Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Jamaica (Ratification: 1975)

Other comments on C100

Observation

Direct Request

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Article 2 of the Convention. Measures to address the gender wage gap. The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not reply to its request for information on the measures taken or envisaged to promote the principle of the Convention. The Committee therefore once again asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken to promote the application of the Convention through policies aimed at promoting equal access of women to all occupations and economic sectors, especially to decision making and management posts in both the public and private sectors, and on their effect on the elimination of wage differentials. The Committee also again asks the Government to provide copies of salary scales in the civil service, disaggregated by sex.

Application of the principle through collective agreements. In its previous comments, the Committee asked the Government to supply copies of collective agreements. Noting that the requested documents were not included in the Government’s report, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide copies of collective agreements that include provisions on equal remuneration and applicable wage scales. Please also provide information on the distribution of men and women in the different wage scales and occupations covered, so as to enable the Committee to assess the extent to which the principle of the Convention is applied through collective agreements.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation in the public sector. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Performance Management Appraisal System (PMAS) in the public sector ensures that promotions and salary increases are granted according to the efficiency of the performance of workers or once the agreed performance targets are met. The Government also indicates that specific salaries are assigned to all job positions, therefore the salary remains the same regardless of gender. The Committee considers that it is still not clear whether the PMAS is related to the evaluation of the content of the different jobs for the purpose of determining remuneration or whether it is a system to appraise the performance of individual staff. The Committee recalls that Article 3 is concerned with the analysis of the content of specific jobs or positions on the basis of entirely objective and non-discriminatory criteria, such as skill, effort, responsibilities and working conditions, rather than evaluating the performance of an individual. The Committee asks the Government to clarify whether the PMAS applies to analysing and classifying jobs for the purpose of remuneration determination and to describe the method and criteria used to that end.

Enforcement of equal remuneration and minimum wage legislation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it is possible that industrial action could be taken if gender is used to determine salary levels rather than the position being held. While the availability of industrial action is important, the Committee does not consider such possibility to be sufficient to ensure the effective application and enforcement of the principle of the Convention. The Committee also notes the enactment of the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Order 2011, and the statistical information provided by the Government concerning the distribution of men and women in the sectors where non-payment of minimum wages has been most problematic. The Committee notes that household employees, restaurant (catering trade hotels), counter clerks in shops and private security personnel are the sectors where non-payment of minimum wages has been most problematic, and that the number of women who submitted complaints relating to the Minimum Wages Act is significantly higher than men. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the following:

(i) the measures taken to ensure that the minimum wage legislation as well as other legislation relevant to the application of the principle of the Convention is effectively enforced for both women and men;
(ii) the number of men and women respectively in the following sectors: household employees, restaurant (catering trade hotels), counter clerks in shops and private security personnel;
(iii) the underlying causes of the unequal distribution of men and women who lodged complaints in the above sectors;
(iv) any obstacles with respect to its enforcement that disproportionately affect women workers; and
(v) any activities carried out by the Pay and Conditions of Employment Branch (PCEB) with respect to equal remuneration.