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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Azerbaijan (Ratification: 1992)

Assessment of the gender pay gap. The Committee notes from the statistical information provided by the Government that, according to a sample survey carried out in October 2006, the gender pay gap (average monthly wages) is highest in industries such as oil and gas production (50.9 per cent), construction (59.3 per cent), air transport (37.8 per cent) and chemical industry (34.7 per cent). The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the earnings of men and women in the various sectors, industries and occupations, as well as on the measures taken to reduce the gender pay gap, particularly in the abovementioned industries. In this regard the Committee asks the Government to indicate any specific action taken under the National Plan of Action on women’s issues with a view to promoting and enforcing the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Public sector. With regard to the public sector, the Committee recalls that workers remunerated from the state budget are divided into two groups according to the system by which they are paid: (1) workers employed by the state legislative and executive authorities, for whom the rates and method of payment are determined by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic; (2) workers employed in state-run organizations, for whom the wages are determined by the relevant department of the governor’s office (section 158 of the Labour Code). Noting that no information was provided in reply to the Committee’s previous comments in this regard, the Government is requested once again to provide in its next report: for the first group, information on the posts covered by this category, the corresponding rates of pay and statistical data on the number of women and men employed in these posts; and, for the second group, more precise information on the criteria used for this classification and the types of posts included in each category, as well as statistical data on the relative number of women and men at the different levels of pay.

Objective job evaluation methods. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the compensation systems used are based on the workers’ qualifications and the complexity of the job, irrespective of sex. In order to attribute the appropriate compensation level of a specific job, scale and grade levels approved by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection are to be used. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on any measures taken to promote the use of objective job evaluation methods in the private sector, including information on how it monitors the application of scale and grade level directories.

Implementation and enforcement. The Committee notes that the information provided by the Government on the implementation and enforcement of legal provisions relating to the Convention is again only of a very general nature. The Committee therefore urges the Government to provide in its next report more detailed information on the specific action taken by the competent authorities to monitor compliance with the principle of equal remuneration of men and women for work of equal value and to provide any relevant administrative or judicial decision relating the principle. Noting the Government’s reference to the role played by workers’ and employers’ organizations with regard to securing social and economic rights, the Committee also asks the Government to provide information on the specific action taken by these organizations with regard to promoting and securing the right to equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.