Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Cuba (Ratification: 1954)

Article 1 of the Convention. Work of equal value and legislation. The Committee refers to its previous comments, in which, noting that, according to the Government’s report, the expression “equal pay for equal work” is applied in practice in the same way as the expression “equal remuneration for work of equal value”, the Committee emphasized the need for the legislation to give full expression to the principle of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government once again indicates that the relevant legislation is interpreted and applied in practice in accordance with the Convention. The Committee also notes that, according to the Government’s report, there have been no complaints in this regard. However, the Committee wishes to stress that legal provisions that are narrower in scope than the principle laid down in the Convention may hinder progress in eradicating gender-based pay discrimination against women. The Committee once again draws the Government’s attention to its 2006 general observation on the Convention, in which, precisely on the basis of these considerations, it urged governments to take the necessary steps to amend their legislation with a view to expressly prohibiting pay discrimination that occurs in situations where men and women perform different work that is nevertheless of equal value. The Committee once again asks the Government to enshrine in its legislation the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value and to provide information on any developments in this regard. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on the steps taken or envisaged to promote understanding of the principle of the Convention and to strengthen the capacity of all relevant actors to point out, detect and deal with cases of violations of this principle.

Article 2. Application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value in practice. The Committee recalls that Resolution No. 27/06 issued the general regulations on wage structures and established a scale of complexity common to all occupational categories, in which different jobs are classified in various groups according to content and the qualifications required. According to the provisions of these regulations, a single wage rate shall apply to each group on the scale of complexity. Noting that, according to the provisions of section 4 of these regulations, this wage system is governed, inter alia, by the principle of “ensuring equal pay for equal work”, the Committee asks the Government to provide detailed information on the criteria used to ensure that, in defining the various groups on the scale of complexity, full effect is given to the principle of equal remuneration for “work of equal value”, by means of methods of objective job evaluation. Please also provide examples of different jobs which have been included in the same group on the scale of complexity.

With regard to its request for information on the number of men and women at each wage level in the education and health sectors, the Committee notes that, according to the statistics provided by the Government, in 2008, women occupied 49.51 per cent of managerial posts in education and 49.48 per cent of managerial posts in the health sector. The Committee also observes that around 77 per cent of administrative posts in the two sectors were occupied by women. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue providing information on the distribution of men and women in the various sectors and occupational categories, including information on the corresponding wage levels to which they belong.

With regard to the single wage scale established by Resolution No. 30 of 2005, the Committee notes that, according to the Government’s indications in its report, in 2008, a sample study was carried out in various sectors with the aim of identifying the distribution of workers according to wage scale, occupational category and sex. The Committee notes that, according to the statistics provided by the Government, in the education sector, women represent 66.7 per cent of workers in the group with the highest wage rate (XXII), while in light industry and in information technology and communication, there are no women in this group and the percentage of women in the higher wage groups is generally lower than in the lower wage groups. The Committee asks the Government to continue providing statistics on the distribution of men and women in the various wage scale groups. The Committee also refers to its comments on the application of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111).

Part V of the report form. Statistics. The Committee notes that the Statistical Yearbook for 2008 has still not been published. The Committee hopes that the Government will provide the statistics requested in its next report.