolve the problem of the "caporalato" system and also on the follow-up given to the investigative committee's recommendations on strengthening the monitoring of violations of the principle of equal remuneration between men and women.