Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government. It also notes new comments on the application of the Convention submitted by the Turkish Federation of Employer Associations (TISK) and the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TÜRK-IS) which reiterate to a large extent the comments from previous years.

1. In previous direct requests, the Committee had noted the comments made by TÜRK-IS that in the public sector, employees who may hold different status ó namely "workers", "civil servants" or "contract personnel" -- carry out exactly the same work, but enjoy completely different rights, freedoms and remuneration. The Committee notes that TÜRK-IS again raises this point while TISK maintains its comments confirming the application of the Convention by constitutional and legislative provisions. The Committee notes the Government's reply that the remuneration system of Turkish public employees, although completely free of gender bias, is nevertheless considered as an area which should be tackled. The Government refers in this regard to the proposed recommendations included under the Seventh Five-Year Development Plan to render the public service more efficient and to reduce wage inequality in the public sector. The Committee wishes to recall that the Convention only enshrines the principle of equal remuneration on the basis of sex and not on the basis of a worker's contractual status. Nevertheless, the Committee has also pointed out on several occasions that efforts to improve and rationalize the wage system in general implicitly facilitate the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. While maintaining its opinion that the fact that the abovementioned groups in the public service receive differing remuneration is not relevant in the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, the Committee requests the Government to seize the opportunity to ensure the application of the principle of equal pay for women and men in the implementation of the recommendations in the Seventh Five-Year Development Plan to reduce wage inequalities in the public sector, and to keep it informed of any developments in this regard.

2. Further to its previous comments on the discriminatory payment of certain components of remuneration to a public servant which are linked to sex, the Committee notes the government statement that the Draft Bill on Financial and Social Rights and Benefits of Civil Servants and Other Public Employees prepared by the State Personnel Department stipulates that each component of a benefit will be split between husband and wife equally, when both are civil servants. The Committee welcomes this provision and trusts that the new Bill will take into account the comments raised in its previous direct request on the systematic use of gender-neutral language, not prejudging the sex of the workers concerned, and looks forward to receiving a copy of the Bill, upon adoption.

3. As regards the application of the Convention to self-employed workers, the Committee notes the government statement that "dependent self-employment" in the context of the Committee's definition (referred to in its previous direct request) is experienced in Turkey only for home work mainly carried out by women. The Government further states that according to 1997 statistics there are 117,000 women homeworkers of a total of 5.5 million working women, and that, therefore, there is no urgent need to initiate a campaign promoting the application of the principle of the Convention for this category of workers. The Committee wishes to recall that the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention provide for application to all workers the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value, and requests the Government to indicate any measures taken or contemplated, in addition to promotional campaigns, to ensure that this category of workers is not excluded from the benefits of the Convention.

4. The Committee further wishes to draw the Government's attention to the need to provide sufficient information to enable the Committee to assess the implementation of the Convention in practice, and refers in this regard to its general observation of 1998 on this Convention. In this connection, the Committee notes from the Government's periodical report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the efforts undertaken by the Government to improve, in general, the educational and employment opportunities for women. The Committee refers in this regard to its comments made under Convention No. 111, and wishes to underline the importance of such measures to facilitate the application of the provisions of the Convention. It also requests the Government to provide information on how the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is promoted in the private sector, and the measures taken to cooperate with employers' and workers' organizations for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of the Convention and of national legislation on the subject.