Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1992, published 79th ILC session (1992)

The Committee refers to its observation. It is bound, in the absence of a report, to recall the following questions which were raised in its previous direct request:

1. The Committee notes the draft of the new Labour Code (a copy of which was supplied by the Government), and notes that section 301 of this draft text (in conjunction with section 7) requires equal working conditions, occupational qualifications and output for the purposes of applying the principle of equal remuneration without discrimination on grounds, inter alia, of sex. The scope of this section therefore seems to be more limited than that of the Convention under which equal remuneration for men and women workers must be understood as being for work of equal value. The Committee hopes that the wording of the above section can be modified to correspond more closely to the Convention so that the application of the principles set forth in the Convention can be ensured in all cases, and particularly where men and women in practice perform work of a different nature but of equal value. The Committee requests the Government to refer in this connection to the explanations given in paragraphs 20 to 23 and 52 to 70 of its 1986 General Survey on Equal Remuneration.

2. The Committee noted in its previous comments section 1(2) of the Dahir of 28 Rebia I 1355 (18 June 1936), under which "in industry, commerce and the liberal professions, the fringe benefits and the benefits in kind granted to manual and non-manual workers shall be taken into account in evaluating their wages", and also section 1(3) of the same Dahir, under which benefits in kind in agriculture shall be additional to the minimum wages. The Committee notes that the above provisions of the Dahir of 18 June 1936 have been reproduced in section 311 of the draft Labour Code and requests the Government to indicate whether these benefits are the same for men and women, both in the agricultural sector and in the public and private non-agricultural sector.

The Committee notes from the Government's most recent report that the usual practice of employers is that the only benefits which are added to the legal minimum wage are paid in the form of food or lodging; that if employers grant other benefits to workers, practically no account is taken of this in calculating their wages; and that these benefits should be the same for men and women so that equality of remuneration may be assured for all workers without any discrimination.

The Committee notes this information, and requests the Government (as it did in its previous comments), to supply information on the practical application of the principle of equal remuneration between men and women, by sending copies of collective agreements and of agreements concluded in both the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors as well as information on the activities of the inspection services in this connection. The Committee would like in particular to receive information on how the principle of the Convention is applied to wages above the legal minimum.

3. The Committee notes the text of Dahir No. 1-58-008 of 4 Chaabane 1377 (24 February 1958), enacting the General Statute for the Public Service, and of Decree No. 2-62-344 of 15 Safar 1383 (8 July 1963), setting out the conditions for promotion between categories and between steps for state officials. It requests the Government to communicate clarifications concerning the classification of posts in the public service and on the methods used for an objective evaluation of posts on the basis of the work to be performed, so that it may assess the practical application of the Convention in this connection.