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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Congo (Ratification: 1999)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. Article 1(a) of the Convention. Definition of remuneration. The Committee notes that the Labour Code defines wages in a broad sense to include the basic wage, vacation allowances, bonuses, indemnities, as well as damages received for abusive termination of an employment contract (section 91). Elsewhere in the Code, it is provided that wages must be paid in legal tender and that full or partial payment in kind is forbidden except in limited circumstances such as the provision of lodging or of daily living rations (sections 83 and 87). The Committee also notes that section 80 deals with non-discrimination of men and women with respect to wages. Recalling that the Convention aims at ensuring equality with regard to all the aspects of remuneration as defined in Article 1(a), the Committee asks the Government to indicate how the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is applied with respect to payments in kind, such as the provision of lodging and a daily living allowance.

2. Article 1(b). Equal remuneration for work of equal value. The Committee notes that article 8 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination generally, including on the ground of sex. It also notes that section 80 of the Labour Code provides that, given equal working conditions, professional qualifications and output, wages shall be equal for all workers regardless of their origin, sex, age or status. The Committee is concerned that the wording of section 80 appears to limit the possibility of comparing remuneration received by men and women to situations where men and women are engaged in the same type of work. It recalls that, while criteria such as working conditions, qualifications, and productivity can be used to determine the level of remuneration, reference to these factors should not restrict the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. In this regard, the Committee reminds the Government that the Convention, by requiring equal remuneration to be paid for work of equal value, chooses the “value” of the work, established on the basis of the content of the job, as the point of comparison when determining rates of remuneration irrespective of the worker’s sex. The Committee therefore asks the Government to bring section 80 of the Labour Code into conformity with the Convention. In the meantime, the Government is asked to provide information on the application of section 80 in practice.

3. Article 2. Determination of wages in the private sector. The Committee notes that, according to section 83 of the Labour Code, the guaranteed minimum interprofessional wage is fixed by decree following the advice of the tripartite National Consultative Labour Commission. Likewise, in the absence of collective agreements, or where such agreements are silent on the matter, minimum wages by a professional category are fixed in the same way. Recalling that the minimum wage is a significant means of ensuring the application of the Convention, the Committee asks the Government to provide copies of all decrees setting both the minimum interprofessional wage as well as the minimum wage by a professional category and to indicate how the Convention’s principle has been taken into account in determining minimum wage rates. Please also provide examples of collective agreements currently in force in the private sector.

4. Determination of wages in the public sector. With respect to the public sector, the Committee notes from the Government’s report that civil servants are paid according to their grade based on established wage scales (section 98 of the General Civil Service Statute). The Committee asks the Government to provide copies of the wage scales that apply to the civil service along with information on the mechanism and methods used to establish them. It also asks the Government to indicate how equal remuneration is ensured for public sector employees in establishments which are not administrative (section 2 of the General Civil Service Statute) and to provide examples of collective agreements, if any, applicable in the public sector.

5. Article 3. Objective job appraisals. The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain any information on the manner in which it promotes objective appraisals of jobs on the basis of the work performed. The Committee recalls that such appraisals are the method set forth in the Convention for differentiating wages in conformity with the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value, and that the notion of paying men and women in accordance with the value of their work necessarily implies the adoption of some technique to measure and compare objectively the relative value of jobs performed (see General Survey of 1986 on equal remuneration, paragraph 138). The Government is therefore asked to provide information on measures taken both in the public and private sectors, through collective bargaining or otherwise, to promote objective job appraisals on the basis of the work to be performed.

6. Article 4. Cooperation with workers’ and employers’ organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that collaboration between workers’ and employers’ organizations exists in the negotiation of wages. The Committee asks the Government to provide specific details of its own cooperation with these organizations with a view to giving effect to the Convention (e.g. cooperation to raise awareness and understanding of the Convention’s principles).

7. Parts III and IV of the report form. Whereas the Government states in its report that the ratification of the Convention has given it the force of domestic law in accordance with article 184 of its Constitution, the Committee asks whether there are any instances in which courts have relied on the text of the Convention to apply the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. The Committee also asks the Government to provide any other judicial decisions relating to the application of the Convention along with its next report. The Committee further asks the Government to provide information on the concrete activities undertaken by the Ministry of Labour to oversee and monitor compliance with the equal remuneration provisions of the Labour Code and the Convention.

8. Part V of the report form. General appreciation of the application of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that no gap exists between the wage rates of men and women since wages are determined in both the private and public sector by sex-neutral criteria such as the work actually performed or in accordance with the worker’s grade. In its 1998 general observation concerning this Convention, the Committee emphasized that in order to apply the Convention fully, efforts must be made that go beyond the mere removal of male and female wage classifications. It emphasized that an analysis of the position and pay of men and women in all job categories within and between the various sectors is required to address fully the continuing sex-based remuneration gap between men and women. The Committee asks the Government, therefore, to provide statistical information on salary levels in both the private and public sectors, disaggregated by sex, so as to enable the Committee to assess the practical application of the principle of equal remuneration for male and female workers.