Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2000, published 89th ILC session (2001)

1.  The Committee notes the enactment of the General Labour Act, No. 2/00 of 11 February 2000. It notes with interest that section 162(1) of the Act defines remuneration broadly in general conformity with Article 1(a) of the Convention.

2.  The Committee further notes with interest that section 264 of the Act requires employers to ensure that workers receive equal remuneration for equal work or work of equal value, subject to the worker’s skills and output. Chapter XI(I) of the Act contains provisions relating specifically to the employment of women, including section 268(2)(d), which establishes the right of women workers to receive equal remuneration for equal work or for work of equal value. Subsection 3(b) of section 268 defines work of equal value as "work carried out for the same employer, when the tasks performed, albeit of different natures, are determined to be equivalent through the application of objective job evaluation criteria". In the Committee’s view, the incorporation of the principle of equal value and objective job evaluation criteria in national legislation are very positive developments in the application of the Convention. The Committee hopes that the Government will undertake activities to raise awareness and understanding among workers, employers, labour inspectors and other enforcement officers regarding the new equal pay process. It also expresses the hope that the Government will endeavour to promote the principle of equal remuneration for men and women to cases extending beyond those employed by the same employer, wherever wages are set more broadly, for example, at the sector level. In applying the principle of the Convention by means appropriate to the methods in operation for determining rates of remuneration, the reach of the comparison between jobs should be as wide as allowed by the level at which wage policies, systems and structures are coordinated (see General Survey on equal remuneration, ILO, 1988, paragraph 22).

3.  The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.