Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - United Republic of Tanzania (Ratification: 2002)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Assessing and addressing the gender wage gap. The Committee previously noted that, as a result of sections 7(1) and (2) of the Employment and Labour Relations Act, 2004, and Part III of the Employment and Labour Relations (Code of Good Practice) Rules, 2007, employers have an obligation to elaborate and implement a plan to prevent discrimination and promote equal opportunity in employment, which shall be registered with the Labour Commissioner. The Committee notes the Government’s statement, in its report, that a generic plan to be used by employers is being elaborated to that end, in collaboration with the ILO as well as employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Government adds that it will consider availing itself of ILO technical assistance for building capacities of employers’ and workers’ organizations in that respect. The Committee notes that, according to the 2018 Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum, the labour force participation rate of women was 81.1 per cent (compared to 88.3 per cent for men), with women being still mostly concentrated in informal employment (76.1 per cent of women) characterized by low wages. It notes, from the 2016 Formal Sector Employment and Earnings Survey, carried out by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that while the proportion of women employed in formal employment is nearly half of the proportion of men (37.8 per cent and 62.2 per cent of total employees, respectively), 23.7 per cent of women are employed in the private sector, while only 14.1 per cent of them are employed in the public sector, where monthly average cash earnings are about three times higher than in the private sector. Furthermore, in 2016, the remuneration of women (monthly average cash earnings) was 15.3 per cent lower than those of men in the public sector and 6.1 per cent lower than men in the private sector. The Committee also notes that women are still concentrated in lower paid sectors such as manufacturing (19.6 per cent) and agriculture (10.3 per cent) and their average remuneration is lower than their male counterparts in almost all industries. The Committee notes with concern that, according to the World Economic Forum, men earned on average 39 per cent more than women in 2018. It further notes that, in its 2016 concluding observations, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) remained concerned at the persistent discrimination against women in the labour market, in particular: (i) the high rate of unemployed young women and their marginalization from formal labour markets; (ii) the continuing horizontal and vertical occupational segregation and the concentration of women in low-paid jobs; (iii) the lack of implementation of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value; and (iv) the persistent gender wage gap (CEDAW/C/TZA/CO/7-8, 9 March 2016, paragraph 32). The Committee therefore urges the Government to provide information on: (i) the proactive measures taken to address the gender wage gap, both in the public and private sectors, by identifying and addressing the underlying causes of pay differentials, such as vertical and horizontal job segregation and gender stereotypes, covering both the formal and the informal economy, and by promoting women’s access to a wider range of jobs with career prospects and higher pay; (ii) any measures taken to raise awareness, make assessments, and promote and enforce the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, including through the elaboration and implementation by employers of plans to promote gender equality at the workplace, as provided for under sections 7(1) and (2) of the Employment and Labour Relations Act; and (iii) statistical data on the earnings of men and women in all the sectors and occupations of the economy to monitor any progress achieved.

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