CMNT_TITLE

The Committee notes the Government's reports and the attached detailed statistical information on collective agreements and labour inspections.

1. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, although section 194 of the Labour Code provides that there shall be equal pay for equal work, the labour administration authorities, when applying the Convention, interpret this provision to mean equal pay for work of equal value. The Committee asks the Government to supply examples of legal decisions which have applied or interpreted in a broader sense the terms used in section 194 of the Labour Code. The Committee suggests that the Government introduce formally the concept of work of equal value since the term "equal work" may lead to ambiguity in its application since it can be interpreted to mean "the same" or "equal in quality, nature or status", or "of identical value".

2. The Committee notes with interest the "Study on minimum wages in the Dominican economy", May 1996, which was attached to the report. Part IV of the study "Comparison between men's and women's wages" indicates that in the free trade zone enterprises and public institutions sampled there was no difference relating to the gender of the person engaged in work and wages were allocated to the job without taking into account the sex of the worker. There was a wage gap in the government institutions examined (where the average monthly wage was higher for women: RD$5,171.30 for female employees and RD$5,114.20 for male employees), due to the predominance in the sample of schoolteachers who are mostly women and whose salaries were increased recently. Furthermore, it emerges from the copies of collective agreements in free trade zones supplied by the Government, that the components of remuneration (including payment of overtime) are paid without distinction as to the worker's sex. Nevertheless, this publication, prepared by the Secretary of State for Labour, shows that in the enterprises covered by the sample, the average wage per month was RD$3,624 for men and only RD$2,590.30 for women. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information as to whether it is carrying out studies into the reasons for this difference; and, if so, to supply copies of the results of this research.