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

Minimum Wage Fixing Machinery (Agriculture) Convention, 1951 (No. 99) - Poland (Ratification: 1977)

Article 3, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the Convention. Consultations with social partners. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the process of the minimum wage determination. The Council of Ministers communicates by 15 June of each year its proposal of the national minimum wage for the subsequent year, which must take into consideration a number of factors, such as the consumer price index, the rate of GDP growth, the household expenditures, the average and the living standard of different social groups. The Council’s proposal is then submitted to the Tripartite Commission for Socio-Economic Issues for its consideration. The Commission is chaired by the Minister of Labour and Social Policy and is composed of representatives of ten different ministries, of the four most representative employers’ organizations, and of the three most representative trade union organizations. Numerous other governmental bodies and NGOs attend the meetings of the Commission in an advisory capacity. If the Tripartite Commission cannot reach an agreement before 15 July, then the Council of Ministers takes a decision on the minimum wage rate, which can in no case be lower than its initial proposal to the Commission. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide more detailed information on the functioning of the Tripartite Commission on Socio-Economic Issues including, for example, copies of annual activity reports or any recent surveys relating to minimum wage issues.

Article 3(4). The binding force of minimum wages. The Committee notes that as from 1 January 2006, employers have an option to pay their workers at a sub-minimum wage rate of not less than 80 per cent of the national minimum wage during the first year of employment. The Committee recalls, in this connection, paragraph 176 of its General Survey of 1992 on minimum wages in which it concluded that the reasons that may prompt the adoption of lower minimum wage rates for groups of workers should be regularly re-examined in the light of the fundamental principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value and also that remuneration levels should be determined on the basis of objective factors such as the quantity and quality of work performed. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to indicate whether any studies have been undertaken on the question of sub-minimum pay rates and the advisability of pursuing a policy of minimum wage differentials on account of workers’ characteristics such as age or professional experience and, if so, to provide additional information on the reasons of such wage policy and the results obtained so far.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that as of October 2004, approximately 280,000 workers, or 4.5 per cent of the total workforce, were paid at the national minimum wage rate, that is 0.5 points higher compared to October 2002. The figure in the agricultural, hunting and forestry industries was 4.6 per cent, or 3,500 workers. While there was no significant disparity identified in terms of the gender balance among the workers paid the minimum wage, it was observed that most of the workers earning the minimum wage were below 29 years of age, had only basic vocational or primary education, and were employed in small enterprises of less than 49 persons. The Committee asks the Government to continue providing information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, the national minimum wage rate in force, labour inspection results showing the number of visits conducted, the number of contraventions on minimum wage legislation identified and sanctions imposed, etc.

Finally, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the conclusions of the ILO Governing Body on the continued relevance of the Convention based on the recommendations of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards (GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraphs 19 and 40). In fact, the Governing Body has decided that Convention No. 99 is among those instruments which may no longer be fully up to date but remain relevant in certain respects. The Committee therefore suggests that the Government should consider the possibility of ratifying the Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131), which marks certain advances compared to older instruments on minimum wage fixing, for instance, as regards its broader scope of application, the requirement for a comprehensive minimum wage system, and the enumeration of the criteria for the determination of minimum wage levels. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.