Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Netherlands (Ratification: 1971)

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report and the extensive documentation attached. It also notes the comments and additional information supplied by the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV) in its communication dated 25 November 2004.

1. Wage gap. The Committee notes from the 2004 survey of the labour inspectorate that the remuneration gap between men and women slightly decreased from 23 per cent in 2000 to 22 per cent in 2002 in the private sector and from 15 per cent to 14 per cent in the public sector. Remuneration differentials between full-timers and part-timers who work 12 hours or more a week amount to 22 per cent, and 43 per cent for those who work less than 12 hours a week in the private sector; in the public sector wage differentials between full-timers and part-timers represent 6 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. The survey explains that gender differences in remuneration may be partially ascribed to the fact that women workers are generally younger, less highly educated and often work part time. Women are more often than men employed in administrative or caring jobs and low-level jobs, have more often flexible or fixed-term contracts, and are employed in the health and welfare sector rather than the building or industry sector. A similar trend is noted with respect to wage differentials between full-timers and part-timers. When taking into account these individual and job-related facts, the survey shows that there is still an unexplained wage gap in the private sector of 7 per cent (5 per cent in 2000) and 3 per cent in the public sector (3 per cent in 2000). The unexplained remuneration gap between full-timers and part-timers amounts to 5 per cent in the private sector (11 per cent in 2000) but has almost disappeared in the public sector. Information provided by the FNV further indicates that research undertaken with the Wage Indicator, a tool allowing detailed research on the gender wage gap, reveals that pay inequalities also continue to exist with respect to the same jobs performed by men and women working in the same enterprise. Noting further that the unexplained remuneration gap between men and women has not really decreased and that the Government had previously indicated that it would undertake micro-level research to determine the exact causes of this gap, the Committee hopes that the Government’s next report will include information on the outcome of this research, including the measures taken to address the causes identified. It also asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to address some of the other underlying reasons for remuneration differentials between men and women, such as those relating to the type of contracts under which women are employed, and their occupational segregation into lower paying jobs or occupations and lower positions without many promotion opportunities.

2. Equal remuneration with respect to pension schemes. In previous comments, the Committee had noted that following EC jurisprudence, the reparation of pensions had become partially mandatory and that a large number of pension funds had begun correcting the pension provision for those women who had been excluded from pensions in the past. It had also noted that the Government had called upon the social partners to investigate whether they could offer financial support for correcting pension provision for (older) women. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that it will no longer take further corrective action in this regard and that the social partners are also responsible for providing compensation for these former exclusions. It also notes the view of the FNV that the social partners should not be responsible for providing compensation, which is the responsibility of the Government and the employers in conformity with the EC law and jurisprudence. The Committee recalls that the principle of equal remuneration between men and women also applies to pension schemes, and hopes that the Government will continue its efforts, in cooperation with the social partners, to ensure that women who have been excluded in the past from participating in pension arrangements benefit from the protection provided by the Convention, and that further corrective action will be taken for them. With respect to the limited participation of women in supplementary pension schemes due to the exclusion of certain job categories (so-called white spots), the Committee notes that with the adoption of the new Pensions Act, which will replace the Pension and Saving Funds Act, it is expected that the number of "white spots" will be reduced to 3.5 per cent in 2006. If this fails, the Government will introduce a formal obligation not to exclude employees from pension schemes. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the progress made in the adoption of the Pensions Act and the achievement of this goal. Please also indicate the job categories that will still be excluded from the pension schemes and the number of men and women employed in these job categories.

3. Application of the principle of equal remuneration to part-time workers. The Committee notes the results of the survey conducted by the Equal Treatment Commission (ETC) in the 2002 Survey on the application of the Equal Treatment (Working Hours) Act concluding that while a number of problems of non-compliance had been identified, employers, government authorities or parties to a collective agreement had in most cases followed the ETC’s opinion to comply with the provisions of the Act. Yet, the Committee notes that the 2003 Survey of the labour inspectorate on distinctions between working hours in collective agreements shows that while the percentage of part-time workers who were fully excluded from collective labour agreements decreased to 2 per cent in 2003; still 45 per cent of the agreements, either fully or partially, exclude part-timers or make distinctions between part-timers and full-timers. The FNV raises in this regard the point that although the ETC had determined that some of the distinctions made were not permitted under the Equal Treatment (Working Hours) Act, this had not led to the abolition of these distinctions. The Committee notes that the Government nevertheless continues to cooperate with the social partners to reduce the number of distinctions in collective agreements, and asks the Government to keep it informed on the progress made in this regard. Considering the high number of women employed in part-time work, please also provide information on the impact of these efforts on the wage differentials between men and women.

4. Flexible pay systems. The Committee notes that a workshop, involving equal remuneration experts and job evaluation experts, has been held to develop a tool to ensure equal remuneration in the context of flexible pay systems. It notes that following proposals by the workshop, special attention is now being given to the flexible pay systems in the information provided by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, and that flexible pay systems form part of the equal remuneration checklist developed by the Labour Foundation. The equal remuneration quick scan and the equal remuneration management tool also relate to flexible pay systems. The Committee asks the Government to indicate in its next report whether these measures have had any impact as to the reduction of the apparent differences between men and women in flexible pay systems.

5. Article 3. Promotion of the principle and tools for objective job evaluation. With reference to its previous comments relating to the implementation of the action plan on equal remuneration, the Committee welcomes the activities carried out to promote equal remuneration in small and medium-sized enterprises, and the campaigns to raise awareness among the general public and the works councils. It also notes with interest that the equal remuneration quick scan, which aimed at rapidly assessing job evaluation systems and structures in organizations and ministries, has now been completed. In addition, a complementary management tool is being developed to enable the user to verify the causes of the remuneration differences established by quick scan and to verify whether these differences are in contravention with the law. The Committee further notes from the Government’s report that the tool "Weighing the balance: A gender-neutral job evaluation manual" still has to be evaluated and that a copy of the evaluation report will be forwarded to the Committee, once completed. The Committee encourages the Government to continue to provide information on the implementation of the equal remuneration action plan and the measures taken to promote the use of gender-neutral job evaluation systems and to indicate how they have impacted on the wage gap between men and women in the public and private sectors. Please also provide information on the use of the abovementioned manual in the health-care sector, including information on its impact.

6. Part III of the report form. Enforcement. The Committee notes the information provided by the FNV concerning the nature and number of cases dealt with and opinions expressed by the ETC relating to gender discrimination, including remuneration. The FNV also indicates that the High Court has issued a decision on the general principle of equal remuneration, which may have an impact on the future jurisprudence involving questions of principle relating to Convention No. 100. The Committee asks the Government to provide in its next report the details relating to this High Court decision as well as general information concerning the enforcement of the equal remuneration legislation by the courts, the labour inspectorate and the ETC.