Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Measures to promote equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. The Committee notes that the Equal Pay Commission appointed by the Government in 2008 issued its report and recommendations in February 2008. The Committee notes that the Commission made seven specific recommendations with a view to promoting equal remuneration for women and men: (1) strengthen the enforcement of the duty to promote gender equality under the Gender Equality Act; (2) implement pay increases for selected female-dominated occupations in the public sector; (3) social partners involved in private sector collective bargaining are to allocate funds to “combined low wage and women’s posts”; (4) amend the National Insurance Act to ensure that mothers and fathers divide parental leave more equally between them; (5) introduce through collective agreements a right of employees to at least average pay increase upon return from parental leave; (6) launch a project to support enterprises in implementing measures to increase women’s recruitment to management positions; and (7) increase use of local negotiations in public sector collective bargaining in areas with a large proportion of female-dominated occupational groups. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the report has been submitted to the social partners, and that a positive response from the workers’ organizations has been received. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken to follow up on the seven recommendations of the Equal Pay Commission, including through continued dialogue with the social partners.

Article 3 of the Convention. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes that the Government has no information at its disposal on further developments regarding the use of objective job evaluation. It notes that the summary of the Equal Pay Commission’s report states that job evaluation as a method to promote equal pay has not had much impact in Norway. According to the Commission’s report, experience had shown that it was not difficult to measure the value of work based on job content, but that problems occurred with regard to pay adjustments to be made accordingly. Further, job evaluation within enterprises was believed to have little effect on the pay gap, because the greatest pay differences result from the gender-based labour market, with women and men divided between different industries, sectors and workplaces. The Committee, recalling that Article 3 of the Convention identifies objective job evaluation as a means to determine remuneration in accordance with the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, asks the Government to provide information on any measures taken to promote the use of objective job evaluation by companies and public employers, as well as information on any measures taken to overcome the obstacles relating to job evaluation identified by the Equal Pay Commission. In particular, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken, in cooperation with the social partners to address pay differences between men and women beyond the enterprise level, examining the remuneration levels in female-dominated and male-dominated occupations where the work is of equal value.

Enforcement. The Committee notes that, since the Gender Equality Act was strengthened with respect to equal pay matters in 2002, the Equality and Non‑Discrimination Tribunal has dealt with only 17 equal pay cases. According to the Government, cases are rarely upheld where they involve the evaluation of work across occupational borders. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on any measures taken to strengthen the enforcement of the equal pay provisions of the Gender Equality Act, including through awareness raising and training, and to provide more detailed information on the nature and outcomes of equal pay cases decided under the Act.

Statistical information. The Committee asks the Government to provide detailed and updated information on the gender pay gap, including information regarding the gender pay gap in the various sectors of the economy.