Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

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

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report and the supplementary information provided in light of the decision adopted by the Governing Body at its 338th Session (June 2020).

Article 2 of the Convention. Determination of minimum wages. Remuneration Regulations. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to amend the Remuneration Regulations concerning the salt manufacturing, sugar and tea industries in order to remove all remaining gender-specific job appellations and different wages rates for men and women. The Committee notes that these three Remuneration Regulations were replaced with new ones in 2019. The Committee notes that the Salt Manufacturing Industry (Remuneration) Regulations 2019 do not use gender-specific job appellations. However, they explicitly provide in their second schedule for two different categories of wages, one for male employees and another one for female employees (even though the same wage rate applies to both categories). The Committee also notes that both the Sugar Industry (Agricultural Workers) (Remuneration) Regulations 2019 and the Tea Industry Workers (Remuneration) Regulations 2019 still include gender-specific appellations and set different wage levels for men and women in the same job occupations. The Committee urges the Government to amend without delay the Salt Manufacturing Industry (Remuneration) Regulations 2019, the Sugar Industry (Agricultural Workers) (Remuneration) Regulations 2019, and the Tea Industry Workers (Remuneration) Regulations 2019 in order to remove all remaining gender-specific job appellations, and gender specific wage categories and rates in the same job occupations. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that, when determining minimum wage rates by occupations in the sectors covered by remuneration regulations, skills considered to be “female” are not undervalued in comparison with traditionally “male” skills and that female-dominated occupations are not undervalued in comparison with male-dominated occupations. The Committee also refers to its comments on the application of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111).

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