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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - United Republic of Tanzania (Ratification: 2002)

Article 2(2)(b) of the Convention. Wage boards. Minimum wages. The Committee takes note of the Government’s indication that, following the latest meetings of the Public Service Wage Board, it issued a new Staff Circular N° 1 of 2022, the salary of the lowest-paid public servants was increased as a measure to reduce the gender wage gap. It observes, however, that the Government does not indicate: (1) the specific measures taken by both the Public Service Wage Board and the Private Sector Wage Board, to ensure that minimum wage rates are based on criteria free from gender bias and (2) how the wage boards promote the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. In light of the persistent wage disparities between men and women, both in the public and private sectors, noted in its observation, the Committee asks the Government to:

• (i)provide information on the impact of the latest increase in the salary of the lowest-paid public servants on the current wage levels in the public sector, such as statistical data, disaggregated by sex, on the current wage levels in the public sector;
• (ii)indicate the measures taken by both Wage Boards to ensure that minimum wage rates are fixed, based on objective criteria that are free from gender bias, and that work in sectors with a high proportion of women is not being undervalued in comparison with sectors in which men are predominantly employed; and
• (iii)provide up-to-date statistical data, disaggregated by sex, occupational level and sector, on the wage levels in the private sector.

Articles 2 and 4. Collective agreements.Cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s general statement that it has launched several activities aimed at employers’ and workers’ organizations (training, technical consultations, orientation sessions, etc.) on the issue of wage disparity. In that regard, it notes that the copy communicated by the Government of the 2022/23 Collective Bargaining Agreement concluded by the Tanzania Union of Industrial and Commercial Workers (TUICO) and the Mbeya Cement Company Limited (MMCC) does not contain any provision reflecting the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. In view of the important role that can be played by collective agreements in the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken to strengthen the capacity of social partners regarding the principle of the Convention and to encourage them to fully reflect this principle in collective agreements. Please also provide a copy of any collective agreement implementing the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Public Service Productivity and Remuneration Board (PSPRB) was “disestablished” in 2020, and that the Job Evaluation and Regrading (JERG) exercise was interrupted due to many factors, including the ‘disestablishment’ of the relevant Board. The Committee wishes to point out that the concept of work of equal value, while not defined in the Convention, refers to the worth of a job for the purpose of computing remuneration. It necessarily requires some method of measuring and comparing the relative value of different jobs on the basis of entirely objective and non-discriminatory criteria (see 2012 General Survey, paragraphs 673, 695 and 700). In the absence of information on the use of objective job evaluation methods, the Committee again requests the Government to provide information on:

• (i)job evaluation methods used to determine remuneration rates in the public sector, and the measures taken to ensure that they are based on objective criteria free from gender bias (such as qualifications and skills, effort, responsibilities and conditions of work); and
• (ii)any measures also taken to promote the use of objective job evaluation methods in the private sector. It further asks the Government to indicate which body will take over the tasks assigned previously to the Public Service Productivity and Remuneration Board so that the Job Evaluation and Regrading exercise launched in 2010 can resume.

Enforcement. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, although it has guaranteed free access to the Commission for Mediation and Arbitration and to the High Court Labour Division, there are no cases or complaints concerning inequality of remuneration between men and women settled by the courts or reported to the labour officers or to any other competent authority. It further notes the Government’s indication that Gender Boards have been established in all public sectors. It also notes that, according to the Government’s report under Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention No. 111, 1958, the Legal Aid Act No. 1 of 2017 supports and encourages paralegals, who have the potential to access remote and rural regions and offer basic legal education to persons severely limited in their access to justice, including women. The Committee therefore asks the Government to provide information on:

• (i)the functioning and competencies of the Gender Boards established in the public sector, with particular regard to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women;
• (ii)the activities undertaken by paralegals to raise public awareness, in particular of women and girls, on the provisions of the Convention and the procedures and remedies available, in order to enhance their access to justice; and
• (iii)any cases or complaints dealt with by the courts, the labour officers or any other competent authority concerning equal remuneration between men and women, as well as any decisions issued in this regard.