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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Lebanon (Ratification: 1977)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no reply to its previous comments. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments initially made in 2014. The Committee also notes that the Government has been requested to provide information to the Committee on the Application of Standards at the 106th Session of the International Labour Conference for failure to supply reports and information on the application of ratified Conventions.

Repetition

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Gender pay gap. The Committee notes that, according to the statistics published in October 2011 by the Central Statistics Office, the proportion of women in the active population was about 23 per cent (in 2009) and that in 2007 the gender pay gap was an estimated 6.2 per cent in services; 10.8 per cent in commerce; 21 per cent in agriculture; 23.8 per cent in manufacturing; and 38 per cent in transport and communications. The Committee recalls that it is particularly important to have complete, reliable and recent statistics on remuneration for men and women to formulate, implement and then evaluate the measures taken to eliminate pay gaps. With regard to wages in the private sector, the Government indicates that it contacted the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL), the Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI) and the Association of Lebanese Business Leaders (RDCL) to obtain information on wages and any pay gap between men and women. The Committee asks the Government to take the necessary steps to gather, analyse and communicate such data in the various sectors of economic activity, including the public sector, and for the various occupational categories. The Committee also asks the Government to take specific measures to rectify gender pay gaps, including raising awareness among employers, workers and their organizations of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, and to provide information on any action taken to this end and on any obstacles encountered.

Article 2. Legislation. For several years, the Committee has been asking the Government to give full legal expression to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. The Government indicates in its report that the Committee’s comments will be forwarded to the commission responsible for reviewing the legislation and working methods and that the new draft Labour Code (section 14) already reflects the Committee’s concerns. While noting this information, the Committee asks the Government to ensure that the draft Labour Code explicitly reflects the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, with a view to permitting a broad scope of comparison encompassing not only equal or similar work, but also work of an entirely different nature performed by men and women. Hoping that the Government will be in a position to report progress on this matter in the near future, the Committee asks the Government to provide a copy of the relevant provisions, once they have been adopted.

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

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.