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

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

1. Equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. In its previous comments, the Committee repeatedly referred to the need to include in the legislation the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value as set out in the Convention. The Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report, article 82(1) of the Constitution establishes the principle of “equal wages for equal work and under identical conditions” and that the adaptation proposed by the Committee could only be achieved through a reform of the Constitution which is an extremely complex and slow process. The Committee also notes the recognition by the Government of the importance of adopting the necessary measures for the effective inclusion of the principle set out in the Convention in its legislation.

2. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to paragraph 6 of its general observation of 2006 in which it indicated, in relation to countries that still retain legal provisions that are narrower than the principle laid down in the Convention, as they do not give expression to the concept of “work of equal value”, that such provisions hinder progress in eradicating gender-based pay discrimination. It urged the governments of those countries to take the necessary steps to amend their legislation. Such legislation should not only provide for equal remuneration for equal, the same or similar work, but should also prohibit pay discrimination that occurs in situations where men and women perform different work that is nevertheless of equal value.

3. Taking into account the difficulties involved and slowness of a constitutional reform, as well as the requirements of the Convention and the Committee’s general observation, the Committee asks the Government to consider how the principle set out in the Convention can be incorporated into legislative provisions of lower rank than the Constitution. The principle of the Convention is not in contradiction with the terms of article 82(1) of the Constitution, but is broader and can be given effect by means other than the Constitution. Recalling that the concept of work of equal value is the cornerstone of the Convention, the Committee once again invites the Government to reflect this principle fully in law through the means that it considers appropriate with a view to bringing its legislation into conformity with the Convention, and asks it to keep the Committee informed of any progress achieved in this respect.

4. Application of the principle in the public service. The Committee notes that in the public service 59 per cent of positions are occupied by women and the remaining 41 per cent by men. It further notes that through the implementation of the process of classifying posts initiated in 14 government agencies, it may be observed that only 66 women compared with 216 men are in the highest paid positions which, taking into account the fact women are in a majority in the public service, demonstrates the imbalance in their low rate of representation in the highest paid positions. Please provide information on any measure adopted to correct this inequality of representation in the higher wage bands. Please also provide information on any measure adopted with a view to ensuring, when undertaking the evaluation of posts in the public service, that objective job evaluation methods free from gender bias are used so that due value is accorded to functions considered as being “traditionally feminine”, and that the factors for comparison are not inherently discriminatory.

5. Other means of giving effect to the principle set out in the Convention. The Committee invites the Government to promote objective job evaluation  on the basis of the work involved in the private sector and to provide information on this subject. It also requests information on other means of giving effect to the principle set out in the Convention, including information on the manner in which the Government collaborates with employers’ and workers’ organizations with a view to giving effect to the provisions of the Convention in the public and private sectors.