Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

The Committee notes the Government’s report, in particular the adoption of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act, 2002 (Cap. 452) which repeals the Conditions of Employment (Regulation) Act (Cap. 135) and the Industrial Relations Act (Cap. 266).

Article 4, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the Convention. The Committee notes that, under sections 3 to 5 of the new legislation, the composition and mandate of the Employment Relations Board, which was formerly known as the "Labour Board", remains practically the same. More concretely, the new advisory organ is composed, in part, of an equal number of employers’ and workers’ representatives while its main function is to make recommendations to the Minister as to any national minimum standard conditions of employment for eventual inclusion in a national standard order. The Committee notes, however, that, under the new Employment and Industrial Relations Act, provision is no longer made for wages councils and wage regulation orders. The Committee would be grateful if the Government could provide additional information on the new legislative arrangements for the determination of minimum wage levels and indicate whether the national minimum standard wage continues to reflect cost of living wage adjustments. It would also appreciate receiving copies of any national standard order establishing minimum wage rates or any wage regulation order currently in force.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. The Committee notes that the Government has not supplied in the last ten years any information on the practical application of the Convention. It requests therefore the Government to provide in its next report all available information regarding the application of the Convention in practice, including, for instance, statistics on the number of workers covered by minimum wages legislation, extracts from inspection reports showing the number of infringements and sanctions imposed, texts of judicial decisions discussing questions of principle relating to the application of the Convention as well as any other particulars bearing on the functioning of the minimum wage fixing machinery.