Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 1991, publiée 78ème session CIT (1991)

Further to its previous comments the Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report and in the documentation made available subsequently.

1. The Committee notes the entry into force on 1 July 1989 of the Equal Treatment for Men and Women Act ("Reparation Act") which consolidates earlier equality legislation (the Equal Wages for Women and Men Act, 1975, and the Men and Women (Equal Treatment) Act, 1980). The Committee notes with interest the amendments made in the 1989 Act which are aimed at achieving more effective operation of the principle of equal treatment, including (i) the extension of the scope of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value from work situations where there was a contract of employment or an official appointment to almost any work situation where one person is in a position of authority over another, whether in the public or private sector; (ii) removal of the obligation to seek advice from the Equal Treatment Commission before presenting a claim in court; (iii) enabling representative advisory bodies (such as works councils) and interest groups (e.g. trade unions and employers), as well as individual employees, to request the Equal Treatment Commission to investigate alleged discriminations; and (iv) the possibility of group action. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether all categories of workers are now covered by the equal pay provisions as amended. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would provide information concerning any measures to publicise and promote the provisions of this legislation, together with details concerning its enforcement by the Commission on Equal Treatment for Men and Women in Employment or the courts.

2. The Committee notes that pursuant to the 1989 amendment, the basis for comparing remuneration is restricted to the wage normally received by a worker of the other sex in the same undertaking for work of equal value, or failing that for work of virtually equal value (section 7(1)), whereas the 1975 equal pay legislation also allowed for the possibility, in cases where no work of equal or approximately equal value was done by a worker of the other sex in the undertaking where the worker concerned was employed, of extending the comparison to the wage normally received by a worker of the other sex in an undertaking of as nearly as possible the same kind in the same sector for work of equal value or, in the absence of such work, for work of approximately equal value (section 3(2)). The Committee requests the Government to indicate the means by which women workers who are heavily concentrated in certain sectors of activity, where the possibilities of comparison may be insufficient at the level of the enterprise, may seek to have their claims for equal pay determined.

3. The Committee notes from the surveys undertaken by the Wages Department (LTD) that some cases of non-conformity with the 1975 equal pay legislation were disclosed (viz. Reports concerning application of the Act in Dutch Trade and Industry (1985), the Insurance Trade (1988) and the Retail Trade (1989)). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on any action taken or considered to bring about wage equality in those cases.