Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - Seychelles (Ratification: 1978)

Article 2 of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee notes the Employment (National Minimum Wage)(Exemption) Order, 2008, excluding non-Seychellois workers employed in the tourism or construction industry from the application of the national minimum wage. The Committee recalls that the Convention leaves to each ratifying State to decide, in consultation with its social partners, the trades or part of trades to which the minimum wage-fixing machinery should apply but contains no provision permitting the exclusion of workers from the coverage of the national minimum wage on the basis of characteristics such as nationality, sex, age, disability, etc. It also recalls that in the absence of any such provisions, the general principles laid down in other instruments have to be observed, and particularly those contained in the Preamble of the ILO Constitution which specifically refers to the application of the principle of “equal remuneration for work of equal value”. The Committee therefore requests the Government to explain how it is ensured, in view of the exemption Order, that non-Seychellois workers employed in the tourism and construction industries receive equal remuneration with Seychellois workers when performing work of equal value. The Committee also requests the Government to provide an indication as to the approximate number of foreign workers employed in the tourism and construction industry who are now deprived of the protective coverage of minimum wage legislation. Moreover, the Committee considers that the broad discretionary power conferred upon the Minister of Employment and Human Resources, by virtue of section 6 of the Employment (National Minimum Wage) Regulations, 2007, to “exempt any worker or category of workers […] from the application of the national minimum wage subject to such conditions as he/she may think fit”, needs to be reconsidered, particularly with view to ensuring that employers’ and workers’ organizations are duly consulted before any decision for exemption is taken.

Article 3(2). Minimum wage-fixing machinery. The Committee notes with interest the adoption of the Employment (National Minimum Wage) Regulations, 2007, which prescribe minimum hourly wage rates for workers with permanent, fixed-term, or part-time contract, and casual workers. The Regulations also fix the amounts of fines for failure to pay the national minimum wage. The Committee asks the Government to provide more detailed information, including copies of any relevant legal text, on the minimum wage-fixing process, in particular the manner in which employers’ and workers’ organizations participate in that process in equal numbers and on equal terms, as required by this Article of the Convention.

Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government concerning average earnings by sector and industry in 2007. It would appreciate if the Government would continue supplying up-to-date information, including, for instance, inspection results showing the number of minimum wage-related offences observed and sanctions imposed, the approximate number of workers remunerated at the minimum wage rate, copies of collective agreements fixing minimum wages for specific sectors or branches of economic activity, etc.

Finally, the Committee takes this opportunity to recall that, based on the recommendations of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards, the ILO Governing Body has decided that Conventions Nos 26 and 99 are among those instruments which may no longer be fully up to date but remain relevant in certain respects (GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraphs 19, 40). 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 considers that the ratification of Convention No. 131 is all the more advisable as Seychelles has already a statutory minimum wage of general application (and not only minimum wages for those workers employed in exceptionally low-paid trades where no arrangements for collectively negotiated wages exist, as prescribed by Convention No. 26). The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.