Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Gender wage gap. The Committee notes that the wage gap between women and men has remained unchanged since 2005. According to the statistical data made available by EUROSTAT, in 2006 women’s average gross hourly earnings were still 11 per cent lower than those of men. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on any steps taken or envisaged to address the remuneration gap between men and women. In this regard, please indicate any studies conducted with a view to identifying the causes of the gender wage gap and outlining options to address it. Please also continue to provide detailed statistical information on the earnings of men and women.

Article 2 of the Convention. Equal opportunity plans at the enterprise level. The Committee recalls its previous comments stressing the importance of including specific measures promoting the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value in the equal opportunity plans adopted by employers pursuant to the Equal Treatment Act. The Committee notes that following amendments to the Equal Treatment Act introduced by Act CIV of 2006, the supervision of the adoption of these plans and their implementation falls within the mandate of the Equal Treatment Authority. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken, including by the Equal Treatment Authority, to ensure that equal pay issues are addressed in the equal opportunity plans, and on any measures taken to seek the cooperation of workers’ and employers’ organizations in this regard.

National Action Plan for Equal Opportunities. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that a National Action Plan to promote equal opportunities between men and women was expected to be completed by the end of 2007. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the manner in which the Action Plan addresses equal pay issues and on the measures taken under the Plan to promote and ensure the application of the Convention.

Minimum wages. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that following a 2005 agreement between the Government and the social partners, a guaranteed minimum wage was introduced as from 1 July 2006 to the benefit of persons holding jobs that require at least secondary-school qualification and/or vocational qualification. The Committee asks the Government to provide the text of the Governmental Decree regulating the guaranteed minimum wage which was not attached to the report. The Government is also asked to provide information on any measures taken to assess the impact of the new minimum wage scheme on the earnings of men and women and, in particular, whether it has contributed to the closing of the existing gender wage gap.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. In the absence of a reply to its previous request regarding the adoption of sectoral and occupational job classifications, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide full information on this initiative and the manner in which the provisions of the Convention are being taken into account in this process. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on any other measures taken to promote objective job evaluation methods as a means of addressing discriminatory undervaluation of jobs based on gender, including in the context of the equal opportunities plans under the Equal Treatment Act.

Parts III and IV of the report form. Enforcement. Recalling its concerns regarding the fact that the Labour Inspectorate is only able to take action with regard to section 142/A of the Labour Code, which applies the principle of the Convention, when a complaint is lodged by a person alleging that his or her right to equal remuneration has been infringed, it refers to the comments addressed to the Government under the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on judicial decisions concerning the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.