CMNT_TITLE

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government as well as the attached documentation, collective agreements and statistical information.

1. The Committee notes the information on the determination of rates of remuneration and, in particular, the general Statutory Instrument (general) No. 119 and the Statutory Instrument (shop workers) No. 120 of 1997 concerning the minimum wages and conditions of employment. It notes with interest that the clauses relating to the payment of employment-related benefits contained in these statutory instruments are drawn up in terms which are not prejudicial to the persons concerned on the grounds of sex. The Committee, however, wishes to draw the Government's attention to section 14 of Statutory Instrument No. 119 concerning transport allowances and section 16 of Statutory Instrument No. 120 concerning repatriation allowances, which may be interpreted in a way that such allowances are given only to male employees. The Committee refers to its previous comments regarding the use of gender-neutral terms in collective agreements, and requests the Government to indicate whether the abovementioned allowances are granted to both male and female employees covered by the respective statutory instruments.

2. Concerning the payment of housing allowances, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government that the law on the matter has been altered and that the terms of the new text do not take into consideration the sex of the workers concerned. The Committee also notes the Government's statement that in dealing with collective agreements, it is ensuring that no discrimination of any kind, particularly on the basis of sex is entertained. It draws the Government's attention to clause 17.2 of the collective agreement concluded between Mpongwe Development Company Limited and the National Union of Plantation Agricultural Workers of the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions on Conditions of Employment (1998-2000) on housing allowances, which provides that "married female employees living with their working or housed husband or whose husband is in receipt of a housing allowance will not be entitled to housing or a housing allowance". The Committee recalls that section 108 of the Industrial and Labour Relations Act, 1993 (Act No. 27 of 1993) prohibits the imposition of any penalty or disadvantage on employees on the grounds of, among others, sex and marital status. The Committee would like the Government to clarify whether or not married male employees still receive a housing allowance if their wife is working or is in receipt of such an allowance. It further requests the Government to indicate the measures that have been taken to ensure that housing benefits are granted under conditions which are not based on the sex of the employee.

3. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government's statement that the collective agreement concluded for the period 1 August 1996 to 31 July 1998 between the Zambia Bankers (Employers) Association and the Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers has been dissolved, and that presently employers in the financial sector have individual collective agreements. In this regard, the Committee notes with interest that the attached collective agreements concluded for this sector do not contain any clauses granting benefits that differentiate on the basis of sex. It requests the Government to continue to transmit the texts of collective agreements covering the various sectors.

4. With regard to the collective agreements concluded by the enterprise "Zambia Textiles Limited" with the National Union of Commercial and Industrial Workers and "Zambia Oxygen Limited" and the National Union of Building, Engineering and General Workers, which grant certain survival benefits (special leave and cash, repatriation, ...) only to male employees, whose spouse, parent or child dies, or to the dependants of a male employee who has died, the Committee notes the Government's statement that in reality the surviving spouse is granted these benefits regardless of the sex of the worker. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures that have been taken to promote conformity of the above collective agreements (with the Convention and national legislation), as regards the granting of benefits without taking into consideration the sex of the workers concerned.

5. The Committee notes from the statistics compiled by Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) on the distribution of men and women by skill category as of May 1996, that the very small proportion of women working in the sector are mainly employed at the professional level. The statistics also show that no women are employed at the managerial level and no male employees are working in the secretarial skill category. The Committee wishes to draw the Government's attention to the fact that the situation of women in the labour market, and in particular their concentration in so-called female sectors and occupations, is one of the origins of inequalities in remuneration between men and women. In this connection, the Committee refers to paragraph 6 of the Equal Remuneration Recommendation, 1951 (No. 90) which calls for a variety of measures to raise the productive efficiency of women as a means to facilitate the application of the principle of equal remuneration. The Committee notes the Government's statement that in terms of vocational training, vocational guidance and counselling, it is the policy to encourage more and more women to take advantage of the facilities available as a way of raising their productive efficiency. The Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the specific measures taken to increase access of women to vocational training and guidance and counselling as a means to narrow the wage gap between men and women. It would also be grateful if the Government could provide statistical information, if available, on the average wages in the different sectors of the economy, including the mining industry, disaggregated by sex and by occupational category.

6. The Committee notes the Government's statement that work with regard to the establishment of a labour market information system is in progress (with possible assistance of the ILO and the World Bank). The Committee refers to its general observation of 1998 on this Convention which underlines the importance of statistical data to assist the Committee in evaluating the application of the Convention, and requests the Government to keep it informed of any further developments in this regard.