Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Netherlands (Ratification: 1971)

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Wage setting and determining value. The Committee recalls that equal treatment legislation only allows for comparison of wages between men and women within the same company. With regard to the possibility to look outside the enterprises for appropriate comparisons, the Committee notes that the Government refers in its report to the research undertaken on equal pay in hospitals (2012) and in the higher education sector (2015). The research showed that when criteria for determining remuneration were based on the level of work experience, wage negotiations and the most recent pay, together they constituted a risk of wage differentiation, and that when the application of these criteria led to less pay, women were affected twice as much as men. The Government also reports that the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science stressed the importance of all colleges analysing their remuneration policies on the basis of the results of the study in the education sector. While welcoming these initiatives, the Committee notes that it remains unclear whether these studies looked at the possibility of comparing wages between men and women beyond the level of the establishment or enterprise. Moreover, according to the Government no detailed information is available on whether equal pay claims submitted to the Institute for Human Rights or the courts addressed the issue of comparison beyond the enterprise level. Given the persistent gender segregation in certain sectors, including the education and health sectors and the lack of clarity as to whether in practice the possibility exists to look outside the establishment for appropriate comparisons between wages of men and women, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures, in consultation with the social partners, to allow for appropriate comparison beyond the level of the enterprise in those cases where the possibilities of comparison at the enterprise level or establishment are insufficient, and to report on the progress made in this regard.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. Regarding measures to promote existing tools for objective job evaluation, the Government indicates that the Action Plan on Labour Market Discrimination provides for the wider dissemination of the existing tools such as the “Remuneration guide (loonwijzer)” and “Quickscan”, as well as the development of special wage negotiation courses for women by workers’ organizations. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the efforts made, in cooperation with the social partners, to promote these tools in enterprises that have no job evaluation system and to indicate how differences in remuneration between men and women will be monitored in those enterprises.

Flexible pay systems, performance pay and long pay scales. The Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on the measures taken to monitor the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value in the context of negotiations on flexible pay systems, performance pay and long pay scales, so as to avoid that these result in pay inequalities.

Equal remuneration with respect to supplementary pension schemes. The Committee notes the Government’s confirmation that the supplementary pension schemes do not include any gender disparity and that the unequal treatment that existed in the past with regard to married women and part-time work, no longer exist. Regarding the participation of women in supplementary pension schemes, the Government reports that research in 2013 showed that 96 per cent of the employees were taking part in a supplementary pension scheme through their employer and that no differences exist between men and women. The Committee encourages the Government to remain vigilant as to any inequalities in remuneration that may occur between men and women with respect to participation in and benefits from supplementary pension schemes.