Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Malta (Ratification: 1988)

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Articles 2(2)(c), 3 and 4 of the Convention. Minimum wages. Objective job evaluation. Cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s reiterated statement that the National Minimum Wage National Standard Order, the Wages Council Wage Regulation Orders and collective agreements do not allow wage differentials on the basis of sex. It also notes with regret that once again the Government’s report does not contain any information on this point and recalls that the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value requires the use of appropriate techniques for objective job evaluation to determine and compare the relative value of work, comparing factors such as skills, effort, responsibilities, and working conditions, using criteria that are objective and free from gender bias. Once again, the Committee wishes to point out that, even when regulations determining the minimum wage do not explicitly provide for different remuneration rates for men and women or when they only prohibit sex-based wage discrimination, this will not normally be sufficient to give effect to the Convention as it does not fully capture the concept of work of equal value set out in the Convention. Furthermore, in practice, minimum wages are often set at the sectoral level, and there is a tendency to set lower wages for sectors predominantly employing women. Therefore, special attention is needed in the design or adjustment of sectoral minimum wage schemes to ensure that the rates fixed are free from gender bias, and in particular that certain skills considered to be “female” are not undervalued (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 676 and 683). In light of the persisting occupational gender segregation and gender pay gap, the Committee asks once again the Government to provide information on the manner in which, in the minimum wage-fixing process, rates are determined and whether objective job evaluation methods based on objective criteria, free from gender bias (such as qualifications, effort, responsibilities and conditions of work) are used to avoid the undervaluation of occupations predominantly carried out by women in comparison with those predominantly undertaken by men. In this regard, it asks once again the Government to indicate the measures taken to promote the development and use of such methods in the private sector, in collaboration with employers’ and workers’ organizations, as well as in the public sector and provide information on any progress made in this regard.

Awareness-raising and enforcement. The Committee welcomes the Government’s indication that the EU co-funded project “Prepare the Ground for Economic Independence” (PGEI), carried out by the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) and focusing on addressing the gender gaps over the life-cycle, increased awareness on the gender pay gap and the principle of equal pay for work of equal value and empowered trade union representatives with knowledge on equal pay for women and men. The Committee asks the Government to continue to raise public awareness of the relevant legislative provisions, the procedures and remedies available related to the principle of the Convention and provide information on any activities carried out in this regard. In the absence of information on enforcement, it also asks once again the Government to provide specific information on the number, nature and outcomes of cases related to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value dealt with by courts, labour inspectors, the NCPE, as well as any other competent authorities.