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1. The Committee notes the results of the 1996 survey on wage structures, published in 1998 by the Federal Statistics Office, which show that in 1996 the wage gap between women and men has only slightly narrowed, particularly in the public service, and that women still earned an average of 23 per cent less than men (compared to 24 per cent in 1994) in the private sector, and 11 per cent less (compared to 14 per cent in 1994) in the public sector.

2. The Committee further notes with interest that the Federal Bureau on Equality between Men and Women has recently drawn up two instruments for objective job evaluation, notably the "Analytical Evaluation of Work according to Katz and Baitsch" (ABAKABA) and "Do I earn what I deserve?" (VIWIV) which are aimed at eliminating gender-bias and contributing to the introduction of a non-discriminatory wage system in enterprises, administrative departments and other organizations. Both instruments are intended for personnel managers, workers' and employers' organizations, judges, counselling services, and conciliation offices. The Committee particularly notes that ABAKABA takes into consideration masculine and feminine characteristics and includes criteria such as repetitiveness and precision of movements, responsibility for the life of others, responsibility for the environment, the number of work interruptions (for example in secretarial and clerical work), empathy, and the ability to organize, which are usually linked to typical female occupations. In addition, the Committee notes that the VIWIV instrument aims to complement ABAKABA and allows workers to assess whether or not direct or indirect wage discrimination has taken place, including discrimination in the manner in which the evaluation of jobs has been executed, and discrimination resulting from the specific choice and unequal balance of criteria related to either typical female or male occupations in the job evaluation method used. The Committee encourages the Government to continue to promote the application of the above methods and to keep it informed on the progress made in its practical implementation by enterprises, the administrative departments and workers' and employers' organizations in wage determination and the results achieved in terms of reducing the wage gap.

3. The Committee notes with interest the ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which came into force on 26 April 1997.

4. The Committee raises points on other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.