Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

The Committee notes the Government's report as well as the attached information.

1. The Committee notes with interest the adoption of Government Order No. 2(A) of 14 April 1997 establishing the new tripartite Minimum Wages Fixation Committee, and the special Government Order No. 21(A) of 18 July 1997 establishing a tripartite Minimum Wages Fixation Committee for the workers and employees in tea plantations. The Government has indicated that the establishment of these mechanisms is in accordance with the recommendations of the ILO advisory mission on wages and equal pay (1993). The Committee also notes Government Order No. 20(B) fixing the minimum wages for the workers and employees working in all enterprises covered by the Labour Act of 1991, and Government Order No. 22(E) fixing the minimum wages for the workers and employees working in tea plantations, which provide that "equal remuneration and allowances shall have to be paid to both the male and female workers for equal work done by them". While welcoming these provisions, the Committee recalls that, in previous observations, and in particular with regard to the principle of equal pay embodied in article 11(5) of the 1990 Constitution and section 11 of the 1993 labour rules (which only guarantee equal remuneration for equal work), it has pointed out repeatedly that the principle of the Convention is intended to cover not only cases where men and women undertake the same or similar work, but the more usual situation where they carry out different work which is nevertheless of equal value. The Committee urges the Government to supply, in its next report, information on the means by which the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value is applied in situations where women and men carry out different work, including in the tea plantation sector.

2. Notwithstanding the abovementioned Government Order fixing minimum wages in tea plantations, the Committee notes that the Government's report fails again to refer to any measures taken to ensure that no exceptions to the equal pay provisions are granted to employers in this sector, and that women's pay in private, as well as public, tea plantations is brought into line with that of men in accordance with national constitutional and legal provisions, and the Convention. It expresses the firm hope that the Government's next report will contain relevant information in this regard. The Committee also wishes to repeat its request for copies of the studies and surveys that, according to the information provided by the Government to the Conference Committee in 1997, had been undertaken to ascertain whether wage discrimination based on sex existed in privately owned tea plantations.

3. With regard to the comments of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) concerning alleged wage discrimination between men and women in government-run agricultural farms, carpet and garment industries and manufacturing activities, the Committee asks the Government once again to provide information on measures taken to ensure that equal remuneration is paid to women and men in these sectors.

4. Further to the comments made by GEFONT with regard to Metropolis KMC's discriminatory practices on the basis of sex, in relation to wages, incentives and benefits, the Committee notes that the Government's report contains no reply on this matter. It requests the Government once again to provide information on this issue raised by GEFONT and on any measures taken to ensure the application of the principle of equal remuneration in the Convention to all employment-related benefits, including allowances.