Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Morocco (Ratification: 1979)

1. The Committee notes the communication submitted by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) on 4 June 2003 concerning the application of both Conventions Nos. 100 and 111, as well as the Government’s reply thereon received on 9 September 2003. In its communication, the ICFTU alleges that, while there is no discrimination between men and women in law, in practice women are concentrated in certain jobs in the public service and few of them occupy management positions or posts of responsibility. The ICFTU further maintains that the majority of women are employed in the services and teaching sectors and that there exists wage discrimination against women, including with respect to leave benefits. According to the ICFTU, there is a need for better statistics on wages and hours of work of women and men as well as for information on women’s conditions of work.

2. The Committee notes that the Government refers, in its reply, to the various legislative texts providing for equality between men and women in access to the public service and protecting against all discrimination in employment and occupation. The Government also indicates that some progress has been made with regard to the access of women to posts of responsibility and refers in particular to the increase in the number of women in parliament due to the review of the Elections Code of 2002 and the observance of the quota system. Other appointments to high-level posts included one counsellor to His Majesty, three ambassadors, one minister and two state secretaries as well as several women directors in the central administration. The Government maintains that all public officials and state officers in the communities and public institutions enjoy the same remuneration without distinction based on sex and that remuneration is determined by reference to the function of and the level to which the public official or state officer belongs.

3. The Committee recalls that, although equality legislation, including equal pay legislation, and the use of gender-neutral salary scales may be essential conditions for the application of the principle of the Convention, they are not in themselves sufficient to apply the Convention. While appreciating the information provided by the Government on the progress made in the access of women to parliament and to certain high-level posts in the public service, the Committee notes that the statistics provided by the Government for the year 2000 on the number of women and their corresponding wages in various public service posts continue to indicate that the number of women in high-level positions remains relatively low. In its previous comments, the Committee had already noted that women were concentrated in a few occupational categories in the public service, including teaching and services, and had pointed out that salary discrimination may result from the existence of occupational categories or jobs reserved for women. The Committee therefore asks the Government to continue its efforts to implement specific measures to encourage the recruitment of women in all categories of the public service, and to provide statistics in this regard, including statistics and information on the wages and the hours of work of both men and women in the various public service posts and on their conditions of work. Noting that the Government did not provide any reply with respect to wage discrimination that might exist with regard to leave benefits, the Committee would be grateful if the Government could also provide specific information on the leave benefits received by men and women in the public sector.

4. With respect to the private sector, the ICFTU alleges that grave violations of the Labour Code exist in the export-oriented textile and informal manufacturing industries, which employ a large number of women. In the textile industry, women often earn less than the minimum wage, work more than 48 hours a week without being paid for supplementary working hours and are not registered with the National Social Security Fund. Many of them do not have a work permit and are not entitled to maternity leave. In the informal manufacturing sector, workers do not have an employment contract, wages are lower than minimum wages and workers are not covered by social security (while employers sometimes deduct social allowances from their wages). Pregnant women often lose their jobs. The ICFTU also takes up the Committee’s previous comments that the tripartite agreement of 23 April 2000 addresses several economic and social issues, including wages, and provides for the formulation of programmes to eradicate occupational illiteracy among men and women, but makes no reference to the need for equality of remuneration as between men and women workers for work of equal value.

5. The Committee notes that the Government makes no specific reply to the issues raised by the ICFTU, except for the indication that women occupy some high-level posts, such as company managers. The Government merely reiterates information previously received by the Committee that, since 1975, the principle of equal remuneration between men and women has been legally established pursuant to the amendment of the Dahir of 1936 concerning the minimum wages of workers and employees, and that wages are freely negotiated and are the result of a common agreement between the parties without distinction between men and women. The Committee also notes the allegations by the ICFTU concerning the non-payment of minimum wages and supplementary hours of work in the female-dominated export-oriented textile and informal manufacturing industries as well as the lack of social security protection. It therefore asks the Government to indicate in its next report the specific measures taken to ensure the application of the minimum wage legislation in these industries and to provide information on the manner in which the principle of equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value, including the payment of additional allowances, is applied in these industries. Noting also the absence of any reply concerning the requested data on wages and hours of work disaggregated by sex, as well as on the manner in which the tripartite committee takes into consideration the issue of equal remuneration between men and women, the Committee trusts that such information will be included in the Government’s next report.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.