Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Philippines (Ratification: 1953)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government's report and the collective agreements attached.

1. In its previous request, the Committee noted that section 5(a) of the 1990 Rules implementing Republic Act No. 6725 of 12 May 1989, which defined work of equal value to be "activities, jobs, tasks, duties or services ... which are identical or substantially identical", would appear to restrict the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers to jobs which are essentially the same -- a concept which is narrower than that required by the Convention. In this regard, the Committee notes with interest that a proposed amendment of section 135(a) of the Labor Code provides for equal remuneration for men and women "for work of equal value whether the work or tasks are the same or of a different nature". The Committee hopes that the proposed Act to amend the Labor Code will soon be adopted and requests the Government to supply a copy of the Act, as adopted, to the Office. While noting the Government's statement that it will study whether section 5(a) of the Rules really restricts the application of equal remuneration, the Committee hopes that the Government will take the necessary action to amend the 1990 Rules in line with the scope of the Convention, and provide information on any further developments in this regard. While noting the action taken in 1990 by the Bureau for Women and Young Workers (BWYW) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to disseminate information on the requirements of Act No. 6725 and its implementing Rules, the Committee hopes that the Government will be able to provide, in its next report, more recent information on how Act No. 6725 and in particular section 5(a) of the implementing Rules are applied in practice, including the means by which the principle of equal remuneration between men and women workers for work of equal value is applied in situations where women and men carry out different work.

2. The Committee notes that the Government's report does not contain any relevant statistical data or other information which would enable it to assess the nature, scope and extent of inequalities in remuneration and the progress made to eradicate them. It notes, however, from statistical data on men's and women's wages by economic activity published in the 1998 ILO Yearbook of labour statistics that, in 1995, women's wages constituted 74.2 per cent of those of men in the manufacturing sector and 83.3 per cent in the gas, electricity and water sector, while in the area of construction, men's wages were 72.5 per cent of women's wages. The Committee requests the Government to provide, in its next report, information on the underlying causes of the wage differences between men and women in the abovementioned sectors. The Committee also draws the Government's attention to its 1998 general observation on this Convention and requests the Government to supply recent data disaggregated by sex, age and occupational level on men's and women's earnings in the various sectors of the economy in order to permit an assessment of the progress made in promoting and ensuring the application of equal remuneration for men and women workers of work of equal value in both the private and public sectors. It also reiterates the wish that the Government ó as well as the employers' and workers' organizations ó will endeavour to collect the information requested in its previous direct request on the distribution of men and women in sectors covered by collective agreements, by earnings levels classified by occupation and grade. It also encourages the Government to make efforts to undertake the study on pay equity by the Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC) of the DOLE, and hopes this study will throw light on the general status of men and women.

3. Further to its previous comments concerning the application of the Wage Rationalization Act (No. 6727 of 1989) which declares a policy of rationalizing minimum wages and promotes wage fixing through collective agreements, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on criteria and methods which have been used to determine the classification of jobs and their corresponding wage scales. The Committee further notes the statement by the Government that the DOLE is developing appropriate methods to promote an objective appraisal of jobs on the basis of the work to be performed. The Committee is looking forward to receiving a copy of the job evaluation instrument, once finalized, and reiterates its request for information concerning the extent to which employers and workers have embarked upon fixing wage rates in collective agreements on the basis of job evaluation.

4. The Committee notes from the Government's report that the BWYW is responsible for the formulation of policies, rules and regulations implementing the provisions of the Labor Code and other laws relating to women, the undertaking of studies and research and the provision of advice to the DOLE with regard to the enforcement of these provisions. The Committee further notes from the information provided by the Government under Convention No. 111 that the Administrative Order No. 47, series of 1997, issued by the DOLE, incorporated violations of Republic Act No. 6725 as part of items on the inspection lists of the labour inspectorate in 1997. The Committee requests the Government to supply copies of any policy advice, studies or research provided by the BWYW in relation to the promotion and supervision of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value, and to provide information on the number of inspections carried out by the labour inspectorate with regard to equal pay, the number of violations found, and the action taken.

5. Referring to its previous direct request, the Committee hopes that the Government's next report will contain information on the measures taken or envisaged by the Inter-Agency Task Force for Strategic Planning related to the application of the Convention.