Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ratification: 1969)

Articles 1 and 2(2)(a) of the Convention. Equal remuneration for work of equal value. Definition of remuneration. Legislation. The Committee recalls that: (1) section 7.8 of the Labour Code provides a general definition of remuneration and excludes certain benefits from it (accommodation and accommodation allowances, transport allowances, “benefits granted exclusively to facilitate workers’ performance of their duties”, and so on); and (2) section 86 does not reflect the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value since it limits wage equality to “equal conditions of work, qualifications and output”. The Government reiterates in its report that the exclusion of these benefits from remuneration enables workers to enjoy certain non-taxable emoluments, thereby improving their purchasing power, and that consequently no amendment of section 7.8 of the Labour Code is envisaged. As regards section 86 and the inclusion in the Labour Code of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, the Committee notes that the Government does not provide any information in this regard. The Committee wishes to point out that, irrespective of the existence of a definition of “remuneration” for tax purposes as provided for in section 7.8, for the purposes of the application of the Convention the definition of the term “remuneration” must be expanded to apply not only to the ordinary, basic or minimum wage or salary but also to “any additional emoluments whatsoever payable directly or indirectly, whether in cash or in kind, by the employer to the worker and arising out of the worker’s employment”. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to incorporate in the Labour Code: (i) the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value; and (ii) a definition of “remuneration” in accordance with Article 1(a) of the Convention for the purposes of the application of this principle.

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