Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2002, publiée 91ème session CIT (2003)

The Committee notes the information, including statistical data, provided by the Government in its first report.

1. The Committee notes that the current Labour Code does not define the term "wages". Recalling that the principle of the Convention extends not just to the basic or ordinary wage but covers all components of remuneration, direct and indirect, that arise out of the employment relationship, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the manner in which the terms "wages" and "remuneration" are defined in the Labour Code.

2. The Committee notes that section 2(b) of the Labour Code establishes that a "worker has a right to have equal wages under equal working conditions according to the quantity and quality of work without any discrimination". The Committee recalls that the phrase "equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value", as expressed in the Convention, goes beyond equal remuneration for equal work and requires rates of remuneration to be established exclusively on the basis of job content. Further, the adoption of the idea of work of equal value necessarily implies some comparison between jobs (see General Survey of 1986 on equal remuneration, paragraphs 20 and 21). In this connection, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the manner in which the principle of equal remuneration for men and women, is given effect for workers who perform work of a different type.

3. The Committee asks the Government to supply the Office with copies of the Act of Georgia on the methods of determining the substantive wage (17 April 1997), Decree No. 351 of the President of Georgia on the minimum wage (4 June 1999), and Decree No. 2 of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Georgia on improving the system of remuneration of the employees in budgetary agencies (27 June 1995).

4. According to the data provided by the Government, the average monthly wage of women is 55.4 lari (US$27.9) and that of men 111.6 lari (US$56.3), indicating that women are earning 49.6 per cent of men’s wages. In the public sector women’s average salaries are 71.1 per cent those of men. The figures contained in the project "Social-Economic Situation in Georgia", involving Georgia’s State Department of Statistics, indicate that the average salary of women in 1996-97 was 48.7 per cent of men’s average salary. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the principal reason for the wage gap is that although no gender discrimination exists in the sphere of remuneration, women are mostly engaged in low-paying jobs requiring few qualifications, whereas the leading positions in business are almost entirely occupied by men. In this regard, and noting the small progress achieved since 1996, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated, including any vocational training activities, to promote women’s participation in all areas of the labour market including highly remunerated occupations. The Committee further asks the Government to continue to provide statistical information disaggregated by sex on the remuneration rates of men and women.

5. Please provide copies of collective agreements currently in force in the private sector and indicate the measures taken by employers’ and workers’ organizations to achieve equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value through those agreements.

6. Recalling that the adoption of techniques to measure and objectively compare the relative value of jobs is critical to eliminating disparities in the remuneration levels of men and women, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken to promote an objective appraisal of jobs on the basis of the work to be performed; in this connection it draws the Government’s attention to paragraphs 139-144 of the 1986 General Survey on equal remuneration.

7. The Committee asks the Government to provide statistical information on the number of labour inspections conducted by the Labour Inspection Service, the number of violations of the principle of the Convention discovered, and the actions taken to remedy said violations.

8. Please provide the information requested in Parts IV and VI of the report form.