Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Kenya (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes the observations of the Central Organization of Trade Unions of Kenya (COTU-K) received on 1 September 2023. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect.

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Legislation. Scope of application. The Committee previously asked the Government to provide information on how it ensures the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value to workers excluded from the scope of the Employment Act, 2007, namely members of the armed and police forces, the prison service and the National Youth Service (NYS), and dependants in family undertakings. In its report, the Government indicates that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) sets and reviews the remuneration and benefits of public officials and that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission Act, 2011, requires the SRC to be guided by the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value. While noting the information provided regarding the application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value to public officials, the Committee requests the Government to also provide information on the application of the principle of the Convention to dependants in family undertakings and on the manner in which the SRC ensures the application of the principle so as to avoid gender bias and discrimination based on sex.

Articles 2 and 3. Determination of minimum wages and objective job evaluation. In its previous comment, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on: (1) the status of the National Wages and Remuneration Policy; (2) the outcome of the job evaluation exercise conducted by the SRC in the public sector; and (3) the results of the review of the Kenya National Occupational Classification Standards (KNOCS). In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (1) an inter-agency committee, in which the social partners participate, has been established to spearhead the development of the National Wages and Remuneration Policy and that a draft report has already been shared for consultation; and (2) the SRC evaluated 52,047 jobs divided into five broad skill levels that resulted in a job grading system based on the values of the jobs and an equitable pay structure in the public sector. The Committee notes that the Government does not provide information on the review of the KNOCS for the private sector. In this regard, it observes that wages councils make recommendations to the Minister on the minimum wage levels to be set (section 44 of the Labour Institutions Act, 2007). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the status of the National Wages and Remuneration Policy; and (ii) how it is ensured that the criteria followed by wage councils in their deliberations and recommendations are free from gender bias.

Collective agreements. The Committee previously noted that the collective agreements communicated by the Government did not refer explicitly to the principle of the Convention and encouraged the Government to take steps, in cooperation with the social partners, to ensure that the provisions of collective agreements comply with the principle of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided information on this subject in its report. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on any steps taken, in cooperation with the social partners, to ensure that the provisions of collective agreements observe the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Article 4. Cooperation with workers’ and employers’ organizations. National Labour Board. In its previous comments, the Committee asked the Government to provide information on the activities of the National Labour Board to promote equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. Noting that the Government has not provided such information, the Committee reiterates its request in this regard.

Awareness raising and enforcement. Further to its previous request to provide information on the training activities for the labour inspectorate, the Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government that in the two previous years 23 women labour inspectors and 37 men labour inspectors were trained by the African Regional Labour Centre of the ILO on the application of the principle of equal remuneration.

Statistics. In its previous comment, the Committee requested the Government to collect data on the respective levels of remuneration of men and women and to provide information on the measures taken for this purpose. While noting that the Government’s report does not include the information, the Committee observes that, according to the 2019 National Policy on Gender and Development: (1) one of the policy actions is the establishment of a database on employment records of women and men in the formal and informal sectors to evaluate and improve employment conditions for everyone, particularly women; and (2) the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is responsible for the collection of national and county sex disaggregated data and gender statistics. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the data collected by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, or any another agency, on the respective levels of remuneration of men and women in the various sectors of the economy.