Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1990, published 77th ILC session (1990)

The Committee refers to its observation. It notes the information supplied by the Government in its report. It also notes the statements, forwarded with the report, by the Confederation of Salaried Employees in Finland (TVK), the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), the Confederation of Unions for Academic Professions in Finland (AKAVA), the Finnish Employers' Federation (STK) and the Employers' Confederation of Service Industries (LTK).

1. In its previous observation, the Committee asked the Government to provide full information on the practical application of the Civil Servants Act (No. 755 of 1986) and the Act (No. 609 of 1986) on Equality between Women and Men. The Committee notes from the Government's report that since the Act on Equality between Women and Men has been in force, the equality authorities have received 679 written communications as at the end of June 1989; that the vast majority of these communications concerned suspected discrimination in hiring; and that each year there have been a few dozen communications regarding pay discrimination which came almost without exception from women. The Committee hopes that the Government will include in its next report information on communications regarding pay discrimination, on the actions and decisions taken by the equality authorities, and of the practical results attained.

2. The Committee notes the statistical data supplied by the Government on wages received by men and women workers in the public sector, and which tend to show that the remaining differences in average remuneration levels for men and women relate to different levels of duties. It also notes the statements made by the TVK according to which discrepancies in pay for male and female employees have not diminished since 1987, and that a member survey conducted by the Confederation in 1988 indicated that the pay of female TVK members amounted to 77 per cent of that of male TVK members. It also notes that the earlier trend towards greater equality in wages for men and women has come to a halt during the latter half of the 1980s; and that the AKAVA has conducted a member survey which indicates that, relative to men's salaries, earnings of female employees amount to only 82 per cent in the state administration, 83 per cent in the municipal sector, and 68 per cent in the private sector, and that discrepancies in pay are mainly due to specialisation into different types of work done by men and women. The AKAVA is of the opinion that the promotion of wage equality is dependent upon the realisation of more egalitarian attitudes towards different types of work.

In this connection, the Committee notes with interest from the Government's report that total reform of the state pay scheme is being planned in the committee on the state civil service employment relations and in the advisory committee on state employment relations, and that a proposal for reviewing the classification of job requirements used in the state pay scheme was being circulated in 1989 for comment from state offices and agencies.

The Committee refers to paragraphs 22 and 72 of its 1986 General Survey on Equal Remuneration, where it points out that, in spite of the difficulties associated with a broader comparison of jobs, the fact that women workers are more heavily concentrated in certain jobs and certain sectors of activity has to be taken into account so as to avoid or redress a biased evaluation of qualities traditionally considered as "peculiar to women". It requests the Government to supply in its next report full information on the proposed reform of the state pay scheme, the methods used for the objective evaluation of jobs on the basis of work to be performed, and on the results of that reform on the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

3. The Committee also requests the Government to supply full information on the methods of co-operation with the social partners for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of the Convention, in particular with regard to the objective evaluation of jobs on the basis of work to be performed, and to provide information on the progress achieved in the private sector in the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. In this respect, the Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report whether the entry into force of the Act on Equality between Women and Men has resulted in a noticeable desegregation of the labour market on the basis of sex.