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1. Article 2 of the Convention. Application of the principle by means of collective agreements.  With reference to its previous request concerning the use of gender stereotypes in the appraisal of posts listed in collective agreements, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that once the revision of the Labour Code is concluded, in principle by the end of 2004, the social partners will most likely undertake steps to renegotiate the existing collective agreements. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on any steps taken to encourage the social partners to avoid the use of gender stereotypes and gender bias in the renegotiation and conclusion of existing and future collective agreements, including the inter-occupational collective agreement, so that no differentials occur between men and women as regards remuneration. It also hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to send a copy of the revised Labour Code as well as copies of any relevant collective agreements.

2. Article 4. Cooperation with the social partners. The Committee notes the Government’s statement with regard to the decisions taken by the National Council for Labour and Social Legislation to apply the Convention. The Government’s report does not, however, contain any specific information on the concrete activities through which the Council is promoting the implementation of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value. It hopes that the Government will provide such information with its next report.

3. Parts III and V of the report form. Practical application and statistics.  The Committee notes from the statistics of 2004 attached to the Government’s report on Convention No. 111 that women make up only 21.4 per cent of the employees in the public service and are concentrated in the health and education ministries and to a lesser extent in the ministries for economy, agriculture and the promotion of women. The statistics further show that women continue to be under-represented in higher job categories and decision-making posts (with women representing only 12 per cent of the employees in level A1 and 12.5 per cent in level A2). The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not include the requested information on the results achieved by the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and Social Affairs to address the issue of occupational segregation and to promote women’s access to better paid higher status jobs and managerial positions in the public sector. As such action helps to promote the application of the Convention, the Government is asked to provide such information with its next report. Noting also the Government’s statement that no statistics are available on the earnings of men and women in the public and private sectors, the Committee wishes to point out that such information is needed in order to assess how the principle of equal pay for men and women for work of equal value is applied in practice. It encourages the Government to work towards the compilation of such statistical information and asks the Government to provide whatever information is available on the earning levels of men and women, by branch, economic activity and occupation in both the public and private sectors.

4. Part III of the report form. Enforcement by the labour inspectorate. With reference to its previous request on the difficulties encountered by the Inspectorate for Labour and Labour Legislation in enforcing the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value, the Committee notes that the Government wishes to undertake a study outlining the difficulties encountered by labour inspectors in enforcing the principle and assessing their training needs. The study would provide the basis for a future training programme in this area. The Committee reminds the Government that it might wish to ask for assistance from the Office in this regard and in the meantime encourages the Government to undertake every action to improve the capacity of the labour inspectorate to ensure the application of the principle of the Convention.