Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report.

Article 3, paragraph 5, of the Convention. The Committee notes that, under section 2(1) of the Minimum Wage Act No. 90/1996, lower monthly and hourly wage rates are applied to young workers below 18 years of age. In this regard, the Committee is bound to recall that, even though the Convention makes specific reference to the possibility of authorizing exceptions to the minimum wage rates in individual cases to protect the employment opportunities of physically or mentally handicapped workers, it contains no similar provision in respect of young workers. The Committee considers, as it has pointed out in paragraph 176 of the General Survey of 1992 on minimum wages, that the reasons that may prompt the adoption of lower minimum wage rates for groups of workers on account of their age or disabilities should be regularly re-examined in the light of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value and that objective criteria such as the quantity and quality of work done should be the decisive factors in determining the wage paid. The Committee would appreciate receiving additional information on the objectives and results of the Government’s policy which allows for minimum wage differentials by reason of the workers’ age.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. The Committee notes that in the last ten years the Government has supplied very little information on the application of the Convention in practice. It asks therefore the Government to provide in its next report all available information regarding the implementation and enforcement of the minimum wage legislation in respect of agricultural workers, including, for instance, detailed statistics on the number of workers (analysed by age, sex, etc.) covered by relevant legislation, relevant studies or research papers, extracts from inspection reports containing information on the number and nature of violations observed and penalties imposed and any other particulars bearing specifically on the functioning of the minimum wage fixing machinery in agriculture.

In addition, the Committee refers to the comments made under Convention No. 26.