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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Azerbaijan (Ratification: 1992)

The Committee notes the Government's report and the information it contains, which replies in part to its previous direct request.

1. The Government notes the provisions of the Constitution and the legislation which establish the general principle that workers are entitled to receive remuneration in return for their work without discrimination, in particular on grounds of sex. It notes that, according to article 35 of the Constitution, equality of remuneration is restricted to the minimum wage laid down by the Government; that section 83 of the Labour Code prohibits any reduction of wages on a number of grounds, including sex; and that section 180 protects the wages of pregnant women and nursing mothers. In its report, the Government states that "as a result of the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work, women workers ... receive the same remuneration for their work as men doing work of comparable quantity and quality". Furthermore, the Government again indicates, though it produces no relevant document, that there is a single wage scale, which is based on individual qualifications and the complexity of the work, and which is mandatory in respect of manual and office workers in institutions and organizations financed from the national budget. For other enterprises, equal remuneration is guaranteed only in respect of the statutory minimum wage for the same qualifications under normal working conditions, and this minimum is the basis for setting specific wage levels through collective agreements and individual contracts of employment.

The Committee wishes to point out that, according to Article 1(a) of the Convention, the term "remuneration" includes the ordinary, basic or minimum wage or salary and any additional emoluments whatsoever payable directly or indirectly whether in cash or in kind, by the employer to the worker and arising out of the worker's employment, and that the term "equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value" refers to rates of remuneration established without discrimination based on sex. The Committee notes in this connection that the above-mentioned provisions of the national legislation do not meet all the criteria set out in the Convention which are necessary for ensuring equal remuneration in accordance with Article 1 above. In order that the Committee may ascertain, on the basis of precise information, the extent to which this principle is applied in practice, it asks the Government to provide: (1) a copy of Decree No. 499 of 29 March 1993 respecting the introduction of a handbook for the remuneration of wage-earners and public employees, to which it referred in its first report, and (2) a copy of the undated text issued by the Cabinet of Ministers establishing a single wage scale for manual and office workers in institutions and organizations financed from the national budget.

2. Noting that matters concerning specific wages of workers are decided by negotiations between the social partners taking into account the minimum wage guaranteed by law regardless of the workers' sex, the Committee asks the Government to send with its next report the text, if any, which gives the social partners this authority in collective bargaining and, in any case, copies of agreements concluded to this end in collective negotiations in enterprises employing a large proportion of women workers.