Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1992, published 79th ILC session (1992)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Costa Rica (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee notes the Government's report for the period ending 30 June 1988, and the replies to its previous direct request. It requests the Government to continue to supply detailed information on the progress achieved in the application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value.

1. The Committee notes that article 57 of the Constitution and section 167 of the Labour Code provide for equal wages for equal work performed under the same conditions of efficiency. It requests the Government to supply information on the practical application of the equal remuneration principle to men and women workers performing jobs of a different nature, but of an equal value, both with regard to the public and the private sectors.

2. The Committee refers to the Bill concerning real equality for women which was pending before the Legislative Assembly. The Committee has no information indicating whether this Bill has yet been adopted. It therefore recalls that in its 1989 comments under Convention No. 111, it noted that the Bill contained no provisions guaranteeing equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, and expressed the hope that this principle would be included. Please indicate the current status of the Bill.

3. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government on the system for fixing minimum wages. It requests the Government to supply information on the application of the equal remuneration principle to men and women workers who are remunerated above the minimum wage level, both in the public and the private sectors.

4. The Committee notes with interest from the Government's report that there exists a national classification of jobs which is used as a starting point for fixing wages in various sectors of the economy. It requests the Government to provide it with a copy of that national classification, and to inform it of the practical results thereof in the application of the equal remuneration principle. Please indicate in particular whether it was established on the basis of an objective appraisal of the jobs on the basis of the work to be performed, as suggested in Article 3 of the Convention.

5. As concerns collective agreements, the Committee has examined the extracts of certain agreements forwarded with the report. It notes that none of these extracts contains the remuneration which is to be paid. It therefore requests the Government to include such information in its next report, together with an indication of how the principle of the Convention is applied through these agreements, particularly in sectors employing a high proportion of women workers.

Point V of the report form. The Committee notes from the report that no statistics on violations of the principle of equal remuneration are available from the Labour Inspectorate. It hopes that it will be possible to furnish such statistics in the next report.