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

The Committee notes with regret that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. The Committee notes that section 24 of the Labour Standards Act, 1977, prohibits differences in wages between male and female workers employed in the same business who are performing, under the same working conditions, the same or similar work or jobs requiring similar skill, effort and responsibility. The Committee, referring to Article 1(a) of the Convention and to paragraphs 14 and 15 of its 1986 General Survey on Equal Remuneration, requests the Government to indicate the scope of the term "wages" in section 24 of the Labour Standards Act. The Committee also points out that under the Convention, equal remuneration for men and women workers is to be established for work of equal value. Thus the principle of the Convention goes beyond a reference to the "same" or "similar work" in choosing the value of the work as the comparison point. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate how the Convention's principle of equal remuneration "for work of equal value" is ensured when men and women workers carry out jobs of a different nature, but of the same value. Please refer in this connection to the explanations in paragraphs 20 to 23 and 52 to 70 of the above-mentioned General Survey.

2. The Committee notes that wage rates are determined by collective agreements and through a tripartite advisory committee. It also notes that minimum wage rates may be established by proclamation under section 5(1) of the Labour Standards Act. It requests the Government to indicate how wage rates - and in particular those which are higher than the minimum rate - are fixed for workers in the public and the private sectors, and to provide detailed information on the methods used, in the process of fixing wages, for an objective appraisal of jobs on the basis of work performed, as provided for by Article 3, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the Convention.

3. The Committee notes that under section 25 of the Labour Standards Act payment to male and female employees of different wages does not constitute a violation of section 24 of the same act if the difference is based on any other factor or factors than sex that justify such a difference. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the intent and practical application of section 25.

4. The Committee notes the Government's statement that the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value is applied by collective agreements and by the Industrial Relations Tribunal and that the Labour Division promotes the application of the principle through routine consultations, inspections, meetings and seminars. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the practice of the Industrial Relations Tribunal in the field of equal remuneration for work of equal value; to provide copies of collective agreements, in particular of agreements concluded in sectors that occupy a large proportion of women workers; and to provide information on the progress achieved in the promotion of the principle by the Labour Division.