Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Belarus (Ratification: 1956)

The Committee notes with interest the information contained in the Government's reports and the documentation attached thereto including, in particular, the provisions of the General Agreement between the Cabinet Ministers, the national employers' organizations and the trade unions for 1996, and the copy of the 1996 Collective Agreement for a Belarus Automobile Factory.

1. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the statistical data for December 1995 which indicates that: women's average monthly wage as a percentage of men's was 79.1 in the country as a whole; 72.8 per cent in industry; 82.5 per cent in construction; and 90.9 per cent in agriculture. In education, women's average monthly earnings was some 3 per cent higher than that of men's. As it is difficult to determine, on the basis of average monthly earnings, the role played by factors such as the hours worked and the time of work (which, in the case of shift work can account for higher wage premiums), the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide any data collected on the average hourly earnings of women and men in different sectors. In addition, please provide any available data on the distribution of women and men in such sectors. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply information in its reports on progress achieved in reducing the wage gap.

2. The Committee notes from the information provided by the Government that, in terms of their educational attainments, women -- at the end of 1995 -- accounted for 62.4 per cent of all workers who had completed higher and secondary specialized education, including 51.8 per cent of workers employed in industry, 62.9 per cent in communications, 86.3 per cent in commerce and catering, and 76.4 per cent in education. The Committee has also noted that, among the factors that account for the wage gap, the Government has expressed concern about women's lower share of responsible and senior positions in enterprises and administrative bodies. The Committee requests the Government to indicate more precisely whether the factors that may account for that situation have been studied, given that women employed in the industries cited appear to have a consistently higher level of education than men, at least as far as formal education is concerned.

3. In the context of the wage-fixing system, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the extent to which attempts have been made to ensure that factors which are more likely to be present in the jobs undertaken by women are identified and evaluated to balance those factors (such as dirty or hazardous working conditions and physical strength) which are more likely to be present in the jobs performed by men, and which do tend to be identified. The weighting given to typical factors in male jobs may have an even more adverse effect on women's wages in situations where women are prohibited, or restricted, from undertaking certain jobs. In its 1986 General Survey on equal remuneration, the Committee has noted that some of the factors used to evaluate jobs tend to favour men over women and that, moreover, some factors which are more likely to be present in the jobs undertaken by women may not be identified and therefore not valued in job-evaluation schemes, as is often the case with caring skills and responsibility, human relations skills and manual dexterity.

4. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the measures taken to cooperate with employers' and workers' organizations in giving effect to the Convention. Please provide information on any initiatives that might be taken by the National Council on Labour and Social Affairs pertinent to the application of the Convention.