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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Azerbaijan (Ratification: 1992)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report is substantially identical to the preceding report of 2003 and contains no reply to its previous comments. It must therefore repeat its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee notes the Government’s report. It wishes to return to a number of issues raised in its previous comments and hopes that the Government will make every effort to provide the information requested in its next report.

1. The Government once again refers to sections 16, 154 and 158 of the Labour Code of 1 February 1999 as ensuring the application of the Convention. The Committee notes that section 16 sets forth the principle of non-discrimination based on sex; section 154 provides for a definition of remuneration and states that workers may not be paid less than the minimum wage; and section 158 states that forms and systems of remuneration and rates are to be specified in collective agreements and employment contracts, and in relevant cases by mutual agreement between the employer and the trade union. As these provisions do not fully reflect the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value, the Committee must again raise the question of how the Government ensures that women receive remuneration equal to that of men for work performed which is of equal value, in accordance with the principle enshrined in the Convention. In this context, the Committee also wishes to underline that it is not sufficient to compare levels of income of men and women performing identical or similar work. Achieving pay equality also requires comparing jobs of a different nature based on their content. The tool suggested by the Convention to evaluate value is the objective appraisal of jobs (Article 3). The Committee therefore asks the Government to indicate: (a) the manner in which the remuneration system ensures that equal remuneration is paid for work of equal value, e.g. by providing examples of collective agreements applying the Convention; (b) any measures taken to promote objective job appraisal; and (c) whether it is considering the possibility of amending the Labour Code to include a provision establishing the principle of the Convention in national legislation.

2. The Committee recalls the Government’s statement that women’s pay is lower because women workers have lower qualifications and occupy lower qualified posts. The Government also stated previously that in order to change the situation, measures would have to be taken to improve women’s qualifications to ensure their entry to higher level posts. Noting that the Government has not provided any information on the measures taken to improve the status of women workers in the labour market, particularly in non-traditional occupations and decision-making positions, the Committee hopes that the Government will be able to report on taking such measures as well as statistical information on the remuneration rates of men and women workers at the various levels.

3. With regard to the public sector, the Committee recalls that workers remunerated from the state budget are divided into two groups according to the system by which they are paid: (1) workers employed by the state legislative and executive authorities, for whom the rates and method of payment are determined by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic; (2) workers employed in state-run organizations, for whom the wages are determined by the relevant department of the governor’s office (section 158 of the Labour Code). Noting that no information was provided in reply to paragraph 3 of the Committee’s previous direct request, the Government is requested once again to provide in its next report: for the first group, information on the posts covered by this category, the corresponding rates of pay and statistical data on the number of women and men employed in these posts; and for the second group, more precise information on the criteria used for this classification and the types of posts included in each category, as well as statistical data on the relative number of women and men at the different levels of pay.

4. With reference to paragraph 5 of its previous direct request the Committee asks the Government to include in the material submitted information on the activities of the labour inspection service and on how it promotes the application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value.