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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Cuba (Ratification: 1954)

1. Statistical information and the wage gap. In its 2003 comments, the Committee noted that the national statistical system was working on the inclusion of wages disaggregated by sex. In its 2005 report, the Government reproduces this information and indicates that there were no contraventions reported relating to the application of the principle of equality of remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value. The Committee notes however that, without the statistical information referred to in the general observation of 1998 and in particular without information on the average remuneration of men and women in the different sectors, it is not in a position accurately to assess the application of the principle of the Convention. In effect, information disaggregated by sex and by sectors would allow for a comparison of remuneration between those mainly male sectors and sectors where women have traditionally worked, such as health and education, which would make it possible to determine whether a wage gap exists or not. As the Committee has already pointed out, to ensure equality of remuneration in a mainly female branch of activity, it is necessary periodically to refer to a point of comparison removed from the enterprise or establishment in question. The fact that a certain number of men work in traditionally female sectors, alongside a high number of women, does not in any way mean that there is no objective discrimination with regard to remuneration. For this reason, the Committee reiterates its request to the Government that it provide the statistical information disaggregated by sex requested in its previous request and that this information should include not just the minimum wage but also the emoluments referred to in Article 1(a) of the Convention.

2. Work of equal value. The Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report, the expression "equal pay for equal work" is applied in practice in the same way as the expression "equal remuneration for work of equal value". In this regard, the Committee notes that there are two substantial differences in comparison with the Convention: the concepts of "work of equal value" and of "remuneration" employed in the Convention are wider than the concepts of "equal work" and "pay" used in Cuban law. As to the expression "work of equal value", the Convention requires the use of the "value" of the work as a point of comparison, and therefore inevitably broadens the elements to be taken into consideration, based on equal value, in relation to work which is of a different nature and which cannot, therefore, be considered to be equal work. This distinction is important in relation to sectors in which mainly women are hired and in which the work they do is in many cases undervalued on the basis of stereotypes related to gender. In this respect, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide information on how it ensures the application of the principle of the Convention in practice, and reiterates its hope that the Government will consider amending its legislation so as to give full effect to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. With regard to the concept of remuneration, Article 1(a) of the Convention includes, alongside remuneration, "any additional emoluments whatsoever payable directly or indirectly, whether in cash or in kind, by the employer to the worker". The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the different pay-related benefits existing in the public sector and to provide information on the remuneration, both basic and including emoluments, received in practice by men and women in the abovementioned sector.