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The Committee notes the Government’s report and the attached documentation, in particular Ministerial Order No. 59 of 30 May 2000, which establishes the rules for the operation of the National Wage Council (CONADES) and sectoral committees. The Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention on the following points.

Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee notes the list of 120 sectoral committees for the fixing of minimum wages by region, which was communicated by the Government in reply to its previous comments. In this respect, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the minimum wage rates currently in force for each category of worker and to transmit a copy of the legislative text setting these rates. The Committee also requests the Government to provide statistics on the number of workers covered by the minimum wage legislation and the evolution of minimum wage rates by occupational category of workers in recent years.

Article 2, paragraph 1. The Committee recalls its previous observations, in which it requested the Government to indicate the measures taken to guarantee that payment of remuneration below the minimum wage to persons covered by apprenticeship contracts, by virtue of section 168 of the Labour Code, is allowed only in cases of actual training. The Committee regrets to observe that the Government has not provided any substantive reply on this point, which had been raised by the Ecuadorian Confederation of Free Trade Unions (CEOSL), and it is bound once again to request information on the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that apprentices in the industrial sector paid less than this minimum rate receive vocational training at the workplace. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate whether it consulted employers’ and workers’ organizations prior to establishing the minimum wage provisions applicable to apprentices in the industrial sector.

The Committee notes that, by virtue of section 90 of the Children’s and Adolescent’s Code adopted on 23 December 2002, the remuneration of young apprentices shall be no less than 80 per cent of adult remuneration for the same type of work. The Committee takes this opportunity to once again recall that the adoption of lower minimum wage rates for groups of workers on account of their age should be regularly re-examined in the light of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value. The Committee considers that wage rates should be based on the quality and quantity of work and that special attention should be given to the equitable remuneration of young persons.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the statistics on the number of enterprises inspected in 1997 by the Department of Labour Protection to monitor the compliance with minimum wages provisions. Noting the Government’s statements that until now the information on labour inspections has not been analysed in a systematic manner, the Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to collect and provide in its next report detailed information on the application of the Convention in practice and, in particular, statistics on the results of inspections carried out (for example, number of violations reported, types of sanctions imposed, etc.).

Moreover, the Committee notes the Government’s statement in its report that a system for the inspection of child labour is being organized, one of the duties of which will be to supervise the work of young apprentices. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any progress in relation to this inspection procedure.