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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - United Arab Emirates (Ratification: 1997)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Work of equal value. Legislation. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the effective implementation of section 32 of the Labour Law as amended by Act No. 6 of 2020 both in the public and private sectors.

Gender pay gap. The Committee recalls the establishment of a Gender Balance Council in 2015, which is charged with, among other things, monitoring the performance of public and private sector enterprises at the national level in achieving this goal. The Council is also responsible for reviewing the legislation and policies proposed concerning gender balance. The Committee asked the Government to provide further information on the recommendations of this body. The Committee notes that the Government’s report is silent on the activities of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority and the Gender Balance Council established in 2015 to monitor the performance of public and private sector enterprises at national level in achieving gender equality in the labour market. Therefore, the Committee asks once again the Government to provide information on the recommendations made by the Gender Balance Council to close the gender pay gap between men and women and the role of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority in achieving this goal. Please, also indicate the actions taken to give effect to the recommendations of the Council.

Public sector. Noting that the Government’s report is silent on this point, the Committee asks once again the government to provide updated statistical information, disaggregated by sex, on the distribution of men and women, in the various pay scales of the federal Government, as well as in other state bodies, agencies and ministries. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on the practical measures taken or envisaged to promote the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value in the private sector.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. Previously the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the application in practice of the job evaluation system in the public sector and to indicate the measures taken to promote the use of objective job evaluation methods in the private sector. The Committee notes that the documents annexed to the Government’s report provide for job grades and salary grids in the public administration, ranging from directors, senior management to officials’ positions but they do not explain how it is ensured that the job evaluation methods adopted are free from any gender bias, i.e. that the selection of factors for comparison, the weighting of such factors and the actual comparison carried out are not discriminatory, either directly or indirectly. In this regard, the Committee wishes to stress that one of the most enduring aspects of labour market around the world, at all levels of development, and social, cultural and religious settings, is occupational sex-segregation which accounts for most of the differences in the rewards that men and women garner from employment, the most important of these differences being earnings. In addition, it points out that if job evaluation is to make a positive contribution to resolving wage discrimination and promoting equality, there must be a legal and administrative framework enabling workers to claim equal remuneration on the basis of the assessed value of their jobs, together with a right to claim redress when job evaluation systems have been found to be discriminatory. The Committee requests once again the Government to provide information on the result of the application of this job evaluation system in the public sector, including statistical information, disaggregated by sex, on the categories of personnel in the public sector. It also reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on the measures taken to promote the development and use of objective job evaluation methods in the private sector.

Enforcement. Noting that the report is silent on the activities undertaken to raise awareness on the principle of the Convention among workers and employers and their organizations, as well as the general public, the Committee recalls that, awareness-raising aimed at, or in cooperation with, workers and employers and their organizations generates broader understanding of the principles enshrined in the Convention. The Committee again asks the Government to indicate whether the Wage Protection Bureau or labour inspectors have received complaints regarding unequal remuneration and the outcome of the complaints. Recognizing the difficulties faced by labour inspectors in identifying cases of pay discrimination, or in determining whether equal remuneration is being provided for work of equal value, particularly where men and women do not perform the same work, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the development of specific training programmes to enhance the capacity of labour inspectors to deal with wage discrimination cases and thus monitor compliance with section 32 of the Labour Law; (ii) the measures taken to promote awareness among workers, employers and their respective organizations, as well as among judges, of the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value; and (iii) any relevant judicial or administrative decisions and any sanctions imposed for non-compliance with this new section of the Labour Law.