Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

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

Article 2(2)(a) of the Convention. Application of the principle of equal remuneration by legislative means. The Committee notes that according to the provisions of the draft Labour Code sent by the Government, the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value will be included in the new Labour Code. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the state of progress of work on the revision of the Labour Code and to send a copy of the Labour Code once it has been adopted.

Articles 2(2)(c) and (4). Application of the principle by means of collective agreement. Cooperation with the social partners. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that section 44 of the Inter-Occupational Collective Agreement of 19 July 1977, which provides that, “all workers, regardless of their origin, age, sex and status, shall receive equal pay for equal conditions of work, qualifications and output ...”, is more restrictive than the principle contained in the Convention. It had recalled in this connection that it was essential to compare the value of work performed in different occupations, which may require different qualifications and involve different responsibilities or working conditions but which is nevertheless of equal value. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, the only way of implementing the provisions of Convention No. 100 for the moment is the organization of seminars and workshops on the concept of “work of equal value”, as well as labour inspection visits. The most recent workshop on this issue, which was attended by labour administration officials, labour inspectors and employers’ and workers’ representatives, took place in October 2010. While noting this information, the Committee draws the Government’s attention once again to the discrepancies existing between the provisions on equal remuneration in the Labour Code (section 31.2) and the Convention, on the one hand, and those of the Inter-Occupational Collective Agreement, on the other hand. The Committee therefore asks the Government to take all necessary steps to encourage the social partners to revise section 44 of the Inter-Occupational Collective Agreement of 19 July 1977 in order to incorporate the principle of equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value. The Government is also asked to continue providing information on the awareness-raising activities carried out to promote a better understanding and improved application of the principle of equal remuneration within the meaning of the Convention and, in particular, the concept of “work of equal value” by employers, workers and their organizations.

Article 2(2)(b). Minimum wage fixing. With regard to minimum wage fixing in the private sector, the Committee notes that the Government has sent information in its reports on the application of the Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) and the Minimum Wage Fixing Machinery (Agriculture) Convention, 1951 (No. 99). However, as regards the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value through minimum wage fixing, the Committee recalls that it examines whether this principle is sufficiently taken into account when establishing minimum wages and whether the method and criteria used in this process ensure that these wages are free from gender bias, which might exist because skills considered to be “female”, such as manual dexterity and those required in caring professions, are undervalued or even overlooked, in comparison with traditionally “male” skills, such as heavy lifting. The Committee asks the Government once again 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 to ensure that men and women are paid equal remuneration for work of equal value. It also asks the Government to indicate any measure taken or envisaged to promote the application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value during the process of minimum wage fixing.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee welcomes the agreement between the Government, employers’ and workers’ representatives on the drafting of annexes to the Inter-Occupational Collective Agreement of 19 July 1977 concerning occupational classification. Referring to its general observation of 2006, the Committee recalls in this respect that when examining tasks involved in jobs for the purpose of occupational classification, it is important to ensure that methods of evaluation using objective criteria free from any gender bias are applied (usually the skills required, the effort, and responsibilities or working conditions) in order to guarantee, inter alia, that the type of efforts, skills and responsibilities required for work primarily carried out by women is not undervalued. The Government recalls that one of the recommendations of the 2007 social pre-forum was to carry out a job evaluation study and that it was intending to request the ILO for technical assistance in this respect. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that it is not in a position at the present time to carry out this study. In the light of the preceding comments concerning the revision of the annexes of the collective agreement of 1977, the Committee asks the Government to take the necessary measures to encourage the social partners to take into account the principle of equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value when establishing occupational classifications and to provide information on this matter. Furthermore, the Committee hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to carry out the job evaluation study and asks it once again to indicate the steps taken to establish the conditions necessary for the carrying out of this study 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 of remuneration in practice. Statistics and labour inspection. The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain any information in reply to its request. In order to be in a position to assess the application of the Convention in practice, the Committee asks the Government once again:

• (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, particularly 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.