Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

The Committee notes with regret 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:

Article 1 of the Convention. Adoption of legislation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the principle enshrined in the national Constitution includes equal remuneration for equal work as well as for equal value. In this regard, the Committee also notes that sections 31 and 32 of the draft Uniform Labour Act of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) give legal expression to the provisions of the Convention. Given that the draft Act will have direct force of law in Guinea-Bissau, the Committee looks forward to its adoption.

Article 2. Application of the principle in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee has repeatedly requested information on the measures taken to give practical effect to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. The Committee notes with some regret that the Government continues to consider that no further measures are needed to this end. It is difficult for the Committee to accept statements suggesting that the Convention is being applied in law and in practice when no further details are given to underpin these statements (see paragraph 253 of the 1986 General Survey on equal remuneration). The Committee would therefore be grateful if the Government would supply the following in its next report:

(a)   information on the measures taken or contemplated to promote and facilitate the application of the provisions of the Convention. Such measures could include public information and awareness-raising campaigns promoting the principles of the Convention or initiatives taken by the Government, in cooperation with organizations of employers and workers, to promote, in general, equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women in employment; and

(b)    concrete and practical information that would enable it to assess whether the principle of equal remuneration is applied not only to cases where the same or similar work is performed between men and women, but also to work performed by men and women that is of a different nature but of equal value.

Minimum wages. With respect to the minimum wages of workers employed by third persons (Decree No. 17/88 of 4 April 1988), the Government indicates that the Permanent Council for Social Dialogue has not been institutionalized. Therefore, no study on minimum wages has been carried out. The Committee takes note of this information and recalls the importance of minimum wages as a means of ensuring the application of the Convention. The Committee trusts that the Government’s next report will include information on any developments with respect to the determination, in cooperation with the social partners, of minimum and other wage rates in the various sectors.

Collective agreements. With reference to its previous comments regarding the application of the principle in the banking and telecommunications sectors, the Committee hopes that the Government will provide the requested statistics on the distribution of women and men according to job category and their corresponding wages in these sectors once they have been communicated.

Article 3. Objective evaluation and classification of jobs free from gender bias. The Committee notes the renewed request by the Government for ILO technical assistance to carry out a study on job classifications and hopes that progress will soon be achieved in this respect.

Enforcement. Referring to its previous comments regarding the important role played by the labour inspectorate to promote the application of the Convention, the Committee welcomes the information that training has been given to the labour inspectors, in which many women participated. The Committee encourages the Government to continue supporting such training activities and it would be grateful if the Government would indicate in its next report the manner in which these training courses have given attention to the specific role of the labour inspectorate in enforcing and promoting the principle of equal pay for men and women for work of equal value.