Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Zambia (Ratification: 1972)

Articles 1–4 of the Convention. Gender wage gap. Previously, the Committee requested the Government to: (1) strengthen its efforts to take more proactive measures, including with employers’ and workers’ organizations, 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; (2) provide information on the specific measures taken to address the gender remuneration gap; and (3) provide updated statistical information on the earnings of men and women in all the sectors and occupations of the economy. The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain information in response to its questions. It notes, however, from the Government’s report on the national-level review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 1995 (Beijing +25 national report), that the percentage of women with at least secondary school education represented 52.3 per cent in 2016. Recalling that it had previously noted the persistent vertical and horizontal segregation of men and women in certain sectors and occupations, as well as the significant gender wage gap in the country, the Committee once again requests the Government to: (i) step up its efforts to take more proactive measures, including with employers’ and workers’ organizations, 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; (ii) provide information on the specific measures taken to address the gender wage gap by identifying and addressing its underlying causes, such as vertical and horizontal job segregation and gender stereotypes, in both the formal and informal economy, and by promoting women’s access to a wider range of jobs with career prospects and higher pay; and (iii) provide updated statistical information on the earnings of men and women in all sectors and occupations.

Articles 1 and 2. Equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. Legislation. In its previous observation, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on: (1) the actual methods and criteria used to evaluate the “demands” made by a specific job, in order to ensure that the definition of the expression “work of equal value” provided for in section 31 of the Gender Equity and Equality Act, 2015, permits a broad scope of comparison in practice, based on the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, as required by the Convention; (2) the measures taken to raise awareness among workers, employers and their respective organizations of the new equal remuneration provisions and the existence of penalties for non-observance; (3) the application and enforcement of section 31 of the Gender Equity and Equality Act in practice, and particularly the number of violations dealt with by labour inspectors, courts and the Gender Equity and Equality Commission, and the penalties imposed; and (4) the progress made with the draft Labour Code.

The Committee notes the document containing “method and criteria used to evaluate demands of specific jobs to cater for the principle of work of equal value in the public service” of May 2021, attached to the Government’s report. It notes that the document outlines the factors to be used for the evaluation of management jobs and non-management jobs in the public service. These factors include: professional, academic and vocational qualifications; relevant previous experience; skills; physical and mental effort; responsibility; hazards; and working conditions. The Committee also notes that an appeal procedure is available for workers who consider that the job evaluation is incorrect. The Committee however notes that the document refers to “equal pay for equal work” explaining that “personnel in job positions with similar job content would be remunerated comparably”, which is narrower than the principle of the Convention as well as the notion of “work of equal value”, as defined in section 31 of the Gender Equity and Equality Act. Concerning the private sector, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it monitors, through the Ministries of Gender, and Labour and Social Security, compliance with the Gender Equity and Equality Act by means that include the conclusion of collective agreements, contracts of employment attested by the labour officers and the undertaking of labour inspections. The Government also indicates that it carries out sensitization programmes on TV, radio, electronic and social media.

The Committee notes with satisfaction that section 5(4) of the Employment Code Act, No. 3 of 2019, provides that: “An employer shall pay an employee equal wages for work of equal value”. It also notes that section 3 of the Act defines wage as “the pay, remuneration or earnings, however designated or calculated, capable of being expressed in terms of money and fixed by a contract of employment which are payable by an employer to an employee for work done or to be done or for services rendered or to be rendered”. In this regard, the Committee recalls that Article 1(a) of the Convention contains a broad definition of remuneration that also includes “any additional emoluments whatsoever payable directly or indirectly, whether in cash or in kind, by the employer to the worker and arising out of the worker's employment”. Noting the document outlining methods and criteria for job evaluations in the public service refers to equal pay for “equal work”, the Committee requests the Government to indicate how it is ensured that the job evaluation methods and criteria applied in the public service also cover in practice work of a different nature that is of “equal value”, and to provide information on any appeals filed against job evaluations and the corrective measures adopted as a result. The Committee also requests the Government to supply information on the results of the monitoring activities undertaken through the Ministries of Gender, and Labour and Social Security concerning the application of the Convention in the private sector and to continue providing information on the application of section 31 of the Gender Equity and Equality Act in practice. The Government is also requested to clarify whether section 5(4) of the Employment Code Act, 2019, also applies to the additional emoluments payable directly or indirectly, whether in cash or in kind, by the employer to the worker and arising out of the worker’s employment, and to provide examples of the application in practice of this provision.

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