Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 1990, publiée 77ème session CIT (1990)

1. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to supply information on the application of the Convention in practice and to supply a copy of the annexes to collective agreements applicable to various occupational branches (and particularly to those which employ a large number of women) which establish the classification of jobs and determine the minimum wages for each occupational category. The formulation of these annexes is envisaged in the Preamble and in section 58 of the General Collective Agreement of 17 May 1974, which is still in force.

In its last report, the Government replies that due to financial difficulties it is not in a position to supply a copy of these documents and that each occupational branch has either a specific collective agreement to which the various enterprises adhere, or create their own protocol agreements. As regards the branches employing a large number of women, it states that it has never undertaken a survey on this subject, since employers are bound to accept the workers made available to them by the employment services, which select the persons concerned on the basis of their occupational skills.

The Committee notes these indications and, while being aware of the financial problems described by the Government in its report, it once again expresses the hope that it will be possible for it to supply a copy of some of the most recent specific collective agreements applicable in particular to branches which employ women workers (irrespective of their numbers) and of the protocols annexed to these agreements which contain the wage rates determined for the various categories of jobs. The minimum wage tables supplied by the Government concern the readjustment of these wages and do not make it possible to assess the extent to which effect is given to the principle of equal remuneration.

2. The Committee also notes that, under section 30 (title IV) of the General Collective Agreement, the wage of each worker is determined according to the job that he or she is assigned. It also notes the statement to the effect that, in practice, for the classification of the various jobs, reference is made in Benin to the International Standard Classification of Occupations established by the ILO.

The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate in its next report the methods and criteria used to make an objective evaluation of these jobs for the purpose of determining the applicable wages, particularly in cases in which wages are higher than the minimum statutory level. The Committee requests the Government to refer in this connection to paragraphs 138 to 150 of its 1986 General Survey on Equal Remuneration.

3. The Committee also requested the Government to indicate how effect is given in practice to the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value set out in the Convention, in view of the fact that section 79 of the Labour Code (and the corresponding provisions of collective agreements) appears to be more limited in scope than the Convention since it requires equal working conditions, occupational skills and output in order to obtain equal remuneration. The Government indicates in reply that the classification of workers by occupational category for the purposes of remuneration takes into account above all their training and their occupational references, and that equality of working conditions and output does not in any way mean that strength has to be the same in view of the physiological and sociological differences between the sexes. The Committee notes these statements and, as it has been informed that a new Labour Code is being prepared, hopes that the provisions of this new Code relating to the principle of equal remuneration will be drawn up so as to correspond to Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention, by referring, for the application of this principle, not to personal characteristics, but to the equal value of the work. The Committee requests the Government to indicate any progress achieved in this connection.

4. The Government also states that the question of remuneration is regulated by the legislation and that any person who may feel prejudiced in practice can obtain satisfaction through the normal appeal channels. The Committee notes this statement and requests the Government to indicate the bodies to which appeals may be made and to supply some examples of the decisions handed down in this context concerning, in particular, appeals by women against the non-observance by the employer of the principle of equal remuneration set out in the Convention.