Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Iran (Islamic Republic of) (Ratification: 1972)

1. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report and attached documentation, including the publication devoted to the job classification plans for municipalities and related organizations and the collective agreement concluded between employers and workers in brick kilns.

2. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the indications provided in the report concerning the application of section 38 of the Labour Code, which calls for equal wages for men and women who perform "work of equal value in a workplace under the same conditions" and prohibits discrimination in wage determination on a number of grounds, including sex. The Committee appreciates that the factors prevailing at a particular workplace may play a role in differentiating classifications and wage rates between workers who undertake similar or even the same work (such as in the cited example of a welder in a workshop and a welder working at high altitudes), although such factors could also be taken account of through special wage premiums. In requesting information on the application of the Convention in different workplaces, the Committee is concerned to determine how the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value is applied in respect of enterprises employing only or mainly women workers where the possibility for making comparisons with the work performed by men is necessarily limited.

3. As concerns measures to promote an objective appraisal of jobs, the Committee notes with interest that job classification committees (comprising two representatives of the workers, two representatives of management and one supervisor) must now be set up in enterprises with 50 or more employees to determine job classification plans on the basis of objective criteria. Please indicate the percentage of workers in the country who are now covered by such plans. In addition, in order to determine the extent to which these initiatives are reducing the differential between wage rates for men and women workers, please provide whatever statistical data are available concerning (i) public sector salary scales, together with an indication of the percentage of women and men employed at different levels; and (ii) statistics on the minimum wage rates and actual average earnings of men and women, disaggregated, if possible, by occupation, branch of activity and level of qualifications.