Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Article 4, paragraph 2, of the Convention. Full consultations with the social partners. The Committee has been commenting for a number of years on the absence of a machinery responsible for fixing and revising minimum wages through a consultative process sufficiently representative of the employers’ and workers’ interests, as prescribed by Article 4, paragraph 2, of the Convention.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that by Act No. 43 of 2005 on wages and salaries, the Civil Service Ministry set the minimum wage for over 1 million public employees to 20,000 rials (approximately US$100) per month and that in accordance with section 55 of the Labour Code of 1995, the same minimum wage floor applies to workers of the private sector. However, the Committee also notes the Government’s statement that there is no institutionalized mechanism which establishes or amends minimum wage rates and that consequently there are no consultations held with the social partners in this regard.

Under the circumstances, the Committee feels obliged to recall, that by ratifying the Convention the Government has committed itself to establishing a system of minimum wages covering all groups of wage earners through procedures or practices guaranteeing the full consultation with, and the direct participation of, representative organizations of employers and workers and ensuring the periodic review and adjustment of the level of minimum wages in light of the prevailing social and economic conditions. The Committee accordingly asks the Government to indicate the measures it intends to take in order to fully implement the requirements of the Convention. The Committee further requests the Government to transmit full information on the implementation of the national strategy on wages set out in Act No. 43 of 2005 and scheduled for completion in 2010.

In addition, the Committee recalls that the Government has still to provide concrete information as to how decent wage levels are determined for those categories of workers who are currently excluded from the scope of the Labour Code, including agricultural, domestic and casual workers. In some earlier reports, the Government had been referring to ministerial orders under preparation but no real progress has since been made. Moreover, the Committee has been asking for the last ten years whether any steps have been taken for the establishment of the tripartite Labour Council, which according to section 11 of the Labour Code will be responsible among other matters, for formulating recommendations on wage policy, incentives and benefits. The Committee once again asks the Government to provide full particulars on any measures taken or envisaged with a view to setting up the tripartite Labour Council and determining decent minimum wage levels for those workers falling outside the scope of the Labour Code.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2009.]