Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Brazil (Ratification: 1957)

Gender pay gap. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that, although the gender pay gap (average real remuneration) decreased slightly from 17.3 per cent in 2010 to 17.2 per cent in 2011, it has remained virtually unchanged since 2002 (17.66 per cent). The pay gap is particularly wide among highly educated workers. The figures also indicate that the average remuneration of men was higher than women’s average remuneration in all sectors in 2011, except for construction and extractive industries. With regard to measures adopted to reduce the pay gap between men and women, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the activities undertaken by the Secretariat for Women’s Policies (SPM) with a view to addressing gender stereotypes in vocational training and education, and promoting women’s participation in male-dominated fields of study, such as science, engineering and information technology. The Government also indicates that the SPM, in cooperation with local government institutions and civil society representatives, has developed and implemented a number of capacity-building initiatives to promote women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship. While noting this information, the Committee once again draws the Government’s attention to the fact that the continued persistence of significant gender pay gaps requires governments, along with employers’ and workers’ organizations, to 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. The Committee requests the Government to supply detailed information on the measures taken or envisaged to address more effectively the structural causes of the gender pay gap and to promote the principle of the Convention, including information on the impact in practice of the activities undertaken by the Secretariat of Women’s Policies in narrowing the gender pay gap. Please also provide information on the following:

• (i) the relevant measures adopted under the second National Plan for Women’s Policies;
• (ii) the relevant measures adopted by the Tripartite Committee on Equality of Opportunity and Treatment for Gender and Race at Work (CTIO) and examples of collective agreements which incorporate the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value;
• (iii) the relevant measures taken by the National Committee for Equality of Opportunities on the basis of Gender, Race, Ethnic Origin, for Persons with Disabilities and to Combat Discrimination; and
• (iv) the relevant measures taken in the context of the programme of the Ministry of Employment “Promoting equality of opportunity for all”.

The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide statistical information on the levels of remuneration in the various economic sectors, disaggregated by sex, occupational category and, if possible, by colour and race, so as to enable the Committee to assess the progress made.

Article 1 of the Convention. Equal remuneration for work of equal value. Legislation. The Committee notes from the information provided by the Government in its report under the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), that a Bill on equal opportunities and treatment for women in employment (No. 136/2011) is currently being considered by the Senate commission for social affairs. The Committee also notes that, according to section 2(I) of the draft Law, discrimination against women includes “lower remuneration for the same occupation or activity”. In this connection, the Committee recalls that the concept of “work of equal value” under the Convention encompasses not only the same work, or work in the same occupation or activity, performed under the same conditions and specifications, but should also allow for the comparison of work that is of an entirely different nature, which is nevertheless of equal value (see General Survey on fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraphs 673–679). The Committee asks the Government to provide information on of the progress made in the adoption of the Bill on equal opportunities and treatment for women in employment, and asks the Government to ensure that it gives full legislative expression to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. Recalling the importance of promoting the use of objective job evaluation methods in order to establish whether different jobs are of equal value and thus entitled to equal remuneration in compliance with the provisions of the Convention, and noting that the Government’s report contains no information on this subject, the Committee reiterates its request for information on any steps taken to promote such methods.

Parts III and IV of the report form. Enforcement. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that 161 cases of wage discrimination under section 461 of the Consolidation of the Labour Laws (CLT) have been registered by the labour inspectorates between April 2011 and May 2013. Recalling that section 461 of the CLT prohibits wage discrimination based on age, sex or nationality, the Committee asks the Government to provide detailed information on the nature of violations detected by labour inspectors under section 461, indicating how these cases were settled and providing, where possible, copies of the decisions handed down by the competent administrative or judicial bodies. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on any steps taken to increase the capacity of labour inspectors, judges and other relevant officials to identify and address unequal remuneration, as provided for in the Convention, and to continue to provide information on any violations of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value reported to or detected by the labour inspection services, including the sanctions imposed and remedies provided.