Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Peru (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government with its report, and the attached statistics.

1. In its previous comments, the Committee reminded the Government that the concept of the remuneration of men and women according to the value of their work necessarily implies adopting a method for objectively measuring and comparing the relative value of the tasks performed. Such method is essential to determining whether jobs involving different tasks have the same value for remuneration purposes (see the 1986 General Survey on equal remuneration, paragraphs 138-152). The Committee notes the information contained in the communication issued by the Directorate of Prevention and Inspection, which was attached to the Government’s report, that there is a legal void in the statutes that are in force as no procedure has been established through which it is possible to evaluate the work performed and its relation with the remuneration received. The Committee asks the Government to provide information in its next report on the measures adopted or envisaged for the utilization of methodologies for the objective evaluation of jobs.

2. The Committee notes that, according to the statistics of the National Household Survey attached to the Government’s report, in the public sector 80 per cent of those who receive high incomes (above 4,000 soles) are men, with only 20 per cent of women receiving such remuneration. In contrast, 87 per cent of employees of the public administration who receive low incomes (for example, between 200 and 399 soles) are women, with only 13 per cent of men in these wage brackets. It also notes that in the private sector most men also receive remuneration in the middle to higher level of the scale. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures adopted or envisaged to guarantee equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value in the public sector, and to promote the same principle in the private sector.

3. The Committee notes the information contained in the study by the Ministry of Labour entitled "Women in the Peruvian labour market: Qualifications and labour market participation", published in October 1997 and attached to the Government’s report, on the need to formulate and promote policies enabling women to fulfil their dual role as both mothers and workers and to have access to sustained participation in the labour market, thereby avoiding discontinuous occupational trajectories, which result in exclusion of or discrimination against women workers in certain sectors. The Committee notes that the majority of the training courses referred to in table 5 of the above study are for activities in areas traditionally considered to be "women’s work" (underwear, confectionary, clothes making, cosmetics and handicrafts). The Committee reminds the Government that the application of the principles set out in Article 2 of the Convention has the object of eliminating discrimination which may arise from the existence of categories of jobs and occupations which are traditionally reserved for women and which may be undervalued as a result of the stereotypes relating to gender (see the 1986 General Survey on equal remuneration, paragraphs 19-23). The Committee asks the Government to provide information in its next report on the measures adopted or envisaged to promote programmes of education and training for women, particularly in sectors in which they are under-represented, and on any other measures intended to facilitate the access of women with children to the labour market.

4. The Committee notes the information provided in the communication issued by the Directorate of Prevention and Inspections, attached to the Government’s report, summarizing the labour legislation in force, which is the fundamental instrument for the activities of labour inspectors, but which contains no provision respecting the verification of the application of the Convention. The communication also indicates that there is no effective machinery to identify infringements of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to provide information in its next report on the measures adopted or envisaged to ensure that inspections are carried out to verify whether effect is given in practice to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value.

5. In its previous comments, the Committee asked the Government to provide information on complaints lodged and court rulings issued relating to violations of the principle set out in Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the information provided by the Government in its last report is more closely related to Convention No. 111 on discrimination in employment and occupation than to the principle set out in Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee once again asks the Government to provide information in its next report on any complaints or court rulings relating to violations of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value.