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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Portugal (Ratification: 1967)

The Committee notes with interest the detailed information contained in the Government's report and the extensive documentation and statistical data attached to it in reply to its previous direct request concerning the continuing analyses of collective agreements carried out by the Committee on Equality in Work and Employment (CITE), the CITE's assessment of the impact of its decisions concerning equal pay claims and the application of the principle of the Convention to domestic workers and homeworkers (who, while not excluded from the ambit of the basic legislative text, Legislative Decree No. 392/79, may be covered by regulatory texts amending the general equality provisions so as to take into account the specific characteristics of these workers).

1. The Committee notes from the data in the report, by sector of activity, that the amounts of average earnings are lower for women, with the exception of the construction sector (where the average earnings for women show a positive deviation of +9.7 per cent from the overall average), and that the average base remuneration of women in all sectors over the four years 1990 to 1993, as a percentage of that of men, is as follows: 75.5 per cent, 75.7 per cent, 75.4 per cent and 76.1 per cent. According to the data in the report, a comparison between the average base remuneration and average actual earnings also shows a sex-based wage gap, attributed to the granting to men of supplements above the base remuneration. The most recent data available from the Survey of Earnings (organized by the Statistics Department of the Ministry of Training and Employment) show that, as of April 1995, men earn 135.8 thousand escuderos and women 94.9 thousand escuderos monthly, being, respectively + 12.9 per cent and -21.1 per cent of the overall average earnings. This trend appears at all occupational levels, with higher negative percentages for women who are classified as "operatives" or "senior management/technical staff". The Committee welcomes these detailed statistics, and the message they are giving to the enforcement machinery at the national level to remain vigilant in verifying remuneration levels during labour inspections, and in investigating complaints of wage inequalities. It trusts that the Government will continue supplying such statistics with its reports since this type of data is essential in enabling the Committee to assess how seriously governments are working at promoting equal remuneration between women and men.

2. Following on from the above point, the Committee notes with interest that the Government is acting to strengthen inspection activities in areas where discrimination between men and women is likely to arise (as evidenced by the adoption of Council of Ministers Resolution No.32/94 of 17 May 1994). It also notes with reference to the collective agreement in the cork bark industry (mentioned in earlier direct requests) that, although the clauses it contained discriminating against women workers in the area of wages were immediately declared null and void, and although the Government had referred the CITE's 1993 Opinion in this matter to the signatories of the agreement with a view to them redressing the discrimination, the agreement has not yet been revised. The Committee would accordingly request the Government to inform it of any measures taken to encourage the parties to abide by the CITE's Opinion, even though the Committee understands that, in practice, the discriminatory clauses have no effect whatsoever. The Committee requests, in future reports, information on any other sectoral studies such as the cork bark industry study of the CITE, which throw light on how the Convention is being applied in practice.