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

Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1988)

Further to its previous direct request, the Committee notes the Government's indication relating to the comments made by the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations (CACIF) that the Joint Minimum Wage Boards and the National Wage Board are consultative bodies of the Ministry of Labour and Social Providence but that their opinions do not bind the authority of labour which can fix minimum wage rates following its own criteria and taking other aspects into consideration. It recalls that Article 4, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the Convention requires the consultation and participation of the employers' and workers' organizations in the operation of the minimum wage-fixing machinery. The Committee notes the minimum wage rates fixed for different sectors during the reporting period and requests the Government to supply information for each of these sectors on the difference between the minimum wage rates recommended by the above-mentioned Boards and the rates actually fixed.

The Committee also notes the information on the number of workers covered by the minimum wages and on the proposed amendment of the Labour Code, revising, among others, the rates of fine. It hopes that the Government will continue providing information on the application in practice of the minimum wages, including, for example, the number of infringements noted by the labour inspectorate and that of sanctions imposed, in accordance with Article 5 and point V of the report form.