Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Eswatini (Ratification: 1981)

Other comments on C100

Observation

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Articles 1 to 4 of the Convention. Assessing and addressing the gender pay gap. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to the 2021 Labour Force Survey but observes that the information provided in its report does not contain any data on wages of men and women. It notes however, from the new Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) for Eswatini (2022–25), that: (1) “[…] development challenges disproportionately impact women and girls, who predominate amongst the poor and unemployed”; (2) “[t]hey often have considerably lower earnings than their male counterparts and are more likely to be in vulnerable employment positions”; and (3) “the Government and the social partners shall address the gender pay gap by instituting policy measures to promote equal remuneration for work of equal value” (output 1.2). The Committee urges once again the Government to strengthen its efforts to take proactive measures, including in collaboration with employers and workers’ organizations, to raise awareness, monitor, promote and enforce the principle of the Convention. It asks once again the Government to take measures to identify and address the underlying causes of gender pay differentials, such as vertical and horizontal job segregation and gender stereotypes, covering both formal and informal economy. It asks the Government to provide any updated statistical information available on: (i) the earnings of men and women in all sectors of the economy as well as in the informal economy; and (ii) the gender pay gap.

Articles 2 and 4. Minimum wages. Cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it cooperates with the social partners in various respects and, in particular when setting basic minimum conditions of service such as minimum wages through the Wages Councils for the various sectors of economic activity or industries. It also notes the information provided by the Government regarding the negotiation process for Wages Councils establishing sectoral minimum wages, in particular that it is informed by generic criteria recurrent to collective bargaining negotiations such as the inflation rate, cost of living, productivity, financial performance or affordability of the industry or sector, skills, qualifications. The Committee recalls that the fixing of minimum wages can make an important contribution to the application of the principle of equal remuneration. It is therefore important to ensure that a job evaluation method used to design or adjust sectoral or occupational minimum wage schemes is free from gender bias and, consequently, that the choice of factors for comparison, the weighting of these factors and the actual comparison carried out are not inherently discriminatory. In particular, it needs to be ensured that certain skills considered to be “female” are not undervalued or even overlooked, in comparison with traditionally “male” skills and the work itself in sectors predominantly employing women is not undervalued. It is important for governments, in cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations, to examine the functioning of the mechanisms for the setting of minimum wages in the light of the need to promote and ensure the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 685 and 706). The Committee notes the output in the DWCP for Eswatini (2022–25) according to which the Government and the social partners shall apply relevant tools and undertake empirical research to ascertain the feasibility of setting a national minimum wage and to ensure that minimum wage schemes are free from gender bias (output 1.1). The Committee asks once again the Government to take steps to raise awareness of employers’ and workers’ organizations and Wages Councils of the underlying causes of wage disparities between men and women and the manner in which they can be addressed through the implementation of principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value and job evaluation based on objective criteria such as qualifications, responsibilities, efforts and conditions of work. It asks the Government to provide information on any other cooperation undertaken with employers’ and workers’ organizations for the purpose of giving effect to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes that, pursuant to the Code of Good Practice: Employment Discrimination: (1) “an employer must ensure that job grading criteria are fair and objective and based on the inherent requirements of the jobs graded”; and (2) job grading systems and remuneration systems based on job grading must recognize the “principle of equal value for equal work”, and that pay differentials between grades must be based on objective criteria (articles 6.7.1 and 2). The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide updated information on any job evaluation exercise undertaken in the private sector, indicating the criteria used and the outcomes of such reviews.