Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Ecuador (Ratification: 1957)

Articles 1 to 4 of the Convention. Gender pay gap. The Committee welcomes the efforts made by the Government to provide information in its report with indicative data on average wages, disaggregated by sex, geographical area, ethnicity and occupational group, for the period between 2019 and July 2022. The Committee observes that the information provided indicates that during the period between December 2019 and July 2022, the gender pay gap increased: (1) at the national level, from 15.3 per cent in December 2019 to 19.3 per cent in July 2022; (2) in urban areas, from 15.9 per cent to 20.7 per cent; and (3) in suburban areas, from 27.6 per cent to 29.2 per cent. The Committee also observes that, according to the information provided, there is still a significant pay gap between men and women between persons of different ethnic origins and occupational groups, and that the wage gap between men and women in the informal economy fell from 42.2 per cent to 38.6 per cent.

Article 3. Objective appraisal of jobs. Minimum wages. With reference to its previous comments on the measures taken to ensure that the determination of minimum wages for the various sectors (domestic work, craft industry, microenterprises) is free from gender stereotypes, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that minimum sectoral wages are determined without discrimination on grounds of gender because they use an objective methodology based on five occupational levels: leadership, supervision, operation, assistance and support. The Government adds that, with a view to promoting dialogue and the inclusion of the social partners in decision-making, there is tripartite representation of workers, employers and the authorities. The Ministry of Labour issues the respective ministerial decisions annually which establish the unified basic wage, and sectoral minimum wages for workers in the private sector.

With regard to both issues, the Committee notes the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in which it recommends strict enforcement of “the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, in order to narrow and ultimately close the gender pay gap, by regularly reviewing wages in all sectors, applying gender-sensitive analytical job classification and evaluation methods and conducting regular labour inspections and pay surveys” (CEDAW/C/ECU/CO/10, 24 November 2021, paragraph 32(f)). In light of the above, the Committee considers that, with a view to being able to take the appropriate measures to reduce the gender wage gap, it would be useful for the Government, together with the representative organizations of workers and employers, to undertake a detailed study of the statistics provided and the measures that could be adopted to remedy pay gaps. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted to reduce the gender pay gap and to continue providing updated statistical data. It also requests the Government to indicate whether, when carrying out the objective evaluation and establishing the five occupational levels to which it refers, the possible predominant presence of men or women in any of the occupations referred to was taken into account. The Committee considers that this exercise could provide a basis for determining whether lower minimum wages are established in sectors where women are predominant. The Committee reminds the Government that it may have recourse to ILO technical assistance in this respect.

Article 4. Cooperation with the social partners. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the functioning of the National Labour and Wage Council (CNTS), an advisory tripartite technical body of the Ministry of Labour which is responsible for social dialogue on wage, labour and employment policies, of which annual meetings are held with the participation of representatives of employers, workers and the authorities. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether, within the context of the CNTS, it is planned to take measures to give effect to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Labour inspection. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that during inspection procedures no cases have been detected of non-compliance with the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers, as set out in the Convention. In view of the difficulties that may be faced in practice in identifying cases of discrimination in relation to equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, particularly when men and women do not perform the same work, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the training received by labour inspectors to strengthen their capacities to prevent, detect and resolve such cases.