Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

        The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report and the attached schedules setting out the classification/pay levels and distribution by sex in the public service as well as the statistical information on the prevailing wage scales of men and women in some larger companies in the garment industry. The Committee also acknowledges the information on the discontinuation of the payment of marriage allowances to male teachers only.

        1. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that no amendments to the Employment (Equal Pay for Equal Work) Act of 1975 have been made. The Committee has been pointing out for years that section 2 of the Act only refers to "similar" or "substantially similar" job requirements, whereas the Convention provides for equal remuneration for work of "equal value", even though the work is of a different nature. In this regard, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to paragraphs 19 and 20 of the 1986 General Survey on equal remuneration explaining "work of equal value". While the Committee notes the efforts by the Government to make progress in reducing the wage differentials between men and women, particularly through the adoption of the Equal Pay for Men and Women Act of 1975 and of the 1996 Minimum Wage Order, which now include women working in the garment industry and household workers, it hopes that the next report will include information on the Government’s intention to ensure conformity with Article 1 of the Convention through legislation or other measures. In this regard, please provide information on the outcome of the review of the relevant labour legislation by the Labour Advisory Committee.

        2. The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report on the multiple wage system applied by the manufacturing industry, based on the type and complexity of the manufacturing operation, with the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Order, 1996 setting the wage floor. In this regard, the Committee welcomes the statistical information provided by the Government on the actual monthly and weekly paid wage scales of employees in two larger garment factories. The data provided allow the Committee to conclude its long-standing question about the existing differentials in the pay scales and job categories in the garment industry, as it appears that systemic wage differentials no longer exist in the garment industries. However, the Committee does note that in some areas, especially with regard to weekly wages of skilled and unskilled employees, the wage gap appears to correlate to some extent with gender. The Committee hopes that the Government, in its next report, will provide similar statistical information on wage scales in the printing industry.

        3. The Committee notes the statistical data provided by the Government on the male and female ratio of active employees according to age in the HRMIS database and on the 1997-98 salary scales by occupation in the public service. However, it also notes that these data are not disaggregated by sex and therefore requests the Government to supply statistical information disaggregated by sex on the salary scales and actual earnings in the public sector, together with an indication of the percentage of men and women employed at different levels, in order to be able to examine fully the application of the principle of the Convention in the public service.

        4. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the Public Sector Modernization Programme and reclassification of government employees are forms of job appraisal and promote an objective appraisal of jobs on the basis of the work to be performed. The Committee would be grateful if the Government could provide, in its next report, detailed information on the criteria on the basis of which the reclassification and job evaluation through the Modernization Programme is determined, and on the way that gender bias is being eliminated in these job evaluation methods. In this regard, the Government will derive assistance from paragraphs 139 to 144 of the 1986 General Survey on equal remuneration on the use of analytical methods of objective job appraisal and on the extent and levels at which job evaluation is practised. In the meantime, the Committee hopes that the abovementioned methods used for objective job appraisal are applied in accordance with the principle of the Convention.

        5. While noting the Government’s statement in its report that collective agreements within the public or private sector do not contain distinctions based on gender, the Committee nevertheless repeats its request that the Government provide copies of current collective agreements for various industries or enterprises in the private sector which contain wage scales, and to provide information on the distribution of men and women in the different occupations and levels covered by the collective agreements.