CMNT_TITLE

Repetition

Article 1 of the Convention. Work of equal value. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that there is no discrimination in remuneration, citing section 17(3)(e) of the Constitution of 1999, which requires the Government to set a policy to ensure equal pay for equal work without discrimination on account of sex, and section 3(l) and (m) of the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission Act of 1993, establishing the functions of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission to examine, streamline and recommend salary scales, and to examine rationalization and harmonization of wages and salaries. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication given in its report under the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), that the Labour Standards Bill has not yet been adopted. The Committee asks the Government to take steps to ensure, in the context of any forthcoming legislative initiative in the area of labour law, that national legislation gives full expression to the principle of the Convention, namely equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Article 2. Minimum wages. The Committee notes the adoption of the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, 2011, which raised the national minimum wage to 18,000 naira. However, the Committee also notes that the new amendment still excludes certain workers from its coverage, including workers at establishments with less than 50 employees, and part-time workers. The Committee recalls that, as women predominate in low-wage employment, a uniform national minimum wage system helps to raise the earnings of the lowest paid, and that it has an influence on the relationship between men’s and women’s wages and on reducing the gender pay gap (General Survey on fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraph 683). The Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken to extend the scope of the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, 2011, to those sections of the workforce currently excluded from the coverage.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee recalls that, in 2005, a Presidential Committee on Consolidation of Emoluments in the Public Sector was set up and the Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission was reconstituted. The Committee notes that activities of the Department of Evaluation and Grading include updating the job evaluation designed in 1974, but no further information has been provided. The Committee again asks the Government to provide information on how the Committee on Consolidation of Emoluments in the Public Sector takes the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value into consideration. Please also provide further information on the progress made in updating the job evaluation and grading survey of 1974.

Statistics and reports. The Committee asks the Government to provide information that would assist the Committee in assessing the practical application of the Convention, such as statistics on the earnings of men and women, disaggregated by sex, economic sector and occupational category, as well as studies or reports addressing the issue of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.