CMNT_TITLE

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government's reports.

1. The Committee notes the prohibition of discrimination on grounds, inter alia, of sex, and the right to fair and satisfactory conditions at work, as provided in articles 12 and 36 of the Constitution of the Slovak Republic. It also notes the adoption of Act No. 1/1992 on wages, Act No. 143/1992 concerning the minimum wage, Act No. 10/1993 concerning the employment fund, Act No. 645/1992 amending the Labour Code and the Wage Law, and will be in a position to examine these texts at its next session when translations will be available. At this time, however, the Committee is able to note that neither the Constitution nor the Labour Code provides that men and women should receive equal remuneration for work of equal value as set out in Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee would therefore be grateful if the Government would indicate the steps it has taken to apply the principle through laws, regulations, wage-fixing machinery or collective agreements.

2. With reference to Article 3 of the Convention, it further notes that the Labour Code no longer requires employers to differentiate wages according to any criteria such as the complexity of the work involved, the conditions under which it is performed and the prerequisites of its performance, and that according to the Government, wages are based on the results of labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the methods used to evaluate jobs, the criteria used in any such evaluations, the existence of a job classification scheme, and the corresponding wage scales for various sectors of the economy.

3. The Committee would appreciate receiving information from the Government on any policies which have been adopted, or national machinery which has been established, to promote equality of women, particularly as concerns their position in the labour market and remuneration levels.

4. The Committee notes that it does not have sufficient information to enable an appraisal of how the principle in the Convention is applied in practice. It therefore would appreciate the Government supplying, in its next report:

(i) the salary scales applicable in the public sector, with an indication of the percentage of men and women employed at different levels;

(ii) the texts of collective agreements fixing wages in various sectors of activity, with an indication, if possible, of the percentage of women covered by these agreements, and the distribution of men and women employed at different levels; and

(iii) statistical data concerning the minimum or basic wage rates and the average actual earnings of men and women broken down, if possible, by occupation, branch of activity, seniority and level of qualifications.