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Minimum wages. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that it is in the process of establishing a new Minimum Wages Commission. The Committee hopes that the new Minimum Wages Commission will ensure and promote the application of the principle of the Convention, and asks the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard.

Agricultural sector, including banana plantations. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that remuneration in the agricultural sector is generally determined by task and availability of labour. Labour-intensive tasks are usually higher paid and generally attract male workers; tasks done by both male and female workers are paid the same. The Committee recalls that the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value includes but goes beyond equal remuneration for “equal”, the “same” or “similar” work, and also encompasses work that is of an entirely different nature, which is nevertheless of equal value. It draws the attention of the Government to the fact that in order to establish whether different jobs are of equal value, there has to be an examination of the respective tasks involved. This examination must be undertaken on the basis of entirely objective and non-discriminatory criteria to avoid an assessment being tainted by gender bias. Particular care must be taken to ensure that skills considered to be “female” are not undervalued or even overlooked, in comparison with traditionally “male” skills, such as labour-intensive work or heavy lifting. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that the criteria used and weighing of factors to determine wages in the agricultural sector are non-discriminatory and free from gender bias. It also encourages the Government to take steps to eliminate any stereotyped assumptions regarding women’s ambitions, preferences and capabilities, tending to exclude them from higher paid jobs in the agricultural sector, and to report on the progress made in this regard.

Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that some establishments in consultation with the trade unions are conducting objective job evaluation. The Committee asks the Government to provide further information on the job evaluation methods used in these establishments, and provide examples of job evaluation exercises, where available. Please also indicate whether these have had any impact on reducing existing wage differentials between men and women in the said establishments.

Labour inspection In the absence of any further information on this point, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken to increase the awareness and capacity of the labour inspection services to promote and enforce the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value contained in the Equality of Opportunity and Treatment Act, 2000.

Statistics. The Committee notes, once again, the absence in the Government’s report of any statistics disaggregated by sex regarding workers at different grades or wage scales. The Committee asks the Government to take concrete steps to put in place a system for the collection and analysis of statistics, disaggregated by sex, in line with the Committee’s 1998 general observation on this matter, and to report on the progress made in this regard.