Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1982)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its reports. It also notes the conclusions of the Committee set up to examine the representation made by the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and the Venezuelan Federation of Chambers and Associations of Commerce and Production (FEDECAMARAS), under article 24 of the ILO Constitution, which were approved by the Governing Body in May 1993 (document GB.256/15/16). In paragraph 90(c)(i), the above Committee recommends that: "the Government should take measures to ensure that no differentiation is made on the grounds of sex between benefits paid by the employer to men and women workers who adopt minors or who become foster parents with a view to adoption, in compliance with Convention No. 100 and in view of the requirements of Convention No. 156". In view of this recommendation, the Committee requests the Government to supply full and detailed information in this respect.

1. With reference to the coming into force of the new Organic Labour Act on 1 May 1991 and in particular section 7 (which excludes members of the armed forces and the police forces from the scope of the Act), the Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the regulations which apply the principle of the Convention to these persons.

2. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the regulations which have been adopted or which are envisaged so as to give full effect to section 130 of the Organic Labour Act to establish an objective method of evaluation so that "in fixing the amount of the wage ... account shall be taken of the quantity and quality of the services to be rendered ...", thereby giving effect to the principle of equal wages for work which is of a different nature but of equal value. The Committee notes the 1990 collective agreement respecting the Consolidated Bank, the text of which was supplied in the report, and once again requests the Government to supply with its next report copies of collective agreements in sectors in which a large proportion of women workers are employed.

3. By virtue of section 135 of the new Organic Labour Act, "equal wages or salary shall be paid for equal work performed in equivalent posts with the same hours of work and the same conditions of efficiency. To this end the worker's ability relative to the type of work performed shall be borne in mind". In this respect, the Committee renews its previous direct request concerning the components of pay which are to be understood as integral components of wages and the concept of "equal work". The Committee notes the various rulings by the Supreme Court of Justice which refer to the application of the above concept (section 73 of the former Code), which are appended to the report and which principally concern the various benefits that the applicants maintained should be considered as integral parts of the wage, both with regard to retroactive rulings and with a view to including them in severance pay upon the termination of the employment of the worker. In this respect, the Government, in response to objections to the new Act from employers and workers, has emphasized the similarity of the principles set out in the previous Labour Code and the Act which is currently in force. Since the Government has maintained that in the past the application of the above principles was not questioned, the Committee requests it to state: (a) the force of the rulings handed down (that is, whether under Venezuelan law the above rulings will continue to be obligatory for the Supreme Court and for lower courts); and (b) since they deal with the new Organic Labour Act (and particularly the definition of remuneration contained in section 133), whether the case law could vary in future.

4. With regard to the public sector, the Committee once again requests the Government to supply the text of the Job Classification Manual for the Public Sector, which it has not received.

5. The Committee notes the Government's statement that the application of the principle of equal remuneration is entrusted principally to labour inspectors and that the National Costs, Prices and Wages Board issues wage recommendations which are based on the principle of equality. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the measures adopted in practice by these bodies to promote the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value, based on an objective appraisal of jobs.