Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1990, published 77th ILC session (1990)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Madagascar (Ratification: 1962)

The Committee notes the detailed report provided by the Government.

1. The Committee recalls that in its previous comments it has noted that the Labour Code provides in section 61 that equal wages are to be paid to all workers when the skill, the job and the output are equal, irrespective of sex, and pointed out that this is not an adequate basis for the application of the principle laid down in the Convention. It requested the Government to provide information on the criteria used, other than qualifications and output, to fix real wages; and asked also for information on any system of job classification which had been adopted or was contemplated.

The Government has stated in reply that minimum wages are fixed by decree for most workers, and in three sectors by collective agreements. Jobs are classified, in both cases, into categories for which wages are fixed, and there is no discrimination by sex in doing so as only the classification of the job determines the wage. In cases in which wages are fixed by collective agreements, the situation is the same as regards the basic wage. The Government has added that the Ministry does not have the financial resources to carry out an evaluation of jobs for an objective appraisal of their worth.

The Committee notes these explanations. It requests the Government to indicate whether the designation of the occupational categories used in fixing minimum wages by legislation, and those used in each of the collective agreements in force, were established taking into account the principle of comparative worth of different kinds of jobs. It again refers to paragraphs 19 to 21 and 44 to 62 of its 1986 General Survey on Equal Remuneration, and hopes that the Government will be able to indicate in its next report that it has been able to review the possibility of implementing the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, and not only for the same work as at present.

2. The Committee also noted in its previous commments that bonuses for output and seniority in some cases supplement the basic wage. It asked for information on the manner in which these bonuses, and those for other matters such as family and accomodation, were granted to men and women on an equal basis.

The Government has stated that output bonuses are not counted as forming part of the wage, for such purposes as calculating paid leave or various indemnities, that they are not obligatory, and are not regulated. The Committee recalls that the Convention applies to all benefits arising out of the worker's employment, and not only to the basic wage, and that output bonuses are therefore covered by the Convention as part of the worker's remuneration.

The Government also states that other kinds of bonuses, including those for seniority or family allocations, do form part of the wage and are paid on a basis of equality, in accordance with collective agreements. Collective agreements have been concluded in three sectors, and contain provisions on equality of wages similar to those in the legislation. The Committee refers to the comments it has made above, and hopes that for collective agreements as well as for minimum wages fixed by legislation, the Government will be able to indicate in its next report that it has made progress towards the application of the principle of equal work for work of equal value. In this connection, it requests the Government to send with its next report copies of the classifications used for fixing wages by occupational category, indicating those in which there is a high proportion of women occupied.