Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

The Committee notes the Government's report and the attached jurisprudence issued by the Cassation Court of Uruguay.

1. The Committee notes the Government's fourth periodic report to the UN Human Rights Committee under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR/C/95/Add.9), which reflects the persistence of a significant gender-based wage gap and suggests the presence of vertical occupational segregation. The figures contained in the CCPR report show that women constitute 42.4 per cent of the economically active urban population, predominating in the areas of personal services (67 per cent) and professional and technical services (62 per cent). Women join the labour force with a higher average level of education than men and, in fact, twice as many female workers as male workers have a post-secondary education. Nevertheless, women's average hourly wage is 75 per cent of men's corresponding hourly wage. The report indicates that this inequality is greatest for female professionals and managers, who earn an hourly wage that is a little over half that of men in equivalent positions. In light of these figures, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on measures taken to improve the status of women in the labour market and to reduce the wage gap.

2. The Committee notes the Government's statements that the principle of the Convention is guaranteed by the provisions of articles 8, 54 and 72 of the Constitution, by Act No. 16.045 of 2 June 1989, as well as by the Government's ratification of the Convention. The Committee notes with interest the promulgation of Decree No. 37/97 of 5 February 1997, regulating Act No. 16.045 which, in section 3, expressly prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in the establishment of criteria for evaluating remuneration, access to training opportunities, promotions and remuneration. Section 6 of Decree No. 37/97 further provides that affirmative action on the basis of sex will not be deemed to constitute discrimination. The Committee notes the above indications; nonetheless, it recalls that domestic legislation does not define the terms "remuneration" and "work of equal value", nor does it contain any specific reference to the principle of the Convention. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to inform it of the adoption of new legislation or amendments to existing legislation relevant to the Convention.

3. In previous reports, the Government has indicated that a large number of workers in both the public and private sectors rely on collective bargaining agreements to negotiate their remuneration. The Government has stated that collective agreements submitted to the Executive must contain a clause prohibiting wage differentials between men and women, and that the Government urges its labour representatives to include such a clause in every collective agreement concluded. Accordingly, the Committee again asks the Government to supply, in its next report, examples of collective agreements concluded during the reporting period which contain clauses pertinent to the application of the principle of the Convention. In this context, please indicate how the valuation of work is determined for purposes of wage setting and how gender bias is avoided in this process. The Committee also repeats its request that the Government supply information, in its next report, on the work done and the progress achieved by the bilateral special technical committee created by the 1991 industry-wide agreement for the textile industry, to eliminate sex-based wage differentials in that industry. The Government is also asked to confirm that sex-based differentials such as those contained in the 1989 and 1991 collective agreements for the textile industry have in fact been eliminated in the industry-wide agreements currently in force.

4. With regard to the application of the principle of the Convention, the Committee notes that the National Plan of Action 1992-97 of the Institute for Women and the Family called for, inter alia, the creation of a body of inspectors, within the Labour Inspectorate, specialized in gender-based employment discrimination. The Committee asks the Government to indicate whether such a specialized inspectorate has yet been established and to provide, in its next report, information on the number of inspections conducted relevant to equal pay, the number of violations identified and the outcomes, including penalties imposed.

5. The Committee notes with interest the creation in March 1997 of a Tripartite Commission on Equality of Opportunity and Treatment in Employment composed of representatives of workers, employers, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the Institute for Women and the Family. The report indicates that the tasks of the new Tripartite Commission include providing technical assistance in connection with new legislation in the area of equal opportunity and treatment, as well as disseminating information on relevant legislation and promoting equal opportunity. The Committee further notes that technical assistance will be provided by the Office to the Tripartite Commission in connection with ILO Convention No. 111. Given the intrinsic overlap between Conventions Nos. 111 and 100 in the area of sex discrimination in employment and occupation and with respect to Article 4 of the Convention, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the specific methods of cooperation utilized among the tripartite partners to ensure and promote the application to all workers of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. As an example, such measures may include posting an affirmation of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value in a conspicuous area in the workplace, promoting transparency in the examination of job grades and job titles contained in collective bargaining agreements in both the public and private sectors, and providing guidance and training in the development of non-discriminatory methods for job appraisal that take into account factors more likely to be present in female-dominated jobs, factors which are often not identified or considered by traditional job appraisal methods.