Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) - French Polynesia

Article 3 of the Convention. Adjustment of minimum wages. The Committee notes the adoption of territorial Act No. 2011-15 of 4 May 2011 concerning the codification of labour law, attached to which is the territorial Acts section of the Labour Code of French Polynesia and which repeals Decision No. 91-5 AT of 17 January 1991 concerning wages, which previously implemented the Convention. It notes that the procedures for the fixing and periodic adjustment of the guaranteed interoccupational minimum wage (SMIG), which are now fixed by sections Lp.3322-1 to Lp. 3322-4 of the Labour Code of French Polynesia, remain unchanged. The Committee further notes that the SMIG was last adjusted on 1 September 2011, its current level being 884.56 CFP francs (€7.41).

Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s indications concerning the Te Autaeaeraa programme, which has provided since 1 January 2006 for each worker to be paid an employment bonus by the employer in addition to wages, the hourly amount of such a bonus being CFP35.5 (€0.30). The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether other more recent measures have been adopted in the context of this programme and, if so, to provide further information on this matter.

Moreover, the Committee notes that section Lp.3322-3 of the Labour Code of French Polynesia stipulates that the SMIG shall be fixed by order adopted in the Council of Ministers in the light of fluctuations in the consumer price index established by the Territorial Institute for Statistics. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether it plans to take account of other economic indicators in the adjustment of the SMIG. The Committee refers to the legislation applicable in metropolitan France and also in the overseas departments and in certain overseas collectivities, which also provides for an adjustment of the minimum wage in the light of growth in purchasing power of the hourly wage for manual work (SHBO), the SMIG now having been replaced by the SMIC as the interoccupational minimum wage.

Finally, the Committee notes that territorial Act No. 2006-17 of 26 June 2006 has established a minimum wage adjustment support mechanism (DARSE), in the form of financial assistance paid by French Polynesia to employers for each worker who is paid below a certain level. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the implementation of this mechanism and on the results achieved. The Government is also requested to send a copy of any report published by the DARSE observatory on its activities.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of the Convention in practice, including extracts from reports of the labour inspection services showing the number of infringements of the legislation regarding the minimum wage which have been recorded and the penalties imposed, and also, if applicable, copies of statistical or other surveys conducted with a view to adjustment of the SMIG.