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

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government, particularly on the methods of determining rates of remuneration, as well as the attached documentation and the information on labour inspection contained in the annual reports of the Department of Labour, in reply to its previous comments.

1. The Committee notes the information that Statutory Instrument No. 61 of 1990 (to which reference was made in its previous observation) has been repealed and replaced by Statutory Instrument No. 140 of 1993, under the terms of which the issue of the payment of housing allowances is no longer prescribed by the Government, but is determined by the social partners. While noting this transfer of responsibility, the Committee trusts that the Government, when exercising its control over the legality of the content of collective agreements under the terms of section 71(2) of the Industrial and Labour Relations Act of 1993, will endeavour in particular to ensure that the clauses relating to the payment of housing allowance (and more generally of other benefits) are drawn up in terms which are not prejudicial to the persons concerned on the grounds of their sex. The Committee requests the Government to transmit the text of Statutory Instrument No. 140 of 1993, which it states was attached to its report, but which has not been received.

2. The Committee notes with interest that the new collective agreement concluded for the period 1 August 1996 to 31 July 1998 between the Zambia Bankers (Employers) Association and the Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers abolishes former clause 19, which provided that a "married male employee in group 1 shall receive a marriage allowance of K20 a month upon production of a satisfactory documentary proof of marriage", which was in violation of both section 108 of the Industrial and Labour Relations Act, 1993, and the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value, set out in the Convention. The Committee also notes the Government's statement that it is ensuring that no collective agreements award marriage allowances or any other benefits that differentiate on the basis of sex.

3. With regard to the collective agreement concluded by the enterprise "Zambia Textiles Limited" with the National Union of Commercial and Industrial Workers, the Committee notes that in clause 21(3)(1) of this agreement it is provided that in the event of the death of a legal wife, mother, father and a child below the age of 18 years, the employee benefits from special leave with remuneration of two weeks and a loan; furthermore, under the terms of clause 22(2), the employee also benefits from financial assistance from the enterprise (purchase of a coffin, transport expenses, financial assistance, firewood, etc.). In the same way, the Committee draws the Government's attention to clause 6(08) of the collective agreement concluded between the company "Zambia Oxygen Limited" and the National Union of Building, Engineering and General Workers, which provides that in the event of the death of an employee, his wife and children under the age of 18 years shall be entitled to repatriation. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures that have been taken to ensure that these benefits are granted under conditions which do not discriminate as to the sex of the employees, that is to female employees whose spouse, parent or dependent child dies or to the dependants of a female employee who dies. In more general terms, the Committee reminds the Government that such discrimination could be avoided by the systematic use of terms which do not discriminate on the grounds of the sex of the worker concerned (General Survey of 1986 on equal remuneration, paragraph 240). Recalling that section 108 of the Industrial and Labour Relations Act, 1993 (Act No. 27 of 1993) prohibits the imposition of any penalty or disadvantage on employees on the grounds of sex and marital status, among others, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures that have been taken to guarantee the conformity of the above collective agreements, as regards the granting of benefits without taking into consideration the sex of the workers concerned, in respect of the Convention and the above national labour legislation. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to continue transmitting the texts of collective agreements covering the various sectors.

4. The Committee notes that the statistics on the distribution of women and men in the classifications compiled by the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) were not received with the report. It therefore requests the Government to transmit them with its next report.

5. The Committee notes the Government's statement that the Organization and Methods Office of the Public Service (also called the Permanent Job Evaluation Office), the function of which is to provide advice to management on the economically efficient and effective use of human and material resources, does not play a role in the application of the principle of equal remuneration, responsibility for which lies with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. In this respect, the Committee once again draws the Government's attention to paragraph 6 of the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 90), which suggests various measures to raise the productive efficiency of women as a means of facilitating the application of the principle contained in the Convention.

6. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the difficulties encountered by many governments in the application of the Convention appeared to be caused by a number of factors, including a lack of knowledge of the true situation due to the unavailability or inadequacy of data and research in this field. It also reminded the Government that it could obtain the advice and technical assistance of the ILO in order to document more exactly the nature and extent of existing inequalities and devise measures to eliminate them. The Committee therefore notes with interest that the Government has contacted the ILO and the World Bank with a view to establishing a labour market information system, and it would be grateful to be kept informed of the result of these contacts.