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1. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the work of the National Minimum Wage Board. It also notes the equality policies envisaged in the General Act for equality between men and women of 2006. The Committee notes the importance of ensuring objective job evaluation methods in the public sector and promoting them in the private sector so that full effect can be given to the principle of the Convention. This is particularly important, as was noted in the Committee’s 2006 general observation, due to pervasive occupational sex segregation and the undervaluing of skills that are traditionally “female”. There is thus the need to be able to compare jobs that are completely different, performed by men and women in different places or enterprises, or between different employers. The Committee indicated in paragraph 5 of the general observation that “Whatever methods are used for the objective evaluation of jobs, particular care must be taken to ensure that they are free from gender bias: it is important to ensure that the selection of factors for comparison, the weighting of such factors and the actual comparison carried out, are not inherently discriminatory. Often skills considered to be ‘female’, such as manual dexterity and those required in caring professions, are undervalued or even overlooked, in comparison with traditionally ‘male’ skills, such as heavy lifting.” In this respect, the Committee encourages the Government, when developing the equality policies envisaged in the General Act for equality between men and women 2006, to promote objective job evaluation methods, and asks it to continue providing information on this matter.

2. Application in practice. The Committee notes the various activities carried out by the National Programme for Equality of Opportunity and Non-Discrimination against Women and by the National Institute for Women. The Committee asks the Government to continue providing information on the above activities and to the extent possible, in relation to the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value.

3. Wage gap. The Committee notes the statistical data provided by the Government, particularly in Annex 2, on the earnings gap between men and women by branch of activity, and notes that the wage gap for 2006 was 31.1 per cent. The Committee asks the Government to provide copies of studies or analyses which may explain the reasons for this earnings gap and the measures envisaged to address it.