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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (Ratification: 1973)

Gender wage gap. The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government indicating that in 2009, 13.5 per cent of men and 24.5 per cent of women were underemployed (18.2 per cent of these women received a wage that was lower than the cost of the basic food basket). Furthermore, 51.9 per cent of men and 60.6 per cent of women were working in the informal sector. The Government also refers to Supreme Decree No. 1213 of 1 May 2012, which establishes the basic wage and makes no distinction between men and women. The Government adds that it is setting out to eradicate precarious work and underemployment under the National Development Plan. The Committee notes that in its report concerning the application of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), the Government refers to the National Equal Opportunities Plan, “Women building a new Bolivia to live well”, of which one of the objectives is to promote equal pay between men and women. The Committee notes, however, that the Government has not provided specific information on the measures adopted with a view to reducing the wage gap and recalls that pay differentials remain one of the most persistent forms of inequality between women and men. This requires that governments, along with employers’ and workers’ organizations, take more proactive measures to raise awareness, make assessments and promote and enforce the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. Collecting, analysing and disseminating this information is important in identifying and addressing inequality in remuneration (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraphs 668 and 669). The Committee asks the Government to send updated statistical information on the remuneration of men and women in the public and private sectors to enable it to determine the remuneration gap existing in the country and the evolution thereof. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures adopted within the framework of the National Development Plan and the Five-Year Plan for Women 2008–12 to combat precarious employment and underemployment and to reduce the existing wage gap. It is also asked to provide information on the measures adopted within the framework of the National Equal Opportunities Plan, “Women building a new Bolivia to live well”, with a view to reducing the wage gap and raising awareness about the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Objective job evaluation. Recalling that the concept of “equal value” presupposes a method of assessment and comparison of the relative value of various jobs, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures adopted or envisaged to promote objective job evaluation, in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention.