Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government's reports.

1. The Committee notes with interest that, further to its previous comments, the new National Inter-Occupational Collective Labour Agreement, adopted in September 1995, no longer includes clause 30 of the National Inter-Occupational Collective Agreement of 1980, which provided that only unmarried women or women whose husbands are engaged in no known employment are entitled to all the benefits contained in the collective agreement. However, in view of the fact that clause 37 of the collective agreement only guarantees to women the same employment rights as men where they are in conformity with the legislative provisions and regulations, and that clause 21 provides that remuneration includes forms of compensation and bonuses other than those referred to in section 4(h) of the Labour Code of 1967, in particular extra-statutory family allowances (section 27), the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the application of the principle of equal remuneration to statutory family allowances, health care, travel expenses and other benefits accorded exclusively with a view to facilitating the discharge by workers of their functions, since all these elements are excluded from the definition of remuneration contained in section 4(h) of the Labour Code. Furthermore, with reference to paragraphs 14 to 17 of its 1986 General Survey on equal remuneration, in which it states that the term "remuneration" also includes family allowances and other indirect benefits "arising out of the worker's employment", such as allowances paid under social security schemes financed by the undertaking or industry concerned, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures which have been taken or are envisaged during the current revision of the Labour Code so that, according to the Government's previous statements, section 4(h) is brought into conformity with Article 1(a) of the Convention.

2. Noting also that section 72 of the Labour Code refers to "equal conditions of work, vocational qualifications and output", the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the measures that have been taken or are envisaged to bring this provision into conformity with Article 2 of the Convention and to achieve in practice equal remuneration for men and women workers, particularly where their work is of a different nature but of equal value. In this respect, the Committee draws the Government's attention to paragraphs 44 to 78 of its General Survey in which it explains that, although criteria such as skill and output provide a basis for an objective appraisal of the performance of various persons performing work of a similar nature, they do not provide a sufficient basis for the application of the principle set out in the Convention, particularly where men and women in practice perform work of a different nature but of equal value. Furthermore, the criterion of output may lead to the emergence of different wage groups as a function of the average output of each sex.

3. Noting that clause 2(3) of the new National Collective Labour Agreement provides for the determination of wage scales by national, regional or enterprise collective agreements, the Committee once again draws the attention of the Government and of employers' and workers' organizations to the value of establishing systems for the objective appraisal of jobs in order to compare the value of the work performed, as recommended by Article 3 of the Convention and paragraphs 138 to 152 of its General Survey. The Committee once again hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide detailed information on any system for the appraisal of jobs adopted in the public and private sectors. In particular, it looks forward with interest to receiving a copy of the new general classification of jobs adopted by the National Labour Council, but which, according to the report, has not yet been approved by a legal text.

4. While noting that, in the current situation in Zaire, it is impossible to develop wage scales or compile statistics on wages, the Committee once again hopes that in the near future the Government will be in a position, with the cooperation of employers' and workers' organizations and any other appropriate body, to compile and analyse statistics on minimum wage rates and the average real earnings of men and women with a view to obtaining more detailed knowledge of the nature and scope of current wage inequalities and the measures for their elimination, as recommended in paragraph 248 of its General Survey of 1986. The ILO is prepared to consider any request for technical assistance made by the Government with a view to facilitating the application of the Convention.