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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Côte d'Ivoire (Ratification: 1961)

Article 2, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention. Application of the principle of equal remuneration by legislative means. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the new Labour Code, which is still in the process of being revised, will not put at risk the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the content of the draft Labour Code with regard to wages and, in particular, on any recommendation adopted on this matter by the social forum mentioned by the Government in its previous report received in 2007. It trusts that the new Labour Code, like the current Labour Code, will contain provisions providing for equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value, and asks the Government to keep it informed of any developments in this regard.

Articles 2, paragraph 2(c), and 4. Application of the principle by means of collective agreements. Cooperation with the social partners. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, awareness of the social partners of the application of the provisions of the present Convention is raised through seminars and workshops and during inspections by labour inspectors. It also notes that section 44 of the Inter-Occupational Collective Agreement of 19 July 1977, provides that “all workers, regardless of their origin, age, sex and status, shall receive equal pay for equal conditions of work, occupational skill and output …”. The Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention to paragraph 54 of its General Survey of 1986 on equal remuneration, in which it emphasizes that “insistence on ‘equal conditions as regards work, skill and output’ can be taken as a pretext for paying women lower wages than men”. The emphasis should instead be placed on the “nature of the work”, which requires a comparison of tasks on the basis of entirely objective and non-discriminatory criteria to avoid an assessment being tainted by gender bias. Referring to its 2006 general observation in which it clarifies the meaning of the concept of “work of equal value”, the Committee recalls that it is essential to compare the value of work performed in different occupations, which may require different qualifications and skills and involve different responsibilities or working conditions, but which is nevertheless of equal value. The Committee asks the Government to provide specific information on the awareness-raising activities carried out or envisaged to promote a better understanding and better application of the principle of the Convention and, in particular, of the concept of “work of equal value” by employers, workers and their organizations. It also asks it to indicate any steps taken to encourage the social partners to include in the Inter-Occupational Collective Agreement of 1977 a clause incorporating the principle of equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value when this collective agreement is renegotiated.

Article 2, paragraph 2(b). Minimum wage fixing. With regard to minimum wage fixing in the private sector, which the Committee recalls is an important means of giving effect to the Convention, the Government indicates that the Labour Advisory Committee issues opinions on these matters and that the joint committees play their role in this regard to the full. Noting this general information, the Committee observes that the Government does not provide any information on the method and criteria used to determine minimum wages and to ensure that they are determined in a manner that is free from any gender bias. In this regard, it recalls the importance of using criteria that are free from gender bias and ensuring, inter alia, that the types of effort, qualifications and responsibilities required for work performed predominantly by women are not undervalued. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the methods and criteria used when determining or reviewing minimum wages in the context of the Labour Advisory Committee and the joint committees. It also asks the Government to indicate any steps taken or envisaged to promote the application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value in this process.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that it is committed to carrying out, with technical assistance from the ILO, a job evaluation study as soon as possible. It would like to draw the Government’s attention to its general observation of 2006 in which it emphasized that, while the Convention does not prescribe any specific method for determining whether different jobs are of equal value, it does presuppose the use of appropriate techniques for objective job evaluation. For the purpose of ensuring gender equality in the determination of remuneration, analytical methods of job evaluation have been found to be the most effective. These methods analyse and classify jobs on the basis of objective factors relating to the jobs to be compared such as skill, effort and responsibilities or working conditions (see paragraph 141 onwards of the General Survey of 1986). The Committee asks the Government to indicate the steps taken to establish the conditions necessary for the carrying out of a study on objective job evaluation and to gather data on remuneration, disaggregated by sex and by job category within the same sector and in different sectors.

Parts III and V of the report form. Application of the principle of equality in practice. Statistics and labour inspection. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value is well observed in both the private and public sectors and that inspections carried out by labour inspectors have not brought to light any violations with regard to the application of the Convention. The Committee recalls that the absence of violations reported or of complaints lodged is not sufficient to conclude that the Convention is being applied in practice. In order to be in a position to assess the application of the Convention in practice, the Committee asks the Government as follows:

(i)    to provide the data available on the wage levels of men and women by sector of activity and by occupation, in both the public and private sectors;

(ii)   to indicate the steps taken or envisaged, in particular through specific training, to enable labour inspectors to be in a better position to detect pay discrimination and to deal with it effectively; and

(iii) to provide the information available on the results of the inspections carried out, in particular, statistics on the number of establishments inspected and the number of men and women workers covered, the violations reported with regard to the principle of equal remuneration and any penalties imposed.