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

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s first report, and the accompanying documentation, including collective agreements.

1.  The Committee notes with interest the recent adoption of the Equal Opportunity (No. 2) Act, 2000, which expressly prohibits discrimination in employment and promotes equality of opportunity. While noting that this prohibition appears to be sufficiently broad to cover the elements of remuneration set out in the Convention, in the absence of a specific provision relating to equal pay for work of equal value, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the manner in which the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is to be applied in practice.

2.  The Committee notes that the new Act applies to all workers in the public and the private sectors. It notes further that certain sectors of activity and groups of workers are excluded from the application of the Act including, among others, sports, clubs, voluntary bodies, non-profit organizations and religious bodies (Part V, Non-application of the Act) and domestic workers (article 13(1)). In this context, the Committee also draws the attention of the Government to part-time workers, who, although covered by the new Act, are excluded from the application of other legislative provisions. The Committee asks the Government to provide information indicating the manner in which these workers will be protected under the Convention.

3.  The Committee notes that the Government emphasizes the value of collective agreements as important tools to ensure the application of the Convention. It also notes the copies of the three agreements included with the Government’s report as examples of collective agreements entered into between the workers and the public sector where they are employed, such as Port-of-Spain City Corporation, San Fernando City Corporation and regional corporations, and the lists of occupations detailed in these agreements and corresponding wages. However, the Committee notes with concern that these agreements contain differences in the salary scales for labourer (male) and labourer (female), with no other indication of the ground for this wage differential other than gender. Noting that this wage differential is not in conformity with the Convention, the Committee asks the Government to provide information in its next report on the measures taken to remove this difference between men and women in the collective agreements and to ensure that other such agreements entered into in the future do not include sex-based wage differentials.

4.  The Committee notes the salary scales included with the Government’s report, but notes that there is no statistical data indicating the number of men and women, their grades or the posts they hold. In this respect, the Committee notes the Government’s statement to the United Nations Committee on Civil and Political Rights that there are a large number of women in clerical posts. It also notes from the same report that the Government is in the process of reviewing its job appraisal system (UN document No. CCPR/C/TTO/99/3 of February 2000). The Committee draws the attention of the Government to its comments regarding the importance of objective job evaluations as contained in paragraphs 138-145 of the 1986 General Survey on equal remuneration which states that:

… [T]he notion of paying men and women in accordance with the value of their work necessarily implies the adoption of some technique to measure and compare objectively the relative value of the jobs performed. Such a technique is moreover essential in determining whether jobs involving different work may none the less have the same value for the purposes of remuneration … Job evaluation, which provides a way of systematically rewarding jobs for their content, without regard to the personal characteristics of a worker, has come to be considered in an increasing number of countries as the most feasible technique of extending equal remuneration to men and women (General Survey, paragraph 138).

It asks the Government to provide further information on any measures taken or envisaged to ensure objective job evaluations in both the public and private sectors.

5.  Noting that no statistical information has been provided which would permit the Committee to make an assessment of the application of the Convention in practice, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide statistical data disaggregated by sex on the number of women and men employed, their job classifications and remuneration levels in accordance with the general observation of 1998.

6.  Please provide information on labour inspection activities or court decisions relevant to the application of this Convention.

7.  Please provide information on the manner in which the social partners are promoting the application of the Convention.