Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 1994, publiée 81ème session CIT (1994)

With reference to its previous direct request, the Committee notes the information contained in the Government's report and the consolidation of the Labour Code in the Act of 15 December 1992.

1. In its previous direct request, the Committee had asked for examples of collective agreements fixing wage rates in a range of enterprises or organizations, together with an indication of the number of women covered by such agreements, so as to be in a position to verify that all the elements of remuneration stipulated in such agreements comply with the principle of the Convention. The Government's report contains a description of the various wage supplements and bonus and award systems which appear to be granted regardless of the sex of the worker. It also states that, in order to safeguard the socio-economic rights and interests of the workers, tripartite agreements have been concluded annually since 1991 between the Council of Ministers of the Republic, the Council of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus and the employers' associations. Noting that a copy of the 1993 General Agreement concluded by the social partners has been supplied in Russian in the context of Convention No. 98, the Committee asks the Government to transmit a copy of the most recent tripartite agreement showing that the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value is applied in the negotiations, not only for the basic wages, but for all elements of the remuneration package.

2. The Committee notes from the Government's report the statement that "although the principle of equal remuneration for equal work is observed on the whole, the proportion of women in senior and prestigious posts in enterprises and management bodies is still low, and their level of remuneration is accordingly lower" (than that of men). According to the Government, administrative measures aimed at correcting this situation have not proven to be very effective and the ultimate solution to this problem will depend to a large extent on improvements in the country's economic situation and on the success of market and democratic reforms, as well as administrative and educational measures. The Committee is not unaware of such circumstances and, at paragraphs 100 and 257 of its 1986 General Survey on Equal Remuneration, stressed the indivisibility of equality issues in the attainment of genuinely equal remuneration. The Committee highlighted Paragraph 6 of the Equal Remuneration Recommendation, which links the application of the principle of equal remuneration to, inter alia, equal access to occupations and posts and to equal facilities for vocational training. It consequently asks the Government to inform it, in its next report, on the measures taken or contemplated to address the general issue of women's equality in employment. For example, what "administrative and educational measures" have been devised and put into practice to improve the employment prospects of women? How have workers' and employers' organizations, in accordance with Article 4 of the Convention, cooperated for the purpose of giving effect to the principle of the Convention? The Government might also wish to refer in this connection to examples of other factors facilitating the application of the Convention, described at paragraphs 181 to 190 of the 1986 General Survey.

3. The Committee notes the Government's reply to its earlier request for statistical data, to the effect that it is not possible to supply such information due to the imperfection of the existing system of statistical reporting in the country. The Committee recalls the importance of being able to study data of the kind requested in its previous direct request for both assessing the implementation of the principle of the Convention and devising methods to overcome any wage differentials identified as being due to sex-based factors. It accordingly again requests the Government to provide, to the extent possible: (i) copies of the public sector salary scales (apparently the "standard wage and salary scale" referred to in the Government's report as being in force for public servants since January 1992, and the standard scale for public enterprise employees covered by the Act respecting enterprises of 1 January 1991); and (ii) statistical data on the minimum wage provided for in the Labour Code, as well as the actual average earnings of men and women in the various sectors of the economy.