Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2008, Publicación: 98ª reunión CIT (2009)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Application in the private sector. In its previous comments the Committee continued its dialogue with the Government on measures to address sex-based wage discrimination in the textile and clothing sector and the informal manufacturing industry, where the large majority of the workers are women. The Committee recalls that under a new methodology for interventions, labour inspectors are specially called upon to monitor the application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value, introduced by section 346 of the Labour Code, and to encourage social partners to implement the principle when determining remuneration. The Committee had asked the Government for additional information demonstrating the effective enforcement of section 346 of the Labour Code by the labour inspectorate and the courts, as well as information on the new methodology concerning equal remuneration and the type of contraventions identified by the labour inspectors and the manner in which they had been remedied. The Committee had also requested information on the measures taken by the enterprises or social partners to ensure compliance with section 346, including objective job evaluation or review of wage scales, and on the measures taken to address discrimination in remuneration in the informal manufacturing sector.

The Committee notes that 624 contraventions concerning the payment of wages were addressed by the labour inspectorate in 2007, primarily relating to failure to respect the minimum wage and the non-issuing of salary bulletins; and that no decisions have been handed down by the courts concerning sex-based discrimination. The Committee further notes the Government’s statement that labour inspection interventions also cover the informal manufacturing sector, as well as the Government’s explanations as to the new methodology for labour inspections. The Government, however, does not indicate how this methodology has been used with a view to monitoring equal remuneration for work of equal value. The Committee further notes that, with the assistance of the ILO, a good practices guide on equal employment strategies has been developed for private enterprises that wish to implement such a strategy in order to improve their productivity. The guide offers, among other things, various measures to assist enterprises in undertaking an objective evaluation of jobs without gender bias.

While appreciating this information and welcoming the development of the good practices guide, the Committee is bound to observe that insufficient information has been provided to enable the Committee to reach definite conclusions on whether inequalities in remuneration between men and women in the textile and clothing industry and in the informal manufacturing industry have been addressed effectively. The Committee also wishes to point out that the absence of complaints or contraventions with respect to equal remuneration does not necessarily mean that the Convention and the national legislation are effectively applied. The Committee, therefore, hopes that the Government’s next report will contain full information:

(i)    demonstrating the effectiveness of the labour inspection services in monitoring the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value in the textile and clothing sector and the informal manufacturing industry, through the new methodology or otherwise;

(ii)   indicating the progress made by enterprises and the social partners in developing objective job evaluation methods or reviewing wage scales, using the good practice guide on equal employment strategies; and

(iii) indicating more generally any other measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is being respected in the determination of wages and benefits.

Please also continue to provide information on the type of violations concerning remuneration detected through labour inspections and on the decisions handed down by the courts involving section 346 of the Labour Code, as well as on the remedies provided.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.