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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Azerbaijan (Ratification: 1992)

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Determination of remuneration and objective job evaluation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the work performed is assigned to the appropriate wage category using the wage and qualifications guides laid down by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and registered by the Ministry of Justice. The Committee recalls that, while the Convention does not prescribe any specific method for the examination of the tasks performed, it does presuppose the use of appropriate techniques for objective job evaluation. In the context of job evaluation for the purpose of determination of remuneration, the Committee stresses that skills considered to be “female”, such as manual dexterity and those required in caring professions, are often undervalued or even overlooked in comparison with traditionally “male” skills, such as heavy lifting. The Committee asks the Government to describe in detail the method used to determine the wage categories on the basis of the tasks performed, including all the criteria used to that end. It further asks the Government to indicate how it is ensured that the wage and qualifications guides of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection are established on the basis of entirely objective and non-discriminatory criteria to avoid an evaluation being tainted by gender bias. The Government is also requested to clarify whether the “unified pay scale handbook”, referred to in section 57(2) of the Labour Code, corresponds to the wage and qualifications guides mentioned by the Government in its report.

Equal remuneration in the public sector. Despite its repeated requests for information on the distribution of men and women employed in the public sector and their levels of remuneration, the Committee notes that it still does not have any information which would enable it to assess the extent to which the Convention is applied in this sector. The Government is therefore asked to provide the following information:

(i)    the legal provisions governing the remuneration of workers in the public sector;

(ii)   the distribution of men and women, including in posts of responsibility, in the public sector; and

(iii)  their corresponding levels of earnings.

Enforcement. Labour inspection. For many years, the Committee has been requesting information on the activities of the labour inspection services with regard to the enforcement of the principle of equal remuneration and the role of workers’ and employers’ organizations regarding securing the rights of workers and employers. The Committee notes that the report does not provide any specific reply in this respect and only indicates that the implementation of the labour legislation is carried out by the public prosecution authorities and by the State Labour Inspectorate and that public monitoring of labour, social and economic rights of workers and employers is ensured by trade unions and employers’ organizations. The Committee therefore asks, once again, the Government to describe the monitoring and advisory activities carried out by the State Labour Inspectorate with a view to enforcing and promoting the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on the complaints regarding discrimination in remuneration dealt with by the courts and the State Labour Inspectorate, including on their outcomes. Please also provide relevant extracts of annual reports of the State Labour Inspectorate and information on judicial decisions concerning equal remuneration, as well as a detailed description of the activities carried out during the reporting period by the social partners to ensure the application and the promotion of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.