Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - India (Ratification: 1958)

Other comments on C100

Observation

Direct Request

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Minimum wages. The Committee notes that, under the Minimum Wages Act, minimum wages are set in respect of scheduled employment (section 2(g)) and that the central Government has fixed minimum wages under the Act for 40 categories of scheduled employment under the central sphere and that several states have also set minimum wages, some of which are higher than those at the central level. The Committee refers to its comments on the Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26), in which it noted proposals for the amendment of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, with a view to rendering the national floor level minimum wage (NFLMW) – currently set at 115 Indian rupees (INR) per day – statutory, and thus enabling all workers in the country to receive at least the NFLMW. In its 2012 General survey on the fundamental Conventions, the Committee noted that, as women predominate in low-wage employment, and a uniform national minimum wage system helps to raise the earnings of the lowest paid, it has an influence on the relationship between men’s and women’ wages and on reducing the gender pay gap (General Survey on fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraphs 682–683). The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the progress made in amending the Minimum Wages Act and the establishment of a statutory minimum wage for all workers. Considering the request of the Conference Committee that research be undertaken on the impact of the minimum wage on the implementation of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on whether any steps have been taken to this end, including any research assessing the extent to which minimum rates are fixed based on objective criteria, free from gender bias, so as to ensure that work in sectors with a high proportion of women is not being undervalued in comparison with sectors in which men are predominantly employed.

Domestic workers. The Committee notes that, pursuant to section 27 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the appropriate government may add to either part of the schedule any employment in respect of which it is of the opinion that minimum rates of wages should be fixed under the Act. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that some states have taken steps to include domestic work as scheduled employment under the Act and for fixing minimum rates of wages for domestic workers. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the number of states that have included domestic work as a category of scheduled employment under the Minimum Wages Act. Please also indicate whether domestic workers would be covered by the abovementioned national statutory minimum wage.