Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

1. Article 2 of the Convention. Wage determination. The Committee notes from the information previously provided by the Government that mechanisms do exist in Georgia for setting wages and that the Government has adopted a number of legal measures for establishing the minimum wage and subsistence wage, as well as remuneration rates for employees in the public sector. The Committee requests that the Government, in its next report, provides additional and complete details on these mechanisms and indicates the relevant legal provisions in the legislation in force. Please supply copies of all relevant laws and decrees determining remuneration and minimum wages, as well as copies of existing wage scales where available for both the public and private sectors, and include statistics, disaggregated by sex, on the distribution of men and women in the various wage scales by sector and level of responsibility or grade.

2. Remuneration gap. The Committee understands the difficult economic circumstances facing the Government and, in particular, the widespread poverty that exists in Georgia. Bearing this in mind, the Committee notes with concern that according to data from 2004, the average monthly salary for women represented only 81.8 per cent of the minimum subsistence wage in 2004, signifying that many more women than men are vulnerable to poverty on account of their difference in earnings. It also notes that the average monthly salary for women was 108 laris compared with 200.8 laris for men (a 46 per cent wage gap), that the wage gap between men and women is slightly lower in the private sector than in the public sector but that, in general, women earn significantly less than men. It notes the Government’s statement that this difference exists because director and management positions are most often held by men whereas women are largely employed in unskilled and poorly paid work. The Committee points out that discrimination in remuneration may arise out of the existence of a heavy concentration of women workers in certain jobs or sectors of activity and it asks the Government to provide information on efforts taken to promote the participation of women in skilled and higher paid occupations and positions of responsibility. The Committee also asks the Government to indicate what measures are in place or planned to ensure that the difference in pay between men and women is not the result of discriminatory treatment. It further requests that the Government provide information on how it is addressing the large pay gap between men and women within the context of the country’s poverty reduction strategies.

3. The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not reply to all of the comments raised in its previous report. It is bound, therefore, to repeat its previous direct request, which read in relevant parts as follows:

1. Article 1(a). Definition of remuneration. The Committee notes that the current Labour Code does not define the term "wages". Recalling that the principle of the Convention extends not just to the basic or ordinary wage, but covers all components of remuneration, direct and indirect, that arise out of the employment relationship, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the manner in which the terms "wages" and "remuneration" are defined in the Labour Code.

2. Article 1(b). Definition of equal remuneration for equal value. The Committee notes that section 2(b) of the Labour Code establishes that a "worker has a right to have equal wages under equal working conditions according to the quantity and quality of work without any discrimination". The Committee recalls that the phrase "equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value", as expressed in the Convention, goes beyond equal remuneration for equal work and requires rates of remuneration to be established exclusively on the basis of job content. Further, the adoption of the idea of work of equal value necessarily implies some comparison between jobs (see General Survey of 1986 on equal remuneration, paragraphs 20 and 21). In this connection, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the manner in which the principle of equal remuneration for men and women, is given effect for workers who perform work of a different type.

5. Article 2(2)(c). Collective agreements. Please provide copies of collective agreements currently in force in the private sector and indicate the measures taken by employers’ and workers’ organizations to achieve equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value through those agreements.

6. Article 3. Objective job appraisals. The Committee recalls that the adoption of techniques to measure and objectively compare the relative value of jobs is critical to eliminating disparities in the remuneration levels of men and women. In this regard, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken to promote an objective appraisal of jobs on the basis of the work to be performed; in this connection it draws the Government’s attention to paragraphs 139-144 of the 1986 General Survey on equal remuneration.

4. Parts III to V of the report form. The Committee asks the Government to provide relevant information on the general application of the Convention, including judicial decisions and information on inspections carried out by the Labour Inspection Service that might assist the Committee in assessing the extent and nature of existing pay inequalities between men and women in the country, and the measures taken to address them.