Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2003, publiée 92ème session CIT (2004)

Further to comments it has made in an observation, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the following points.

1. With reference to earlier comments, the Committee notes the information sent by the Government in its report to the effect that an annual wage plan is issued for the public sector by government agreement which establishes wages and wage scales in accordance with the budget items determined by the National Civil Service Office. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide detailed information on the mechanisms for appraising jobs in the public sector with a view to setting public sector wages and wage scales.

2. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, there is no gender discrimination in the fixing of the minimum wage. While recognizing the importance of this information for the application of the Convention, the Committee reminds the Government that the concept of remuneration contained in Article 1(a) of the Convention is broader and that the Government should also ensure that the principle of non-discrimination is applied to the other components of remuneration.

3. The Committee notes with interest the information supplied by the Government in its report on the activities that the Department for the Advancement of Women Workers carries out to promote and disseminate women’s rights at work. It notes in particular the reference, in one of the bulletins appended to the report, to seminars in which labour inspectors participate. The Committee notes that in Bulletins Nos. 3 and 6 of the Department for the Advancement of Women Workers attached to the Government’s report, reference is made to complaints of unlawful reductions in women’s wages. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information in its next report on these unlawful reductions; on the special training courses for labour inspectors in connection with the application of the principle of equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value; and on the way in which proper application of this principle is ensured in practice.

4. The Committee notes that the statistical information contains no data disaggregated by sex on the average remuneration of workers at various levels and in various segments of the labour market. The Committee again emphasizes the importance for the application of the Convention of collecting and analysing statistical information of the kind requested in its general observation of 1998 on this Convention, on the public sector and the private sector. This analysis should be done with a view to an evaluation of the remuneration gap between men and women, taking into account vertical and horizontal segregation in employment that obstructs women’s access to higher level and better paid jobs, or in sectors such as export processing which results in their concentration. The Committee notes that the National Institute of Statistics (INE) is engaged in numerous data collection activities and is particularly interested in emphasis being placed on gender issues. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would take the necessary steps so that the data requested can be sent in the near future.