Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

1. Legislative developments. The Committee notes from the Government’s report under the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), that the draft Civil Aviation Act provides in section 16 that a woman and a man performing, in a workplace, the same type of work with the same output shall not receive a different salary for reasons of their sex. The Committee recalls that the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, as set out in the Convention, requires that men and women receive equal remuneration not only for the same type of work, but also for different work that is nevertheless of equal value. The Convention’s principle also applies beyond the level of the workplace. The Committee, therefore, asks the Government to bring the draft Civil Aviation Act into conformity with the Convention.

2. Scope of application of the Labour Act. In its previous comments, the Committee asked the Government to indicate the measures taken in law and in practice to apply the Convention with respect to categories of employment excluded from the scope of the Labour Act, as provided for under section 4. In reply, the Government indicates that the Code of Obligations applies to workers who are not covered by the Labour Act. The report also states that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security has issued a regulation relating to the working conditions of agricultural and forestry workers, as envisaged in section 111 of the Labour Act. Stressing that, under the Convention, the principle of equal remuneration must be applied to all workers, the Committee asks the Government to elaborate further on the manner in which the Code of Obligations and the abovementioned regulation ensure the application of the principle of equal remuneration for women and men for work of equal value.

3. Civil service. Recalling its previous comment concerning the need to ensure that men and women in the civil service receive allowances on an equal basis, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that the efforts to revise section 203 of the Civil Service Act, which provides that family allowances are paid to the father if both parents are civil servants, are still ongoing. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that section 203 of the Civil Service Act is brought into line with the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

4. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that the National Productivity Centre is responsible for carrying out objective job evaluations and that civil service jobs had been evaluated using an analytical method. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on job evaluation in the civil service, including indicating whether such evaluation has led to the adjustment of remuneration for jobs or positions predominantly occupied by women. Please also indicate whether any efforts are being made to promote the use of objective job evaluation methods that are free from gender bias in the private sector.

5. Statistical information. The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government indicating the average annual income of men and women in 2003 according to age group. According to this data, women earned more than men in all but three age groups. While appreciating the information provided, the Committee asks the Government to provide more detailed statistical information on the remuneration received by men and women, as far as possible in accordance with the 1998 general observation concerning the present Convention, which sets out the data that should be collected and analysed in order to monitor the impact of the measures taken to promote and ensure equal remuneration for men and women.