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

With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report and the documentation attached to the report.

1. In these comments, the Committee referred to section 80 of the Labour Code and section 44 of the Inter-Occupational Collective Agreement of 1977 (which is still in force, according to the Government) which require equal working conditions, occupational skills and output for the application of the principle of equal remuneration without distinction on grounds, inter alia, of sex. However, under the terms of the Convention, equal remuneration for men and women workers should be understood as being for work of equal value, which may not be of the same nature nor performed in the same conditions. The Committee therefore requested the Government to indicate how the application is ensured of the principle set out in the Convention, particularly where men and women in practice perform work of a different nature but of equal value.

The Government refers in its reply to section 44(2) of the Inter-Occupational Collective Agreement, which sets out that the wages of each worker are determined on the basis of his or her job. The Committee had already examined this agreement and noted that under its sections 47 and 48, and under Decree No. 67-73 of 9 February 1967, which is applicable to workers not covered by the above collective agreement, workers are classified by occupational category according to their jobs. It noted that the wages corresponding to each category of workers covered by the collective agreement are fixed and modified by a joint committee presided over by the Minister of Labour and composed of equal numbers of employers and workers from the trade union organisations concerned. For other workers, the minimum wages applicable to the various occupational categories are established by orders issued by the Minister of Labour after consultation with the Advisory Labour Committee.

The Committee therefore requested the Government to indicate: (a) whether the classification of workers in the various occupational categories referred to by the above texts is established on the basis of an objective appraisal of jobs on the basis of the work to be performed and, if so, the methods employed in this classification; and (b) how the application of the principle of equal remuneration in the sense of the Convention is ensured in practice in cases where wages are higher than the minimum legal rates, and particularly in branches of activity employing a high proportion of women workers.

The Government's report does not contain any reply on this subject, but it does indicate that a project to train technicians in the evaluation and classification of jobs is under way with the participation of experts from the ILO. The Committee notes this information with interest and hopes that the Government will not fail to indicate the action taken following this project and the criteria used in practice to determine the rates of wages that are higher than the minimum legal level in the various enterprises (whether or not they are covered by the Inter-Occupational Collective Agreement), taking into account the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value. The Committee also requests the Government to refer in this connection to paragraphs 138 to 150 of its 1986 General Survey on Equal Remuneration.

2. The Committee notes the Government's statement that the various emoluments (such as seniority bonuses, year-end bonuses, the so-called "shopping basket" bonuses and other allowances) which are not included in the definition of the term "wage", as set out in national regulations and the Inter-Occupational Collective Agreement, are awarded to those concerned without distinction on grounds of sex and that the employers' and workers' organisations consulted state that they have not received any complaint on this subject from women workers.

3. The Committee has also examined the various decrees respecting the remuneration scales of public officials, including teachers, copies of which were supplied by the Government, and it requests the Government also to supply information on the way in which the principle of equal remuneration is applied to employees in the public industrial and commercial establishments covered by Decree No. 75-150 of 11 March 1975.

4. The Committee has also examined the decisions taken by the classification committee regarding the applications for reclassification to higher occupational categories made by two male workers. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether such applications have been made by women workers and, if so, to supply copies of the decisions reached in their cases.