Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Repetition

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Gender pay gap. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes that Government’s report merely repeats its previous statement, that the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and MONSTAT are developing a gender equality index, which will measure gender equality in a range from one (complete inequality) to 100 (complete equality) in the areas of work, knowledge, money, health, time and power. It notes that the 2018 edition of the biannual publication Women and Men in Montenegro of the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and the Statistical Office of Montenegro (MONSTAT) once again does not provide statistics on wages nor does it undertake an analysis of the nature and extent of the gender pay gap. The Committee notes, from the 2017 concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) that the gender pay gap remained high at 16 per cent, resulting in lower pension benefits and a higher risk of poverty for women as compared with men (CEDAW/C/MNE/CO/2, 24 July 2017, paragraph 32). The Committee also notes that the Government, in its 2019 report on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration, declares that in 2019 the gender pay gap dropped by 3 per cent (p. 22). The Committee once again (1) notes that the statistics collected by MONSTAT on wages for 2012-2019 are still not sex-disaggregated and (2) recalls that an analysis of the position and pay of men and women in all job categories, within and between the various sectors, is required to address fully a persisting remuneration gap between men and women. The Committee also refers to its 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions and its general observation of 1999, which provides specific guidance on the type of statistics, disaggregated by sex (see General Survey of 2012 on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 888). The Committee therefore once again asks the Government to take the necessary steps to collect and analyse statistics disaggregated by sex on the levels of remuneration received by men and women in the public and private sectors, and report on the progress made in this regard. It again asks the Government to provide information on the progress made in developing the new index on gender equality and in ensuring that the joint publication of the Ministry and MONSTAT, “Women and Men in Montenegro”, also addresses gender differences in wages. It further asks the Government to take measures to (i) reduce the gender pay gap, in particular in sectors in which women are predominantly employed, to ensure their work is not undervalued, (ii) to address its underlying causes, and (iii) to provide information on the results achieved to this end.

Article 2. Minimum wages and collective agreements. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, following an initiative by workers’ unions, the minimum wage was increased by Decision No. 033/19 of 14 June 2019. The Committee notes that under section 186(1) of the new Labour Law of 2020, “general, branch and collective agreements with the employer shall be registered with the Ministry, and the general and branch collective agreements shall be published in the Official Journal of Montenegro”. Noting the lack of information provided in this regard, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide: (i) information on any measures taken to promote the principle of the Convention, in both the private and public sectors; (ii) information on the concrete measures taken to ensure that the principle of the Convention is taken into account in the context of collective bargaining, in particular, with regard to individual agreements at the enterprise level, ; and (iii) copies of the General Collective Agreement and branch collective agreements in branches of activity, containing provisions relating to wages, which were indicated as attached to the Government’s report but which the Committee has not received.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee recalls that, under the Law (No. 16/16) on salaries of employees in the public sector of 2016, determination of salaries is based on the following principles: (1) uniformity of salaries for work in the same or similar positions or positions that require the same level or sublevel of qualifications; (2) transparency of earnings; and (3) fiscal sustainability of earnings (section 5). In this regard, the Committee recalls that the concept of equal remuneration for work of equal value between men and women workers entails a broad scope of comparison, including, but going beyond, the “same” or “similar” work, and also encompasses work that is of an entirely different nature (including under different conditions and even in different establishments), which is nevertheless of equal value (see General Survey of 2012 on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 673). Noting that the Government has not provided the information requested, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide more detailed information on how Law No. 16/16 ensures that the pay system in the public sector implements fully the principle of the Convention. Recalling the importance of ensuring that the selection of factors for comparison, the weighting of such factors and the actual comparison carried out are not discriminatory, either directly or indirectly, the Committee again asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to promote the use of objective job evaluation methods that are free from gender bias in the private sector.

Enforcement. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that in the period considered, no complaints involving the principle of equal pay for work of equal value have been detected by the labour inspectorate. The Government highlights that such infringements of the principle of the Convention are not easily detectable by labour inspectors during inspections. Recalling the importance of training labour inspectors to increase their capacity to prevent, detect and remedy such instances, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on any specific training programmes developed to enhance the labour inspector’s capacity to handle wage discrimination cases. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information regarding awareness-raising activities conducted among workers, employers and their organizations, as well as judges and other officials responsible, particularly on the new provisions of the Labour Code, for ensuring the implementation of the principle set out in the Convention in practice. Finally, noting the lack of information provided in this regard, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide information on the number and nature of cases dealt with by the courts or by the Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, which relate specifically to complaints concerning the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value.