Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Uruguay (Ratification: 1989)

1. The Committee notes that, according to the communication of the Inter-Union Assembly of Workers - National Convention of Workers (PIT-CNT), received in October 2002, Act No. 16045, which prohibits all discrimination that violates the principle of equality of treatment and opportunities for both sexes, has hardly been applied in practice due to its poor dissemination, including among magistrates, lawyers and teachers. The trade union further emphasizes that the Act is inadequate and requires amendment. Among other measures, accessible remedial procedures should be established, since the procedure envisaged by the Act is understood to have been abolished by the current General Procedural Code; the burden of proof should be reversed, placing the onus on employers, and protection should be afforded to workers against reprisals; sufficiently dissuasive penalties should be established, as well as economic incentives and bonuses for employers who adopt measures to promote equality. The workers’ organization adds that there is no adequate control of compliance with existing provisions and that, although this is a function of the labour inspectorate, labour inspectors have accorded insufficient importance to the issue of discrimination. The PIT-CNT also indicates that the Tripartite Commission on Equality of Opportunity and Treatment in Employment lacks institutional support and the necessary infrastructure to discharge its functions. In conclusion, it notes that women’s unemployment rates are higher than those of men. The Committee notes that these issues are related to the general equality issues covered by the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). The principle of equality is indivisible and many of the difficulties which arise when endeavouring to give effect to equal remuneration for work of equal value are closely connected to the situation of women and men in employment and society. In a general context of inequality, it is not possible to secure non-discriminatory evaluation of the work done by men and women nor to ensure that everyone is entitled to all the components of remuneration, without discrimination based on sex.

2. The Committee therefore asks the Government to provide its comments on the communication of the PIT-CNT, and particularly on the effect given to Act No. 16045, the efforts made to adopt accessible recourse procedures, to which the Committee also refers in its comments on Convention No. 111, the progress achieved in strengthening the activities of the labour inspectorate in relation to equality and the support provided for the Tripartite Commission referred to above.

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