Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Trinidad and Tobago (Ratification: 1997)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Assessing and addressing the gender pay gap. The Committee notes from the statistics provided by the Government on the average monthly income by sex and occupational group that in 2012 the gender pay gap between men and women ranged from 10 per cent (for technician and associate professionals) to 41.8 per cent (for service and shop sales workers). The statistics concerning the average monthly income by sex and industry also show a gender pay gap in favour of men (except in construction), ranging from 1.7 per cent in the transport, storage and communication industry to 50 per cent in the sugar industry in 2010. The Committee welcomes the increase of the national minimum wage as of January 2011, and recalls that women generally predominate in low-wage employment, and that a uniform national minimum wage system helps to raise the earnings of the lowest paid, which has an influence on the relationship between men and women’s wages and on reducing the gender pay gap (see General Survey of the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraphs 682–685). Noting that in its report, the Government commits to addressing the gender pay gap and occupational gender segregation, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the concrete steps taken and the progress made in this regard. Please continue to provide detailed statistical data on the earnings of men and women according to occupational group and industry, as well as information on the minimum wage.

Equal remuneration for work of equal value. Legislation. The Committee recalls that the Equal Opportunity Act, 2000, contains no specific provisions regarding equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. The Government indicates that, in giving effect to the Act, the courts would treat unequal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value as sex-based discrimination. It further indicates that the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) acknowledges that the concept of “work of equal value” lies at the heart of the fundamental right to equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value and the promotion of equality. While noting the Government’s indications, the Committee would like to recall that only prohibiting sex-based wage discrimination is normally not sufficient to implement effectively the principle of the Convention as it does not capture the concept of “work of equal value”. The Committee once again urges the Government to take steps to give full legislative expression to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value and to provide information on any progress in this regard.

Collective agreements. Since 2000, the Committee has been asking the Government to provide information on the progress made in removing sex discriminatory clauses from collective agreements. The Committee notes that the report once again contains no information in this respect. The Committee notes with regret, however, that in the new collective agreement on wages and conditions of service for hourly, daily and weekly rates employees employed in the Port-of-Spain Corporation for 2011–13, sex-specific terminology remains in use to describe a category of workers in the schedule of wage rates which are not gender-neutral (for example, greaseman, batteryman, watchman, handyman, charwoman, female scavenger, labourer (female), labourer (male), etc.). The Committee wishes to recall that, in specifying different occupations and jobs for the purpose of fixing wage rates, gender-neutral terminology should be used to avoid stereotypes as to whether certain jobs should be carried out by a man or a woman (see General Survey, 2012, paragraph 683). The Committee asks the Government to indicate how it is ensured that, in determining wage rates in collective agreements, the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is effectively taken into account by the social partners and applied, and the work performed by women is not being undervalued in comparison to that of men who are performing different work and using different skills but that is overall of equal value. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on the progress made in removing sex discriminatory clauses from collective agreements, and to take steps, in collaboration with the employers’ and workers’ organizations, to promote the use of gender-neutral terminology in referring to the various jobs and occupations in the collective agreements.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.