Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the detailed information supplied by the Government in its report and the attached documentation. It also notes the observations provided by the Trade Union of Food Industry, Agricultural and Forestry Workers and the Austrian Congress of Chambers of Labour, communicated with the report.

1. The Committee notes with interest that in response to the initiatives of the Equal Treatment Committee, the remaining discriminatory clauses contained in a few collective agreements in the food and allied industries have been removed, by aligning the rights of women with those of men as regards travel allowances, family allowances and widows' pensions. The Committee also notes that the separate wage rates for men and women are no longer contained in most of the collective agreements in this sector and that newly negotiated wage categories do not specify the worker's sex. It notes, however, that the Trade Union of Food Industry, Agricultural and Forestry Workers has indicated that the only collective agreement containing different categories of remuneration for work of equal value is that for the confectionery industry, which employs a significant number of women workers (70 per cent). This union calls for long-term strategy in wage negotiations to increase women's earnings proportionately more than those of men in order to achieve equal remuneration. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress achieved in eliminating the remaining discriminatory provisions in collective agreements, in particular if there are any still establishing separate wage rates for men and women in the food and allied industries, including confectionery, and on further action taken by the Equal Treatment Committee in that respect.

2. The Committee notes with interest the amendment to the Equality of Treatment Act by Federal Act of 27 June 1990, which amends section 2(2) so as to stipulate that the equality of treatment requirement must be observed in the fixing of remuneration under collective bargaining agreements so that such agreements should not provide for criteria for the evaluation of women's and men's work in such a way as to lead to discrimination. The Committee also notes with interest the amendment on 21 February 1991 of the Lower Austria Agricultural Labour Order, 1973, which provides that collective agreements may not establish discriminatory criteria for the evaluation of women's and men's work (section 240(2)). It requests the Government to indicate what measures have been taken or contemplated during the renegotiation of collective agreements so as to implement the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value in accordance with the provisions of the amended Equality of Treatment Act and the Agricultural Labour Order. In this connection, the Committee also notes with interest that the Equal Treatment Committee has decided to establish a working party to determine whether job classification descriptions and evaluation criteria for individual wage groups contained in collective agreements are such that, if these agreements are correctly applied, they preclude discrimination based on sex. It asks the Government to supply information on the findings of this working party with regard to promoting the use of objective appraisal of jobs on the basis of work to be performed in the various economic sectors.

3. The Committee notes the Government's indication that there is no legal procedure which empowers a court or administrative authority to declare null and void clauses of collective agreements which are found to be contrary to the principle of equal remuneration under section 2 of the Equality of Treatment Act, and that an aggrieved person must bring an individual complaint and such a clause will be declared invalid in regard to that person only. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on any recent cases in which the Equal Treatment Committee or a labour tribunal found a clause in a collective agreement to be discriminatory with regard to remuneration, rendering the discriminatory clause null and void in respect of the individual worker concerned. In addition, given that the 1990 amendment to section 2(2) (referred to above) requires collective bargaining agreements not to include criteria for the evaluation of men's and women's work in such a way as to lead to discrimination, the Committee asks the Government to indicate in its next report the effect of new section 2(2) on discriminatory clauses in such agreements.

4. The Committee notes the comment of the Austrian Congress of Chambers of Labour that there should be statutory penalties against employers and entitlements to compensation for aggrieved persons when wage discrimination based on sex has occurred. Noting the enforcement procedure laid down in section 6 of the Equality of Treatment Act, the Committee asks the Government to indicate how labour court rulings can be effectively enforced against non-complying employers in cases of proven wage discrimination on the basis of sex, and to describe what other sanctions, such as fines, are available when the Equality of Treatment Act has been breached in cases of discrimination in the fixing of remuneration.

5. The Committee is addressing a request on further matters directly to the Government.