Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Poland (Ratification: 1954)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and asks the Government to provide information on the following points.

1. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on any action taken to introduce the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value into national law.

2. In its previous comment, the Committee took note of the Government’s initiative to introduce criteria to be used in assessing equal value of different kinds of work. The Committee takes note of the "Analysis of salary system in the budgetary sphere" that the Government attached with its report. The Committee recalls that to compare the value of different jobs, it is important that there exist methods and procedures of easy use and ready access, capable of ensuring that the criterion of sex is not directly or indirectly taken into account in the comparison. By way of illustration, in paragraph 60 of its General Survey of 1986 on equal remuneration, the Committee mentioned a number of criteria, which are most commonly referred to in the various national laws on equal remuneration with a view to comparing the work to be performed by men and women. These include skill (or knowledge evidenced by a title or diploma or by practice in the job, and abilities following from experience acquired), effort (physical or mental effort, or physical, mental or nervous strain connected with the performance of the work) and responsibility (or decision-making) required to perform the work (having regard to the nature, scope and complexity of the duties inherent in each job) and the conditions under which the work is to be performed (including factors such as the level of danger associated with the work). The use of these criteria are important since, in general, the factors used in wage fixing schemes often tend to favour men. The Committee trusts that the Government will provide information in its next report on any measure adopted in relation to the application of methodologies for objective job appraisals in both the private and public sectors.

3. Recalling the Government’s acknowledgment included in a previous report that, in order to address the wage differential between male and female workers, particular activities to promote women into better paid areas and posts are required, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on any measures taken or envisaged to reduce the existing pay gap between men and women. In addition, the Committee trusts that the Government shall continue to provide the fullest possible up-to-date statistics disaggregated by sex, taking into account the content of its 1998 general observation and, if possible, to ensure that the statistics provided include data on sectors in which there is a clear concentration of women workers, such as in public administration, education, social services and domestic services, among others.