Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1961)

1. Objective appraisal of jobs. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on minimum wage fixing in the private sector and wage fixing in the civil service. Noting also the information on the criteria for appraising workers, the Committee reiterates that the notion of the objective appraisal of jobs is not based on the performance of workers, but on the examination of the tasks that different jobs involve. This evaluation should make it possible to compare jobs that are different but nonetheless of equal value. The Committee refers in this regard to its general observation of 2006 stressing the importance of applying objective job evaluation methods in the light of occupational sex segregation and the pervasive undervaluing of jobs and skills that are traditionally “female”. The Committee, therefore, asks the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to ensure objective job evaluation is applied in the public sector and to promote its use in the private sector. With regard to the discussions on the new Civil Service Act, the Committee asks the Government how it is being ensured that the job classification system is developed so that it is free from gender bias, and asks the Government to keep the Committee informed in this respect.

2. Wage gap. In order to obtain further information on the wage gap referred to in its previous comments, the Committee asks the Government once again to provide statistical data on the distribution of men and women in various types of activity, disaggregated by occupational category and remuneration. The Committee also asks the Government for the CD-ROM and the gender-based indicators mentioned on page 3 of its report.

3. Training and dissemination. The Committee notes the activities carried out by the labour inspectorate with regard to the rights of women workers and also notes, in particular, that in 2006 two workshops were held in which 32 men and 114 women representing at least nine clothing and textile processing plants in the metropolitan region participated. The Committee asks the Government to continue providing information on the training and dissemination-related activities concerning equal remuneration.

4. Enforcement. The Committee takes due note of the information provided by the Government concerning the cases reported as having been withdrawn, which it referred to in its previous direct request. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing information on the follow-up given to any complaints or violations recorded by the Labour Inspectorate which relate to the principle set forth in the Convention.