Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Latvia (Ratification: 1992)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. Article 1, paragraph (a), of the Convention. The Committee notes that there is no general definition of "remuneration" in the 1994 Labour Code and that it is therefore not clear that all elements of remuneration are included within the concept of wages or remuneration as required by this provision of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure that all payments to workers above the minimum wage, including "any additional emoluments whatsoever payable directly or indirectly, whether in cash or in kind, by the employer" are made without discrimination based on sex.

2. Article 1, paragraph (b). The Committee notes that the only legislative stipulation concerning equal remuneration between men and women is contained in section 1 of the Labour Code, which provides that "men and women shall enjoy equal rights to work, remuneration, recreation, social security and social protection". This formulation does not address the concept of pay equality in the terms required by the Convention, which calls for the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value. Accordingly, the Committee requests the Government to indicate any measures taken or contemplated to reflect in legislation, the principle of the Convention.

3. Article 2. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the criteria used to determine the classifications and corresponding wage scales of employees of the state administration and of state-owned enterprises, institutions and organizations and local self-government (pursuant to sections 85 and 86 of the Labour Code). Please also supply copies of the categories and wage scales in force in these sectors of employment, together with an indication as to the numbers or percentages of men and women employed in the various categories.

As concerns private sector employment, the Committee requests the Government to provide samples of collective agreements, including wage scales, concluded for enterprises or industries in which a significant number of women are employed. Please also indicate the extent to which workers are employed on piece-wages, as opposed to salaries, and supply information concerning the criteria used by employers for determining which of these systems of remuneration is to be applied. As requested in the report form on the Convention, please supply general information on the manner in which the application of the Convention is promoted and assured, and indicate whether the principle is applied to all workers, including those employed in agriculture and the service sector.

4. Article 3. It appears from Chapter 7 of the Labour Code, dealing with work quotas, that the quantity and quality of work determine the actual payment, or non-payment, of the fixed wage to workers employed under collective agreements. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the extent to which work quotas are used, the types of jobs and sectors concerned and the way in which quotas are set and applied. The Committee also requests the Government to furnish information on any surveys or studies carried out, including statistical data, on the actual wage rates paid to men and women in the economy generally, in particular regions or sectors of employment. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would provide information on any measures taken by relevant equality agencies or by women's organizations to ensure and promote the application of the Convention.

5. Article 4. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the actual methods adopted to cooperate with workers' and employers' organizations in the application of the Convention, with particular emphasis on any positive measures taken to give effect to the principle of equal remuneration.