Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Mauritius (Ratification: 2002)

Article 2 of the Convention. Public service schemes. The Committee takes note of the Handbook for the Drafting of Schemes of Service in the Public Sector adopted in 2013. It notes that, according to this Handbook, wages in the public sector are determined on the basis of the duties, qualifications, competencies, skills and experience of the prospective job holder, as well as the duties and responsibilities of the job. Furthermore, the Pay Research Bureau (PRB) should be consulted for salary grading in respect of new posts or for any proposed amendment which may have a bearing on the salary grading of the post. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the PRB, in the context of review of pay and grading structures, conducts job evaluation exercises with a view to designing an equitable grade and pay structure in the public sector. However, the Government does not provide information on the manner in which it is ensured that job evaluations undertaken to determine salary grading of the different occupations in the public sector are based on criteria free from gender bias. It notes from the statistics provided by the Government that women employed in the public sector are concentrated in traditional female-dominated occupations, such as teachers, clerks, nurses and community health workers, while their number in other occupations such as medical doctors, engineers, police or fire officers, and plant and machine operators is particularly low. Noting the occupational gender segregation in the public sector, the Committee encourages the Government to analyse the nature and extent of the gender pay gap, by collecting statistical information, disaggregated by sex, on the distribution of men and women in the various occupations of the public sector and their corresponding levels of remuneration. The Committee also requests the Government to provide full information in this regard. It further requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken to ensure that appropriate methods free from gender bias are being used for the evaluation of the different occupations and the determination of corresponding salary grading by the PRB, with a view to ensuring the application of the principle of the Convention in the public sector. The Committee also requests the Government to provide a copy of any recommendations or guidelines published by the PRB in this regard.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee refers to its previous comments where it noted that the analytical method of job evaluation used by the PRB for determining salaries in the public sector was not followed in the private sector given the limited capacity of the National Remuneration Board (NRB). It notes the Government’s indication that the use of objective evaluation methods in the private sector is being highlighted during representations made to all interested parties and stakeholders during public hearings. It further notes that the Decent Work Country Programme for 2012–14, which was extended to 2016, sets as a priority to render more effective the gender-neutral wage determining mechanism through the provision of appropriate training to the NRB in order to enable it to train the other constituents on the concept of “equal pay for work of equal value” to enable them in turn to play a more effective role in the wage-fixing exercise. The Committee hopes that the NRB will be provided with the appropriate training in the near future in order to ensure that appropriate methods free from gender bias are used for job evaluation and wage determination in the private sector, and requests the Government to indicate any steps taken to this end. It further requests the Government to specify which criteria are being used by the NRB to carry out objective job evaluations. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on any progress made in undertaking objective job evaluations in the private sector, while indicating whether such evaluations have led to adjustment of remuneration, in accordance, with the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Article 4. Cooperation with social partners. The Committee takes note of the Government’s indication that no cooperation took place with the social partners with respect to the application of the principle of the Convention. It notes that, as a result of the Decent Work Country Programme 2012–14, extended to 2016, which sets as a priority the strengthening of social dialogue, the National Tripartite Forum (NTF) has been consolidated and a specific technical committee on labour and industrial relations issues has been established therein. However, the NTF has not held any meeting since August 2012. The Committee further notes the Government’s repeated indication that it is not aware of any collective agreement applying the principle of the Convention. It again emphasizes the important role of the social partners in promoting and implementing the principle of the Convention and refers in this regard to its comments under the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98). In this connection, it hopes that the Government will encourage the greater development and utilization of procedures of voluntary negotiations between employers/employers’ organizations and workers’ organizations to regulate the terms and conditions of employment through collective bargaining agreements including wage rates issues. The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to effectively cooperate with workers’ and employers’ organizations, within the NTF or otherwise, so as to give effect to the provisions of the Convention, and to provide specific information on any measures taken in this respect. It also requests the Government to provide a copy of any collective agreements containing provisions on equal remuneration or wage determination once adopted.

Enforcement. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that awareness raising of workers, middle management and managers on labour issues, and more particularly on the principle of the Convention, is an ongoing process which is achieved through seminars, workshops and talks. It welcomes the statistics provided by the Government according to which the number of such activities has risen from 134 in 2014 to 221 in 2016. It further notes the significant rise in the number of labour inspections carried out (455 in 2015 against 1,010 for the first five months of 2016) as well as of the list of complaints dealt with in the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) from 2012 to 2015 (55 from May to December 2012 against 110 in 2015). The Committee, however, notes that no specific information has been provided on the type of violations detected by labour inspectors nor on the nature of complaints dealt with in the EOC and, if any, related to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. The Government indicates that no information was available on the activities of the Equal Opportunities Tribunal (EOT) but that one case of alleged violation of section 20 of the Employment Rights Act (ERiA) 2008, regarding equal pay, is pending before the Commission for Conciliation and Mediation. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide specific information regarding awareness-raising activities conducted among workers, employers and their organizations, as well as labour inspectors, judges and other officials responsible for enforcing the legislative provisions concerning the principle set out in the Convention. It also requests the Government to collect and provide information on the number and content of cases regarding equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, in both the private and public sectors, reported or detected by the labour inspectorate, or dealt with by the EOC, the EOT, or any other dispute settlement bodies, including the Commission for Conciliation and Mediation, and the outcomes thereof.

Statistics. The Committee welcomes the detailed statistics provided by the Government. It notes, however, that the statistics provided for the public sector refer to the distribution of men and women in selected occupations without providing information on corresponding earnings, while those provided for the private sector refer to average earnings in selected occupations by industry groups, without providing information on the distribution of men and women in the different occupations. The Committee is, therefore, not in a position to assess whether any progress has been made in reducing the gender pay gap over time. It notes that, according to the information available from the Central Statistics Office (Gender Statistics, 2014), the average monthly income tends to be a quarter lower for women than for men. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to provide comparable statistics on the situation of men and women in the labour market, disaggregated by branch of activity and, if possible, by occupational category, as well as on their respective levels of remuneration, in order for the Committee to be in a position to effectively assess the application of the Convention, in practice.