Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Angola (Ratification: 1976)

Articles 1 to 4 of the Convention. Assessing and addressing the gender pay gap. As regards the concentration of women in the informal economy, with low salaries and lack of social protection coverage, the Committee notes the adoption of the Informal Economy Reconversion Programme (PREI), as part of the National Development Plan (PDN) 2018-2022, with a view to promoting their transition from the informal to the formal economy. It notes that, as of August 2022, 132,092 operators were registered out of whom 71.3 per cent were women. The Committee welcomes this information. However, it also notes that, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in 2021, it was estimated that 80.8 per cent of the population was still employed in the informal economy, out of which 90.3 per cent were women. Furthermore, according to the statistical information provided by the Government, in 2021, in almost all economic sectors, the average remuneration for women was lower than those of men, especially in sectors where women were more represented such as social services, financial activities and wholesale and retail trade, where the pay gap was estimated as up to 33.6 per cent. Welcoming the efforts made by the Government to collect such information, the Committee however notes the limited number of workers covered by such statistics, namely 216,391 men and 65,538 women, whereas according to ILOSTAT database the labour force was estimated at 13,971,332 workers. The Committee asks the Government to pursue its efforts to collect and compile comprehensive data, disaggregated by sex, on the distribution of women and men in the various economic sectors and occupations, and their corresponding earnings, both in the public and private sectors. It also asks the Government to provide:

• (i)the above information as well as any available statistical information on the gender pay gap; and
• (ii)information on the steps taken and the results achieved, particularly within the framework of the implementation of the Action Plan for the Promotion of Employability and the Informal Economy Reconversion Programme, with a view to promoting women’s access to a wider range of jobs with career prospects and higher pay, including by facilitating their access to education and vocational training and encouraging their transition from informal to formal employment.

Article 2(2)(b). Minimum wages. The Committee welcomes the adoption of Presidential Decree No. 54/22 of 17 February 2022 which increases the rate of the single guaranteed national minimum wage (32’181.15 kwanzas (Kz)), together with the minimum wage rates corresponding to the three main economic sectors, namely trade and extractive industry (Kz 48’271.73); transport, services and manufacturing (Kz 40’226.44); as well as agriculture (Kz 32’181.15). The Committee observes the persistent significant differences between sectors as regards the level of the minimum wage. It further notes that section 3 of Presidential Decree No. 54/22 again provides for the possibility for companies in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors to set wages below the national minimum wages, after authorization by the head of the Ministerial Department responsible for labour issues. In that regard, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that, to date, no company has been authorized to set wages below the current national minimum wage although ten requests to do so have been received since May 2022 and are still under review. The Committee wishes to stress that a uniform national minimum wage system helps to raise the earnings of the lowest paid, most of whom are women, and thus has an influence on the relationship between men’s and women’s wages and on reducing the gender pay gap (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 683). In light of the persistent gender segregation of the labour market, the Committee again requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken to ensure that the determination of the minimum wage rates is free from gender bias, and that the work in sectors with a high proportion of women is not being undervalued in comparison with sectors in which men are predominantly employed. It asks the Government to provide information on the number of companies that have been authorized to set wages below the statutory minimum wages, pursuant to section 3 of Presidential Decree No. 54/22.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes the adoption of Presidential Decree No. 96/22 of 2 May 2022 regarding the elaboration and implementation of occupational qualifiers in the workplace. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the occupational qualifier is a tool that will ensure that workers with the same occupational profile are assigned to the same categories and thus receive the same basic salary. With regard to the public sector, the Committee notes that: (1) Presidential Decree No. 3/22 of 12 May 2022 contains general guidelines for the organization and implementation of the professional index of public employees and establishes salary scales; (2) public service positions and occupational categories are organized into three different groups (management and leadership; technical careers; and administrative careers and auxiliary staff) with a view to guaranteeing the same basic salary to employees in the “same occupational category with the same occupational profile” (sections 3 and 4). The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the methods and criteria used to classify existing positions by occupational categories and determine corresponding remuneration levels, both in the private and public sectors, and indicate how it is ensured that such methods and criteria are exempt from any gender bias and do not give rise, in practice, to an under-evaluation of jobs mainly occupied by women. It further asks the Government to provide information on any study or analysis made by the General Labour Inspectorate regarding the use of occupational qualifiers in the private sector, as well as on the number of companies convicted and fined for failure to submit their qualifiers to the approbation of the labour inspectorate.