Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no reply to previous comments. It hopes that the next report will include full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. Noting that the concept of equal pay for work of equal value is included in the draft Labour Amendment Bill which is to be tabled in Parliament in 2001, the Committee asks the Government to keep it informed of any progress achieved towards legislative recognition of the principle of the Convention.

2. Article 3 of the Convention. The Committee notes, once again, that the government report is silent on the implementation in practice of the objective job evaluation method mentioned in its first report (Paterson method). It wishes to point out that, although the Convention does not provide an unconditional obligation to take measures for the objective appraisal of jobs on the basis of the work to be performed, it follows from Article 3, paragraph 1, that the implementation of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value necessarily implies some form of comparison between jobs. Since men and women tend to perform different jobs, it is essential to adopt a technique to determine whether jobs involving different work may nonetheless have the same value for the purpose of remuneration. The Committee recalls that, by adopting non-discriminatory evaluation criteria and applying it in a uniform manner, differences in wages resulting from traditional stereotypes with regard to the value of "women’s work" are likely to be reduced. Consequently, the Committee asks the Government to provide details of the manner in which gender bias is reduced when implementing the objective job evaluation.

3. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government, according to which the Incomes Policy Board is, in fact, a Wages and Salaries Advisory Board (WSAB) whose function is to consider wage and salary position papers from the three social partners, and advise the minister on the trends of wage and salary adjustments. It covers both classified and unclassified industries, in particular workers who are in occupations where there is no forum for collective bargaining, such as domestic workers. Noting the Government’s statement that the principle of the Convention is taken into consideration by the WSAB, the Committee asks the Government to indicate how the principle of equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value is implemented by the WSAB.

4. Noting that, following the broadening of its functions in 1997, the Ombudsman is still to report on activities undertaken or cases investigated with regard to the implementation of the principle of equal remuneration between women and men, the Committee hopes that the Government will keep it informed of any activities undertaken by the Ombudsman concerning the implementation of the principle of the Convention.

5. The Committee notes with interest the government statement that a request for technical assistance in the field of labour statistics is to be directed to the ILO and asks the Government to keep it informed of any progress being made in the collection of data disaggregated by sex. It hopes that the assistance requested will not only allow the Government to provide the information required in its previous comment (i.e. percentage of women covered by the collective bargaining agreements supplied earlier by the Government, in particular the number of women and men employed at different levels; number of complaints of violations concerning the principle of equal remuneration received), but that it will also permit an adequate evaluation of the nature, extent and causes of the existing pay differences between men and women by setting up a mechanism of data compilation, which would allow an analysis of the position and pay of men and women in all job categories within and between the various sectors.

6. As regards occupational segregation, i.e. female workers concentrated in informal, unpaid or less remunerative work, the Committee recalls the Government’s own report under the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), according to which women are free to pursue any profession in Zimbabwe, while in practice they tend to be concentrated in those areas that reflect their roles as mothers and are also in low-paying jobs - in particular household work and family care. In its report, the Government indicates that most women in Zimbabwe are venturing into fields which were previously male-dominated, and are also found in managerial posts. However, no statistical data to support this statement was provided, nor was there an indication of measures taken or envisaged to address this phenomenon. Considering the difficulty of assessing the progress achieved in implementing the principle of equal remuneration, the Committee would once again stress the importance of having at its disposal statistical data on the distribution of men and women in the public and private sector, by earning levels, and on the composition of earnings (please refer to the Committee’s 1998 general observation). The Committee would be grateful to the Government for indicating measures taken or envisaged to combat occupational segregation, and in particular to ensure that women have an equal opportunity to progress to higher level jobs, if their skills and preferences so merit.