Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2009, publiée 99ème session CIT (2010)

Articles 3 and 4 of the Convention. Review and adjustment of the minimum wage. The Committee has been raising questions in recent years concerning the operation of the minimum wage fixing machinery, the periodicity of adjustment of the minimum wage and the criteria used for such adjustment. Following the establishment of the Wages Board in 2006 and the Decision of the General People’s Committee in 2007 to set the national minimum wage at 250 dinars (approximately US$208 per month, the Committee has requested the Government to provide more detailed information on the operation of the Wages Board, the eventual revision of the national minimum wage as well as the enforcement of the minimum wage legislation in practice. In its last report, the Government makes renewed reference to the ILO technical assistance mission that visited the country in July 2007 and emphasizes its willingness to improve conditions of workers in order to achieve full employment and social welfare. The Committee trusts that the Government will provide in its next report full particulars on the effect given to the requirements of Articles 3 and 4 of the Convention, especially the manner in which the basic needs of workers and their families are taken into account in fixing the minimum wage level, including any surveys or studies of national economic conditions. Moreover, recalling that under Decision No. 613/2006 of the Secretary of the General People’s Committee for Manpower, Training and Employment, the Wages Board holds regular meetings once every three months and may initiate the procedure for the revision of the minimum wage whenever it considers it necessary, the Committee asks the Government to provide all available information on the Board’s most recent meetings and any decision taken or envisaged concerning the review of the minimum wage rate currently in force. Finally, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide in its next report up to date information on measures to ensure compliance with the national minimum wage or any difficulties experienced in this respect, in particular, the number of labour inspection visits carried out and violations reported, with special reference to migrant workers who constitute half of the total workforce.