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Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Belarus (RATIFICATION: 1956)

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Observation

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Article 2 of the Convention. Public sector. The Committee takes note of the data, provided in the Government’s report, which sets out the distribution of men and women in public sector jobs and in occupational category and position. The Committee notes however, that no information is provided on the gender wage gap in the public sector. It notes, from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) report “Belarus Country Gender Equality Brief” (2019), that in 2014, women earned 86.4 per cent of what men earned in Public Administration. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that, in order to address the gender wage gap in the public sector, it has drawn up a schedule for gradually doubling the wages of certain categories of public-sector education and health workers by 2025. The first stage has already been completed through the adoption of Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 632 of 31 August 2018, which increased the pay of various categories of workers, including teachers, doctors, pharmacists and paramedical personnel. The Government further indicates that, as most of the people employed in the education and health sectors are traditionally women, these measures will help to reduce the gender pay gap. The Committee requests the Government to: (i) continue its efforts to increase wages in certain categories of the public sector in order to reduce the gender wage gap; and (ii) take measures to assess the gender pay gap in the public sector, taking into account any additional allowances and benefits and to provide information on the progress achieved. The Committee also requests the Government to: (i) continue to provide statistics, disaggregated by sex, showing the number of public sector employees, occupational category and position; and (ii) to ensure that this information includes data on the wages of public sector employees, disaggregated by sex, occupational category and position.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Government reiterates that the Skill Classification of jobs and occupations (ETKS) and the Skill Classification of posts of managers, specialists, and office staff (EKSD) evaluate the value of the work by its difficulty. The Committee notes the Government indication that the “difficulty of the work” is an objective criterion and is determined by the content of the work, which inherently does not depend directly or indirectly on gender-related factors. The Committee points out that often skills considered to be “female”, such as manual dexterity and those required in the caring professions, are undervalued (considered less difficult) or even overlooked, in comparison with traditionally “male” skills, such as heavy lifting which can be considered more difficult (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 701). The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that work is currently underway to reform the national qualifications system, which is the organizational and legal mechanism for providing the economy with skilled workers. The main documents regulating the national qualifications system are the national classification systems (“Occupations” and “Specialist fields and qualifications”), the pay and skills reference guides (the ETKS and EKSD), and the educational standards. The Government indicates that the current national qualifications system is used to classify and set rates for manual and non-manual jobs, to regulate employment, to organize training, professional development and retraining, to select and assign employees depending on their specialist field and qualifications, to award qualifications and to apply various pay schemes. Once again, while noting the Government’s explanation regarding the methods and the procedure used to assess the value of work, the Committee asks the Government to: (i) indicate specifically how it is ensured that the selection of factors for comparison (qualifications, effort, responsibility, working conditions), the weighing of such factors and the actual comparison carried out are not discriminatory, either directly or indirectly; and (ii) provide information on the reform of the national qualifications system, and how it will ensure that the new system is free from gender bias. Noting the absence of information provided in this regard, the Committee once again asks the Government to: (i) indicate the measures taken, in practice, to encourage the use of such methods and procedures in both the private and the public sectors; and (ii) provide information on any job evaluation exercises which were undertaken, and the outcome thereof.

Article 4. Cooperation with workers’ and employers’ organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, under paragraph 46.3 of the General Agreement for 2014-15, when laws and regulations affecting citizen’s employment-related and socio-economic rights and interests and employers’ related economic interests are drafted, the Government is to communicate the draft texts to the social partners and consider their opinions before taking a decision. The Government adds that, in 2017, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection drafted and adopted 13 decisions which amended the qualification criteria of the skills profile for the posts of various jobs, and that all of these amendments were sent to the social partners for review. The Committee notes, however, that the Government does not indicate how these 13 decisions directly related to the principle of equality of remuneration between men and women. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the steps taken, in cooperation with workers’ and employers’ organizations, to promote the application of the Convention specifically, including any steps taken to promote objective job evaluation free from gender bias.

Practical application.Results of labour inspection and judicial decisions. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the labour inspectorate did not find any violations of the law relating to the principle of equal pay for men and women for work of equal value, and that no complaints were received about the conferment of any advantage based on sex. In this regard, the Committee once again refers the Government to paragraph 870 of its 2012 General Survey. The Committee notes that several awareness-raising activities, including on the principle of equal pay between men and women were planned, through the National Gender Equality Action Plan 2017–2020, such as: (1) lectures and discussions on legal matters for workforces and educational institutions; (2) charity events where free legal advice is provided to socially vulnerable groups; (3) educational and other events to build the skills of attorneys and other people providing legal services; and (4) holding events to increase the public’s legal literacy at educational institutions and legal information centres. The Government also states that planned, systematic, ongoing work takes place to raise the knowledge and skills of judges and labour inspectors in respect of labour law, including equal pay between men and women for work of equal value. The Committee requests the Government to take measures to specifically raise awareness of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value among labour inspectors, judges, workers, employers and their organizations. It reiterates its request that the Government provide specific information concerning the nature and number of violations of the legislation related to the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value detected by or brought to the attention of labour inspectors, the remedies provided and sanctions imposed, as well as any judicial or administrative decisions concerning the principle of the Convention.