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The Committee takes note of the Government's reports. It notes that they do not contain the information requested, but merely refer once again to the provisions of the legislation that concern the subject of the Convention. The Committee notes the Act of the Russian Federation amending and supplementing the Labour Code, adopted on 25 September 1992. It also notes that the provisions on which it had commented have been maintained. It therefore repeats the substance of its previous comments.

1. The Committee notes that pursuant to the legislation (sections 2 and 77 of the Labour Code) equal wages are guaranteed for the same work. It notes the Government's statement that, during the revision of the Labour Code in 1992, the need to give effect in law to the principle of the Convention was borne in mind, since the Committee had stressed its importance in its previous comments. However, the Committee observes that the provisions of the law have not been amended along these lines. While noting that the 1993 Constitution guarantees the right to a wage fixed without discrimination (article 37(3)), the Committee draws the Government's attention to the fact that the labour legislation is not consistent with the Convention which provides that equal pay for men and women must be guaranteed for work of equal value. The Committee asks the Government to state in its next report the measures that it plans to take in order to amend the legislation in this respect.

2. With regard to wage fixing, the Committee notes that section 80, as amended, of the Labour Code entitles enterprises independently to establish their own forms, systems and amounts of remuneration (and other parts of the wage) to be fixed in collective agreements, in accordance with section 13 of Act No. 2490-I of 11 March 1992 concerning collective and other agreements. With regard to the minimum wages guaranteed by the federal legislation pursuant to article 37 of the Constitution and section 78 of the Labour Code, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the specific measures taken or envisaged to ensure the application of the principle of the Convention in cases where an enterprise remunerates workers at levels above the minimum set by federal law. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide the texts of collective agreements establishing wage levels (other than minimum wages) in the various sectors of activity, indicating if possible the percentage of women covered by these collective agreements and the percentage of men and women employed at the different levels. It also asks the Government to provide details of the application of the principle of the Convention to other parts of remuneration such as bonuses or incentives, or any other material encouragement that may be introduced.

3. Furthermore, the Committee observes that it has no recent information enabling it to ascertain how the principle of equal remuneration set out in the national legislation is applied in practice. It would therefore be grateful if in its next report the Government would also supply:

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

(ii) statistical data on minimum wage rates and the average actual earnings of men and women, broken down, where possible, by occupation, branch of activity, seniority or level of qualifications, as well as information on the corresponding percentage of women;

(iii) information on the measures taken to ensure supervision of the application of the provisions regulating equal wages and, in particular, on the activities of the labour inspectorate (infringements reported, penalties imposed) and on court decisions.