Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Tunisia (Ratification: 1968)

Article 2 of the Convention. Gender wage gap and occupational segregation. The Committee recalls that, for several years, it has been requesting the Government to provide updated statistics on the distribution of men and women in the various economic sectors, occupations and jobs and the corresponding remuneration levels in order to be able to assess the application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes with regret that, once again, the Government has not provided any information on this matter. It nevertheless notes that the last micro-enterprise survey conducted by the National Statistics Institute (INS) in 2012 highlighted that, in the informal private sector, women’s remuneration has always been less than the guaranteed minimum inter professional wage (SMIG), with an average monthly gap estimated at 35.5 per cent between men and women in 2012, as compared with 24.5 per cent in 1997. With regard to the formal private sector, the Committee notes that the survey on salary structures in Tunisia of 2011–12 conducted by the Centre for Research and Social Studies also showed that women’s salaries are less than men’s, with an average monthly gap of 25.4 per cent. The Committee also notes that, according to the results of the last survey on employment and salaries in enterprises, conducted in 2012 by the NSI and published in June 2015, women are employed mainly in the manufacturing industry, teaching, and human health and social work branches, which are among the lowest paid (the average salary being respectively 469, 484 and 553 Tunisian dinars (TND)), while they represent a minority in the sectors with the highest average salaries, such as transport and warehousing (14 per cent of women on an average monthly salary of TND690), information and communication (45.7 per cent of women on an average monthly salary of TND929) and insurance and financial activities (39 per cent of women on an average monthly salary of TND1,305). In addition, women are under-represented in positions of responsibility, representing only 30.8 per cent of managers. The Committee encourages the Government to take the necessary measures without delay for the collection and analysis of updated statistics on the distribution of men and women in various economic activity sectors and occupational categories, as well as on the amount of their respective average salaries, in the public and private sectors, in order to identify remuneration gaps between men and women and take the necessary measures to eliminate them. The Committee requests the Government to provide any available updated information in this respect and to provide copies of relevant reports on the matter, published in particular by the NSI or the Centre for Research and Social Studies.

Application of the principle in rural areas. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that research into the situation of women in rural areas and their access to public services, particularly with regard to employment, is currently being conducted in order to more effectively target their needs and, in turn, provide necessary recommendations for the development of targeted action plans and a strategy for the promotion of rural women. The Committee notes that the first phase of the research carried out in December 2013 in 11 governorates highlighted that, in 2012, 35 per cent of women lived in rural areas and that 57.9 per cent of women employed in the agricultural sector are “family helpers” who work for free in the family enterprise or undertaking, and that this productive but unpaid work is not always perceived as a job (State Secretariat for the Family, report on the situation of women in rural Tunisia and their access to public services in 11 governorates in Tunisia, December 2013, pages 7, 9 and 10). The survey also identified that women living in rural areas face various obstacles to access to employment owing to their family responsibilities, a prohibition by the woman’s family, lack of training and transport problems, as well as difficulties accessing credit, which prevents them from becoming economically independent (only 26 per cent of them obtained microcredit in 2012). The Committee requests the Government to provide updated information on the distribution of men and women among the different categories of workers in the agricultural sector, specifying the amount of their respective average salaries. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to promote women’s paid employment and reduce the wage gaps between men and women in rural areas, specifying the action plans and promotion strategies implemented, particularly further to the research initiated by the Government in 2013. It requests the Government to provide extracts from any new reports on the application of the principle of the Convention in rural areas, particularly concerning the 13 governorates which were not included in the first phase of research.

Collective agreements. The Committee previously noted the Government’s indication that the principle of the Convention is anchored in collective agreements and asked the Government to provide extracts from relevant collective agreements in that regard. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the framework collective agreement of 1972, as well as the 54 sectoral collective agreements in force, expressly enshrine the principle of equality between men and women in all areas of work, including remuneration. The Committee notes the Government’s reference, by way of example, to three sectoral collective agreements (hosiery and dressmaking, building and construction, and the textile industry) but no extracts from these collective agreements have been provided. While once again reminding the Government that the principle enshrined in the Convention is not restricted to guaranteeing equality between men and women with regard to remuneration in general, but rather to guaranteeing more specifically that equal remuneration is paid to men and women workers who carry out work of equal value, the Committee requests the Government to provide extracts from collective agreements reflecting the principle of the Convention.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it takes into account certain objective criteria, such as the level of education, certificates and work experience, to determine the occupational classification of the worker during recruitment. The Government adds that the wage scales annexed to the sectoral collective agreements and to the particular staff regulations for public enterprises fix wages in accordance with the category of workers and their length of service in that grade, without any reference to the workers’ sex or other discriminatory criteria. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that while it is important in itself to guarantee that the wage rates and categories are applied to men and women without discrimination, this is not sufficient to promote and ensure the full and complete application of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value since labour market segregation between men and women relating to the choice of employment leads to an undervaluation of jobs carried out predominantly by women. To eliminate pay inequalities resulting from this occupational segregation, it is necessary to compare jobs performed mainly by women with those performed mainly by men, based on objective criteria, free from gender bias (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 695–703). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to promote, in collaboration with the employers’ and workers’ organizations, the use of objective job evaluation methods in the private and public sectors, with a view to guaranteeing that the principle of equal pay between men and women for work of equal value is given effect in all wage scales. The Committee requests the Government to indicate which criteria are used and applied to determine remuneration in the public and private sectors to ensure that they are free from gender bias and do not lead in practice to an undervaluation of jobs performed mainly by women. In this regard the Committee reminds the Government that it may avail itself of technical assistance from the Office.

Monitoring of the application. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, in the framework of the regional cooperation programme “The Way Forward after the Revolution: Decent Work for Women in Egypt and Tunisia”, implemented in collaboration with the International Labour Office, a training course on equal economic and social rights between men and women is planned for labour inspectors to enable them to perform their duties in a more targeted way. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on awareness-raising and training activities carried out relating to issues of equal pay to build the capacities of the competent authorities, particularly labour inspectors and judges. It also requests the Government to provide information on the number and nature of complaints examined by the labour inspectorate and on all administrative and judicial decisions issued in cases of unequal remuneration for work of equal value.