Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 82nd ILC session (1995)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Sweden (Ratification: 1962)

1. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government in its report in reply to the previous direct request, in particular concerning the action taken, in accordance with the 1991 Equal Opportunities Act, by the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman (requesting employer reports on equal opportunity plans; investigating one case of discriminatory wage fixing which was withdrawn for settlement by the parties).

2. The Committee notes with interest the 1993 report of the special investigator appointed by the Government to study sex-based wage differentials and propose ways of overcoming pay discrimination between men and women. The report confirms that the sex-based wage gap seems to have widened in 1991. While stressing that there is no simple solution, it sets out seven recommendations: strengthening the legislation to require employers to ascertain whether there are any pay differentials and the reasons for them; changing the parental insurance scheme in order to encourage genuine sharing of paid parental leave; systematic job evaluation; recording pay statistics with a breakdown by sex and having these statistics available at the enterprise level for collective bargaining and the annual equality plans; clear and well-known pay systems and pay-setting principles at all levels of the negotiation structure; giving priority to equal pay in collective bargaining; and improved education, information and moulding of opinion.

3. The Committee requests the Government to inform it of the outcome of this report, and its impact on sex-based wage differentials, which currently (1992 figures) run at 90 per cent of men's wages for female private sector manual workers, 77 per cent for female private sector salaried workers, 85 per cent for female national government employees, 88 per cent for female municipal employees, and 73 per cent for female county council employees.

4. The Committee notes that the Government queries, on the basis of the inadequacy of the input data, a statement in the Committee's previous direct request that men benefit more than women from the new system of individualized wage setting in the public sector. The Committee would clarify that it was referring to the conclusion reached by Statistics Sweden, cited in the Government's 1992 report. It would appreciate receiving further information regarding the outcomes achieved within this new wage-setting system, particularly any details showing its impact on wage differentials between men and women.