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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Guinea (Ratification: 1967)

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Articles 1 to 4 of the Convention. Assess and eliminate gender wage gaps The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it envisages strengthening the operational capacities of the National Labour Observatory to enable it to conduct surveys to collect and process statistical data on progress achieved by men and women in the public and private sector, which has so far proved impossible due to difficulties within the country. In this regard, the Committee recalls that, to genuinely address the gender pay gap, it is necessary to have more complete information in order to make an adequate assessment of the nature, extent and causes of the gender wage differential and of progress made in applying the principles of the Convention. It further recalls that it is indispensable to analyse the position and pay of men and women in all job categories, within and between sectors, to address fully the continuing remuneration gap between men and women (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 887–888). In this regard, the Committee hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to: (i) take appropriate steps to be able to collect, process and analyse data, disaggregated by sex, on the employment rate of men and women, by economic sector and if possible by occupational category, and on their respective average wages; and (ii) communicate available statistical data.

Article 1(a). Additional benefits, Family allowances. Public service. The Committee recalls that the Government indicated previously that in the public service, family allowances were in practice reserved for fathers. The Committee notes that under Act No. L/2019/0027/AN of 7 June 2019 issuing the Civil Servants Regulations, only female public servants that are unmarried, heads of families, and only a woman public servant of whom the husband is not a public servant shall have the right to advantages accruing from family allowances (section 21). The Committee deduces from these provisions that where both wife and husband are public servants, it is the latter who shall have the right to the advantages accruing from family allowances. It notes however the Government’s indication that Act No. L/2019/0027/AN is currently under review and that the Government envisages submitting proposals regarding payment of family allowances in the public service to the commission established to review the Act. The Committee requests the Government to take measures so that the provisions of Section 21 of the abovementioned Act and the practice whereby payment of family allowances is made systematically to the father when both spouses are public servants are modified, to ensure that both parents may have access to family allowances on an equal footing and as they so choose. It requests the Government to transmit information on all progress made in this connection.

Articles 1(b) and 2(2)(b). Equal remuneration for work of equal value. Legislation. The Committee notes that the Labour Code is under revision and that, in the draft submitted to the ILO for comment, new draft section 241.2 [An employer shall ensure, for the same work or work of equal value, equality of remuneration for workers in the same category and the same grade, irrespective of their origin, sex and age […]” gives a more restrictive formulation of the section currently in force, to the extent that it still places the obligation on the employer to “ensure equality of remuneration for the same work or work of equal value”, but only “for workers in the same category and the same grade”. Yet, according to the practice of the Committee, the concept of “work of equal value” implies the possibility of making the broadest possible comparisons, going beyond the same category or the same grade, particularly since women often hold employment, occupations of functions that are paid less or are lower in the hierarchy and lack promotion prospects (vertical occupational segregation and the glass ceiling). Indeed, it is essential to be able to compare the value of work in occupations where the work may demand skills, and also involve responsibilities and different working conditions, or be classed in different categories or grades, especially where the occupational classifications have not been established or reviewed on the basis of a job evaluation method free from gender bias. The Committee requests the Government, during its revision of the Labour Code, to review draft Section 241.2 – whose current wording is in conformity with the Convention – so that it gives full expression to the principle of equal remuneration for women and men for work of equal value without restriction, by removing the reference to the same category and the same grade.

Articles 1 and 2. Measures aimed at applying the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value in the private sector. The Committee requests the Government to refer to its previous comments and, in the light of paragraphs 710 to 730 of its 2012 General Survey, to provide information on: (i) proactive measures taken to effectively promote equal pay for men and women as established in the Labour Code; for modernizing the job classification systems by making use of objective evaluation methods; and for combatting stereotypes concerning the aspirations and capabilities of women and their suitability for certain jobs; and (ii) awareness-raising and information activities on non-discrimination and equal pay.

Measures aimed at applying the principle of the Convention in the public service. Job evaluation and classification. The Committee requests the Government to take measures, in collaboration with workers’ organizations, to review the evaluation and classification methods for jobs in the public service in order to: (i) ensure that one of the objectives of that method is equality of remuneration for men and women for work of equal value; and (ii) that the method is based on objective criteria, such as skills and qualifications, effort, responsibilities and working conditions, with a view to ensuring that job evaluations and wage scales in the public service are free of all gender bias.

Article 2(2)(c). Collective agreements. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it envisages: (1) improving the provisions of the collective agreement in the mines and quarries sector concerning equality of remuneration for men and women for work of equal value in consultation with the social partners concerned; and (2) following that process for other collective agreements at the time of their revision. It notes that the Government requests ILO assistance in this regard. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the clauses of the collective agreement in the mines and quarries sector concerning equality of remuneration, as well as on any other collective agreement that provides for application of the principle of the Convention.

Article 4. Collaboration with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes that a draft revision of Order No. 1396/MASE/DNTLS/90, on categorizing jobs in the private and assimilated sectors, was elaborated and submitted for adoption by the Labour and Social Legislation Advisory Committee (CCTLS), then transmitted to the Ministry of Labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the adoption and the content of the draft revision of Order No. 1396/MASE/DNTLS/90, on categorizing jobs in the private and assimilated sectors; (ii) all other specific CCTLS activities relative to the principle of the Convention, especially regarding the concept of equal “value”; and (iii) any steps taken to collaborate with the social partners to give effect to the Convention, including when determining wage levels.