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Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Fiji (RATIFICATION: 2002)

Article 1(b) of the Convention. Work of equal value. Legislation. The Committee previously urged the Government to amend section 78 of the Employment Relations Promulgation (ERP) of 2007, which does not comply with the principle of the Convention as it restricts the comparison of remuneration to men and women holding the “same or substantially similar qualifications” employed in the “same or substantially similar circumstances”. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that section 78 of the Employment Relations Act 2007 was amended in 2015 as follows: “An employer must not refuse or omit to offer or afford a person the same rate of remuneration as are made available for persons of the same or substantially similar qualifications employed in the same or substantially similar circumstances on work of that description for any reason […]”. The Committee notes with deep regret that these amendments to section 78 continue to restrict equal remuneration to “persons of the same or substantially similar qualifications employed in the same or substantially similar circumstances”. The Committee recalls once again that equal pay legislation should not only provide for equal remuneration for equal, the same or similar work, but should also address situations where men and women perform different work, requiring different qualifications and involving different circumstances, that is nevertheless work of equal value (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 673). The Committee once again urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is duly reflected in section 78 of the Employment Relations Act.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.