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The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. Article 1 of the Convention. Principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value. The Committee takes note of the Government’s reply to its previous request that the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value will be incorporated in the Employment Policy prepared by the Ministry of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development. Further noting that this Policy is at present in the stage of background research, the Committee asks the Government to keep it informed about any developments in this regard and to provide a copy of the Policy when adopted.

2. Application of the principle to part-time workers. With regard to its previous comments on the application of the principle of the Convention to part-time workers, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that part-time workers are covered by express provisions contained in some collective agreements. Noting, however, that the Government has omitted to enclose copies of the collective agreements referred to in its report and that it does not provide information on the percentage of male and female part-time workers covered by these agreements, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide full information thereon in its next report.

3. Article 3. Objective job evaluation. Further to its observation and with respect to its previous comments on the methodology of job appraisals carried out in the public sector, the Committee notes with interest from the Government’s report that both qualitative and quantitative job evaluation systems are being used. The position classification method, used at present for the civil service, compares duties and responsibilities, the scope and levels of complexity as well as the consequence of errors and contacts of different jobs, and then sorts them into predetermined classes and levels. The guide chart profile, used in teaching, police and fire services and soon also in the prison service, bases the evaluation on the four key factors of knowledge, problem-solving, responsibility and working conditions and their respective point value in order to ensure that gender bias in the classification systems is avoided. Further to this, the Committee notes the statistical information with respect to the new salary scales and number of employees in the teaching, police, fire and prisons service. While appreciating this information, the Committee notes however that the statistical data do not provide any information on the distribution of men and women, according to job category and earning levels, in the different sectors of activity. In order to enable it to assess the application of the Convention in practice and the progress made, the Committee asks the Government to provide these data in its next report. The Committee also asks the Government to provide the results of the job evaluation exercises undertaken in the civil service, which was scheduled to be completed in September 2005. Please also provide information on the impact of these gender- neutral job evaluations on male and female remuneration levels.

4. Job evaluation in the private sector. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that the survey on equal pay for work of equal value in the private sector has not yet been carried out. The Committee encourages the Government to extend to the private sector the efforts already undertaken in the public sector, and to undertake such a survey in order to be able to ensure that at the enterprise level also jobs are objectively appraised on the basis of the work performed. Please provide information on the results of the equal pay survey, once they are available.

5. Part V of the report form. Practical application and statistics. The Committee notes the initiatives taken by the Government to promote gender equality in the labour market. The Committee particularly welcomes the Government’s effort to develop a gender policy which will address the employment situation of men and women, including inequalities in pay, and asks the Government to keep it informed about any developments in this regard. Noting further from the Government’s report that awareness programmes have been conducted by the Employers’ Consultative Association in order to address the wage disparity between male and female legislators, senior officials and managers, the Committee would be grateful if the Government could provide more information on these programmes as well as on their impact on increasing women’s wages. Please also provide information, disaggregated by sex, on the earnings of men and women in all job categories within and between the various sectors, showing an indication of the progress made over the past few years in reducing pay inequalities between men and women. With respect to women’s access to employment, especially in non-traditional areas, the Committee refers the Government to its comments on Convention No 111.