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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Fiji (Ratification: 2002)

1. Legislative developments. The Committee notes that section 6(2) of the Employment Relations Promulgation 2007 published in the government Gazette on 2 October 2007 provides that “every employer shall pay male and female workers equal remuneration for work of equal value”. Part 9 of the Promulgation (“Equal Employment Opportunities”) contains further provisions with a view to “ensuring equal rates of remuneration for work of equal value” (section 74). Section 78 (“unlawful discrimination in rates of remuneration”) provides that “an employer must not refuse or omit to offer or afford a person the same rates of remuneration as are made for persons of the same or substantially similar qualifications employed in the same or substantially similar circumstances on work of that description for any reason including the gender of that person”.

2. The Committee recalls its 2006 general observation in which it made it clear that the concept of “work of equal value” includes but goes beyond equal remuneration for “equal”, the “same” or “similar” work, and also encompasses work that is of an entirely different nature, which is nevertheless of equal value. The Committee notes that the level of qualification, for instance the length of relevant experience or the level of a degree, may be used as an objective factor to determine remuneration for a particular occupation, but it may not be used to restrict the comparison of remuneration to men and women holding qualifications in the same or similar profession or occupation, which appears to be the effect of section 78 of the Employment Relations Promulgation. Further, comparing work performed by men and women under “the same or similar circumstances” may unduly limit the scope of comparison of remuneration received by men and women, since jobs might involve different “circumstances”, but may nevertheless be of equal value. The Committee asks the Government to amend section 78 of the Employment Relations Promulgation to bring it into conformity with the Convention and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard. It also asks the Government to provide information on any case or dispute concerning equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value decided by the competent authorities under section 6(2) or part 9 of the Promulgation.

3. The Committee also notes that section 79 of the Employment Relations Promulgation provides for criteria to be applied to ensure equal pay when determining remuneration in collective agreements. Section 80(1) provides that “if an instrument in force at the commencement of this law: (a) provides separate provisions for remuneration of workers based on gender of workers; or (b) provides for the remuneration of female workers only, the parties must, within 12 months of the coming into force of this law review the instrument to implement equal pay” by determining the classifications of the work performed by the female workers in relation to the work performed by male workers and the rates of remuneration that would represent equal pay for each such classification. Section 80(2) and (3) allows for applications to be made to the Employment Relations Tribunal (within 12 months) where section 80(1) is not complied with. The Committee asks the Government to provide detailed information on the implementation in practice of sections 79 and 80 of the Employment Relations Promulgation, including information on any applications made to the Employment Relations Tribunal to obtain equal pay determinations or amendments to collective agreements.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.