Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

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

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government, including the statistics attached to the report.

1. The Committee has been drawing the attention of the Government in its comments to the fact that the concept of equal remuneration set out in the national legislation is more limited than the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value laid down in the Convention. The Committee recalls that, although there is no general obligation to enact legislation setting out this principle under the Convention, as it may also be applied by the other methods indicated in Article 2 of the Convention, legislative measures are nevertheless one of the best means of guaranteeing the principle. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures through which the Government promotes and ensures the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value.

2. The Committee notes the statistical data provided. Analysing the data for December 1999 respecting the earnings of central government employees, disaggregated by occupational group by monthly gross income, sex and department, the Committee notes that 75.99 per cent of men engaged in the public sector are in the three lowest income bands (between under 700 and 2,000 córdobas a month), while the number of women workers in the public sector in the above income bands is 84.98 per cent. The number of women in these wage bands corresponds to 63 per cent of all women engaged in the public sector, according to the data provided. Comparing the number of men in the three highest income bands (starting at 6,001 córdobas a month) and women in the same wage group, it can be seen that the percentage of men is 3.9 per cent, while that of women is only 1.7 per cent. The Committee also notes that women teachers represent 18.53 per cent of the women employed in the public sector, and that women engaged in the health services account for 17.25 per cent of all public service workers. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures that it is adopting or envisages to ensure: (1) that women have access to decision-making positions of greater responsibility and higher remuneration; and (2) that the occupational categories in which women are employed are not tied to traditionally feminine work. The Committee also asks the Government, in so far as possible, to provide statistical data disaggregated by sex on the distribution of men and women in the private sector by earnings level.

3. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that it does not have information on job appraisal systems in the private sector and their impact on the determination of remuneration. The Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to take the necessary measures to undertake an objective appraisal of jobs as a basis for reducing the wage gap between men and women.

4. The Committee asks the Government to provide the fullest possible statistical information, disaggregated by sex, as requested in the general observation of 1998, with a view to facilitating its evaluation of the manner in which the Convention is applied.