Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1961)

1. Article 2 of the Convention. With regard to the amended section 89 of the Labour Code, which stipulates that "Equal wages shall be paid for equal work performed in equivalent posts and under the same conditions of efficiency and seniority in the same enterprise; such wages shall include all the payments made to the employee in return for his ordinary work", the Committee asked the Government to explain how the broader principle of equal pay for work of equal value is ensured by other legislation or in practice. The Government answers that this principle is applied by means of minimum wage tables and in collective agreements on working conditions, and repeats that it is also laid down expressly in article 102(c) of the Constitution. The Committee notes with interest that the Government appends copies of collective agreements in which wages are higher than the minimum, and of Government Agreement No. 770-95 regulating the new salary scale to take effect on 1 January 1996 which is not disaggregated by sex because sex is not taken into account in wage fixing.

2. In its previous comments, the Committee observed that section 89 referred to the concept of work "of inferior quality and value" as criteria used in examining complaints by women workers, and asked the Government whether, in determining such complaints, it was possible to compare different work. The Government replies that, to date, there have been no complaints by women workers on these or any of the other grounds referred to in section 89. The Committee hopes that the Government will provide information on the practical application of section 89 in future reports.

3. In its previous comments the Committee noted Government Agreement No. 711-93 setting up a representative commission to coordinate activities with the National Office for Women. The Government specifies that this Office is authorized to participate in and coordinate the commission responsible for eliminating sexist roles and stereotypes from school text books with a view to placing men and women on a par, and it therefore plays a role in the application of the Convention. The Government also indicates that there have been no complaints concerning the application of the Convention made either to the Labour Inspectorate or to the Labour and Social Welfare Tribunals and that consequently, there have been no sanctions or court decisions on such matters.

4. The Committee notes that a National Wage Commission was established on 10 May 1995, but that its activities do not concern the application of the Convention since its decisions are for general application and distinguish only between the minimum wages of different occupations and not between men's and women's wages.