Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Algeria (Ratification: 1962)

The Committee notes the Government's report and the attached information. It also notes the receipt during the Committee's session, of Executive Decrees No. 97-391 of 19 October 1997 and No. 97-437, No. 97-438 and No. 97-439 of 17 November 1997. The Committee is obliged to put off its examination of this material until its next session.

1. The Committee notes the adoption of the revised Constitution of 28 November 1996 prohibiting discrimination on grounds of birth, race, sex, opinion and any other personal or social condition or circumstance (article 29).

2. The Committee notes with interest that the Government, by Executive Decree No. 97-98 of 29 March 1997, created a National Council for Women, which is tripartite and inter-ministerial, and which has the mandate to act as a consultative body for the advancement of the status of women in the country and to conduct and disseminate research (including the establishment of a data bank) in this area. The Committee further notes that the Council will submit annually to the Government a report on the national policy on women. The Committee asks the Government to provide in its next report information on the activities of this Council to promote the principle of equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value, including copies of the annual report, information materials and studies published or envisaged on equal remuneration as well as on tripartite involvement in such activities.

3. Further to its previous comments on the need for information to assess the practical application of the principle of the Convention, the Committee notes that the Government will be undertaking a national survey on wages (starting from September 1998) which will incorporate the concerns previously raised by the Committee concerning the distribution between men and women at the various wage levels, and particularly in the occupations and sectors employing a large number of women in both the private and public sector. The Committee hopes that the Government will provide full information on this matter as soon as possible. It hopes that the survey results, which will be communicated to the Committee upon completion of the study, will enable the Committee to assess whether the principle of the Convention is being implemented in practice, as well as whether section 84 of Act. No. 90-11 of 21 April 1990 is being implemented at the national level.The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the extent to which the social partners and women workers will be involved in the survey. In the meantime, the Committee requests the Government to supply examples of collective agreements determining wage scales.

4. With reference to its previous comments on the Government's action to promote objective appraisal of jobs, particularly through the development of any machinery and procedures for providing for a method of appraisal free from any discrimination based on sex, the Committee is obliged to ask the Government again to supply information on the measures taken or contemplated: (a) to ensure application of the principle of equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value in the spheres in which it can exert direct or indirect influence on determining wage scales; (b) to encourage application of the principle in cases where the Government is excluded from the wage-fixing machinery; and (c) to cooperate with the social partners for the purpose of giving effect to the Convention and national legislation on the subject.