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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Mauritius (Ratification: 2002)

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The Committee notes the observations of the Confederation of Public and Private Sector Workers (CTSPP) communicated with the Government’s report, as well as the corresponding reply of the Government.

Article 2 of the Convention. Public service schemes. The Committee takes note of the reference made, in the 2021 report of the Pay Research Bureau (PRB), to a gender neutral approach adopted throughout the evaluation process of different occupations and corresponding grading. It further notes that in a few cases, such as the Disciplined Forces and Health Sector, certain appellations have been maintained to distinguish between male and female officers. There is, however, no disparity in salary between them. According to the Report, distinctions in appellations take into account the specific needs of the service and allow for male and female officers to move along their respective hierarchies. The Committee takes notes of the observations of the Confederation of Public and Private Sector Workers (CTSPP) according to which there is an urgent need to amend non-gender specific job appellations, such as “handy man” which is used in both the private and public sectors. In its reply, the Government indicates that such issues are going to be addressed within the ongoing reform of the various Remuneration Regulations. In this respect, the Committee observes the lack of statistical information in the Government report, in particular regarding occupational gender segregation in the public sector. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the recommendations of the Pay Research Bureau and the measures taken to ensure that the mechanisms of wage fixing in the public sector are free from gender bias. The Government is further requested to provide statistical information disaggregated by sex, on the distribution of workers in the public sector, specifying their corresponding remuneration levels.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation in the private sector. The Committee recalls that the National Remuneration Board (NRB) has not undertaken any objective job evaluation in the private sector. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Employment Relations Act (ERA) was amended through the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions), Act No. 12 of 2023, to include a new Section 91A - “Determination of wages on the occupational basis” with a view to allowing the Ministry to appoint a national consultant in the field of wage determination and job classification, to make recommendations for the introduction of wages on basis of occupation of workers in the private sector. The Government further refers to the formulation of the second-generation Decent Work Country Programme with a view to enhancing the capacity building of officers of the NRB and like institutions on objective job-evaluation techniques. The Committee requests the Government to (i) provide information on the progress made in conducting an evaluation of the jobs and corresponding remuneration levels applied in the private sector, using objective factors free of gender bias (such as skills, efforts, responsibilities and working conditions); and (ii) indicate whether objective job evaluations are being conducted in practice by employers in application of section 26 of the Workers’ Rights Act.

Minimum wage and additional remuneration. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that section 6(1)(g) of the National Wage Consultative Council (NWCC) Act No. 6, 2016 (NWCC Act) provides for the review of the National Minimum Wage, which should be carried out at the latest by 2020 and subsequently every five years. It also notes that following the establishment of the national minimum wage, the NWCC has carried out multiple impact assessments, and issued “Reports on the National Minimum Wage Review“. In particular, the Committee notes the reference made by the Government, in its report on the application of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), to the NWCC Fifth Report (2021/2022) on the Impact of the Implementation of the National Minimum Wage (April 2023), which indicates that the share of female employees in employment as a proportion of total employment remains more or less constant (around 40 per cent in 2nd Quarter 2021 and 2022), but the share of female employees in employment as a proportion of total economically active female employees has increased from 87.5 per cent in 2nd Quarter 2021 to 89.8 per cent in 2nd Quarter of 2022. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any measures taken or envisaged to undertake an assessment of the impact of the introduction of the national minimum wage on the gender pay gap, and on whether the additional remuneration and other allowances recently introduced have benefited equally to both men and women and have contributed to reducing the gender pay gap.

Article 4. Cooperation with social partners. The Government indicates that under their respective mandates, the NWCC and the National Remuneration Board (NRB) are required to give due consideration to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value in formulating their recommendations. Moreover, any issue related to the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value for men and women may be raised at the level of the National Tripartite Council and referred to the NMWC or the NRB as deemed appropriate. The Committee notes however that to date, such issue has not been raised by members of the Council. The Committee further notes that the Government report does not contain any copy of Collective Agreements, but a list of Collective Agreements registered for the period January 2021 to May 2023. The Committee requests the Government to indicate how the National Minimum Wage Consultative Council and the National Tripartite Council reflect in sectoral collective agreements the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value. The Committee also, once again, requests the Government to provide copies of any collective agreements containing provisions implementing the principle of the Convention. The Government is further required to provide information on any training and awareness-raising measures undertaken among workers’ and employers’ organizations on the concept of “work of equal value”.

Enforcement. The Committee notes that according to the statistical information provided by the Government on the number of inspections carried out by the Inspectorate Officers, no complaint has been registered, reported or referred to the Equal Opportunity Tribunal based on grounds of discrimination on Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value. The Committee notes however that a number of Industrial Court cases related to the application of the Convention, including the Seevathean M.D. v. Maritim (Mauritius) Ltd 2019 IND 6 (CN 122/16) case in which the Court refers to the ILO fundamental Conventions, including, ILO Convention No. 100. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on pay discrimination cases, detected by the labour inspectorate and its outcomes. It also requests the Government to indicate whether courts of law or other tribunals have rendered decisions involving questions of principle relating to the application of the Convention and, if so, to provide copies of those decisions.

Statistics. The Committee notes, once again, that the statistics provided by the Government solely refer to the proportion of men and women in selected occupations and do not provide information on their corresponding earnings. The Committee requests the Government to collect statistical data disaggregated by sex on the remuneration of workers, classified by branch of economic activity and occupations.