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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Mexico (Ratification: 1952)

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The Committee notes the observations of the Authentic Workers’ Confederation of the Republic of Mexico (CAT), the Confederation of Workers of Mexico (CTM) and the National Union of Workers (UNT), communicated with the Government’s report. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this regard.

Article 1 the Convention. Wage gap. The Government indicates in its report that, according to various statistical studies: (1) the gender wage gap in hourly wage rates narrowed from 13.1 per cent in 2018 to 12.2 per cent in 2021; (2) minimum wage increases contributed to a 20 per cent reduction in the wage gap between 2019 and 2022 at the municipal level; and (3) the gender wage gap among the lowest earners decreased by 6.6 percentage points between 2018 and 2022. The Government also reports that: (1) Mexican Standard NMX-R-025-SCFI-2015 (NMX-025) will be updated to be issued as a Mexican Standard; and (2) NMX certification criterion No. 7 (“Ensure wage equality and provision of benefits and compensation to staff”) is being revised and improved to make it “critical” and thus require, as a mandatory condition of certification, the wage gap to be calculated using practical and simple methodologies in certified workplaces, and to be published. The Committee notes that: (1) the CTM indicates, in its observations, that it considers the wage gap to have widened, especially in positions of trust and in the public administration; and (2) the CTM and the CAT indicate the need to improve the monitoring of compliance with NMX-025. The Committee requests the Government to report on progress made in the revision of and on the measures taken to monitor compliance withNMX-025. Welcoming the Government’s efforts to provide statistical information, the Committee requests the Government to continue to take measures to reduce the gender wage gap, and to report on developments in this regard.

Article 3. Objective appraisal of jobs. Regarding the inclusion in the NMX of mechanisms for the objective appraisal of jobs, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to elements such as performance appraisal and horizontal and vertical job mobility (criterion No. 8), the advertisement of vacancies with remuneration without distinction based on gender (criterion No. 3) and the measurement of the work climate based on factors such as qualifications, responsibilities and working conditions (criterion No. 5). Regarding wage determination in the public sector, the Government indicates that remuneration is established in salary and wage scales that are issued on the basis of type of staff, for example, operational staff, grades, and command and liaison staff, without distinction based on gender. The Committee notes that “performance appraisal” and “objective job evaluation” are different exercises. The latter is concerned with evaluating the job itself and not how an individual worker performs it, and ensures that remuneration is determined without gender bias, for example, by not undervaluing skills considered to be “female” compared to “male” (see General Survey of 2012 on fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 696 and 700–703, and ILO guide, Equal Pay - An introductory guide, page 30). The Committee also notes the observations of the UNT that there are no regulations on the specific allocation of amounts in the wage scale, or regulations defining the manner in which section 280 bis of the Federal Labour Act is to be applied. The Committee requests the Government to report on the measures taken to ensure that, in applying the criteria of NMX-025 (or of subsequent standards) and in determining wage amounts in wage scales and in other methods for wage determination, remuneration is determined using criteria free from gender bias (for example, by ensuring that traditionally “female” skills, such as care work, are not undervalued). The Committee recalls that the Government may avail itself of ILO technical assistance in this regard.