Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Singapore (Ratification: 2002)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Measures to promote the Convention’s principle. The Committee notes that the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) issued Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices on 3 May 2007 which include a section on remuneration stating that “[e]mployers should pay employees wages commensurate with the value of the job. Regardless of age, gender, race, religion and family status, employees should be paid and rewarded based on their performance, contribution and experience”. The Committee further notes that the Tripartite Centre for Fair Employment was set up in November 2007. According to the Government’s report, the Tripartite Centre is creating awareness of fair employment practices. The Committee asks the Government to indicate any measures taken by the Tripartite Centre for Fair Employment to promote the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Application of the Convention’s principle by means of collective agreements. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that as of May 2008 approximately 7 per cent of collective agreements had an equal remuneration clause. It also notes the examples of equal remuneration clauses of such agreements provided by the Government, which appear to be in line with the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the progress made in including equal remuneration for work of equal value clauses in collective agreements. Please also indicate whether any disputes regarding the application of such equal remuneration clauses have been dealt with by the courts.

Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes that the Government has not yet replied to its previous comments regarding the promotion of objective job evaluation as envisaged in Article 3 of the Convention. The Committee emphasizes that objective job evaluation is an important means to ensure the application of the Convention’s principle. The Committee therefore trusts that the Government will provide, in its next report, information on the measures taken or envisaged to promote objective job evaluation in the private and public sector, including any measures taken by the Tripartite Centre for Fair Employment.

Assessment of the gender wage gap. The Committee welcomes the detailed statistical information concerning the gender wage gap provided by the Government. The income gap between women and men has narrowed from 18.7 per cent in 1997 to 13.7 per cent in 2007 (median gross monthly income of resident full-time employees). The report indicates that the gender wage gap is narrowest in the occupational groups of managers (5.4 per cent), professionals (5 per cent) and clerks (9.2 per cent). It was widest in the occupational group of plant and machine operators (47 per cent). The Government indicates that the wide gap in this group could be due to the fact that women are frequently employed as electronic/component assemblers which are typically paid less than male dominated occupations such as crane and hoist operators. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide detailed statistical information on the gender wage gap. Recalling that under the Convention men and women performing different occupations should receive equal remuneration where the work performed is of equal value, the Committee asks the Government to indicate any measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the remuneration in occupations in which women are concentrated is not set at a lower level than for occupations in which men are concentrated which involve work of equal value, as determined on the basis of objective criteria.

Enforcement. While welcoming the efforts under way to promote the application of the Convention’s principle, the Committee also wishes to emphasize the importance of ensuring that workers who believe that their right to equal remuneration for work of equal value has been violated can effectively seek redress. The Committee therefore asks the Government to indicate the mechanisms and procedures which can be invoked by the workers concerned.