Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Bangladesh (Ratification: 1998)

Articles 1 to 4 of the Convention. Assessing and addressing the gender wage gap. With reference to its previous comments concerning the wide and persistent gender wage gap, the Committee notes the Government’s statement in its report that there is no gender pay gap in the formal sector, but that invisible pay differentials exist in the informal sector which is excluded from the scope of application of the Labour Act, 2006. The Committee recalls in that respect that it previously noted that section 345 of the Labour Act, 2006, provides that, in determining wages or fixing minimum wage rates, the principle of equal wages for male and female workers for work of “equal nature or equal value” shall be followed. The Committee notes the adoption of the Seventh Five-Year Plan (2016–20) for implementing the Government’s Vision 2021, which sets specific targets on gender equality and income equality. With reference to the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP), which provides for the promotion of the Convention and the enhancement of the capacity of constituents’ for its better implementation, the Committee notes that the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for 2017–20 sets as a specific outcome that, by 2020, relevant state institutions, together with their respective partners, shall increase opportunities, especially for women to contribute to and benefit from economic progress, including by the reducing the gender wage gap which was estimated at 21.1 per cent in 2007 to a target of 10 per cent in 2020. The Committee notes that, according to the 2017 Labour Force Survey (LFS) of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the labour force participation rate of women remains far below that of men (36.4 per cent for women compared to 80.7 per cent for men), while their unemployment rate is twice as high as that of men (6.7 per cent for women compared to 3.3 per cent for men). It notes that only 0.6 per cent of women are managers, while 15.8 per cent of them are in elementary occupations. The Committee notes that, according to the LFS, the gender wage gap persists in some occupations, such as craft and related trade workers, elementary occupations and agricultural workers, and that wage differentials between the average monthly earnings of paid women and men employees in 2016–17 was estimated at 9.8 per cent. The Committee further notes, from the LFS, that women employed in the same occupational categories as men systematically receive lower remuneration in all occupational categories. Noting the Government’s statement that pay differentials in the informal sector are decreasing as a result of actions by the Government and the media but that it is very difficult to control the pay gap in the sector, the Committee notes the increasing number of women who are working in the informal economy, which is characterized by low earnings and poor conditions, who are estimated at 91.8 per cent of women in 2017 (compared to 85.6 per cent in 2005–06). The Committee notes that, in its 2018 concluding observations, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressed concern at the large and persistent gender pay gap which reached 40 per cent (E/C.12/BGD/CO/1, 18 April 2018, paragraph 33(b)). It also notes that, in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the Human Rights Council specifically recommended reducing the gender wage gap and ensuring women’s access to the labour market (A/HRC/39/12, 11 July 2018, paragraph 147). The Committee asks the Government to adopt concrete measures to reduce the existing gender wage gap, in both the formal and informal economy, and to ensure that implementation of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value. The Committee also asks the Government to promote women’s access to the labour market and to jobs with career prospects and higher pay, particularly in the framework of the Seventh Five-Year Plan for 2016–20 and the Decent Work Country Programme for 2017–20. It asks the Government to provide any assessment made of the effectiveness of the measures adopted and implemented to that end, as well as any study undertaken to assess the nature and extent of wage differentials in the informal economy. The Committee asks the Government to provide updated statistical data on the earnings of men and women, disaggregated by economic activity and occupation, in both the public and private sectors, as well as in the informal economy.

Article 1(a). Definition of remuneration. Legislation. The Committee previously noted that section 2(xlv) of the Labour Act excludes particular aspects of remuneration from the definition of “wages”, including in-kind emoluments such as accommodation. It also recalls the provisions of section 345 of the Labour Act, referred to above. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that it considers that the definition of wages in the Labour Act to be in line with the Convention. In this regard, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that Article 1(a) of the Convention sets out a broad definition of remuneration, which includes not only “the ordinary, basic or minimum wage or salary” but also “any additional emoluments whatsoever … whether in cash or in kind”. The use of “any additional emoluments whatsoever” requires that all elements that a worker may receive for his or her work, including accommodation, are taken into account in the comparison of remuneration. Such additional components are often of considerable value and need to be included in the calculation, otherwise much of what can be given a monetary value arising out of the job would not be captured (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 686–687 and 690–691). The Committee asks the Government to take appropriate steps so that the definition of “wages” provided under section 2(xlv) of the Labour Act is modified to encompass all the elements of remuneration, as defined in Article 1(a) of the Convention, in order to ensure that section 345 of the Labour Act fully reflects the principle of the Convention. In the meantime, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the manner in which it is ensured that the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is applied in practice in relation to those aspects of remuneration which are excluded from the definition of “wages” under section 2(xlv) of the Labour Act.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.