Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95) - French Polynesia

Article 6 of the Convention. Freedom of workers to dispose of their wages. The Committee notes that, in reply to its previous comment, the Government indicates that the freedom of workers to dispose of their wages is guaranteed by a combination of provisions respecting, among other matters, the requirement to pay wages in legal tender, the prohibition of compensation between the amount of wages and any sums which may be owed by the employed person to the employer, the limitation of the value of benefits in kind, etc. However, as the Committee emphasized in its General Survey of 2003 on the protection of wages (paragraph 178), “provisions regulating deductions from wages, the attachment of wages or the use of company stores do not cover all the ways in which workers can be limited in their freedom to dispose of their wages: one example is through exerting pressure on workers to make contributions to certain funds or to spend their wages in specific places”. Article 6 of the Convention is therefore intended to protect workers against any pressure of whatever nature which could be exercised by the employer on the manner in which they may use their wages. In its General Survey (paragraph 210), the Committee therefore concluded that “nothing short of an explicit legislative provision setting forth a general prohibition upon employers from limiting the freedom of workers to dispose of their wages in any form and manner, directly or indirectly, and not simply in respect of the use of company stores, can be regarded as giving full effect to the requirements of the Convention”. The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will rapidly take the necessary measures to give full effect to this provision of the Convention.

Article 10. Attachment or assignment of wages. The Committee notes the adoption of Resolution No. 2004-4 of 15 January 2004 amending sections 28 and 29 of Resolution No. 91-5 respecting wages, and Order No. 269/CM of 6 February 2004 determining the minimum threshold in relation to the attachment of wages. It notes with interest that, in all cases of orders respecting the attachment or assignment of the annual wages of a worker, including those for the payment of alimony or failure to contribute to household expenditure, an amount of 540,000 CFP francs (or around 4,300 euros) must be left at the disposal of the beneficiary of the remuneration. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing updated information on the manner and limits within which wages may be attached or assigned.

Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the statistical data provided by the Government relating to the observations issued by the labour inspection services concerning the calculation or payment of wages. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted to bring an end to the violations reported of the legislation on the protection of wages and to continue providing a general appreciation of the application of the Convention in practice.