Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Haiti (Ratification: 1958)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. Domestic workers. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Ministry for the Status of Women and Women’s Rights (MCFDF) had conducted an examination of the legislation with a view to revising laws which discriminate on the basis of sex and, in particular, provisions of
the Labour Code establishing a special regime for domestic workers (sections 254–265). It also noted that this category of workers is often seriously affected by wage disparities between men and women for work of equal value and by the undervaluation of work performed by women. The Committee notes with interest the adoption in May 2009 of the Domestic Work Act, which amends section 257 of the Labour Code relating to the rights of male and female domestic workers and thereby brings this category of workers within the scope of section 317 of the Labour Code, which establishes the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. The Committee asks the Government to supply information on the steps taken to promote, implement and monitor the application of the principle of equal remuneration for male and female domestic workers laid down by the Labour Code, as amended in 2009 by the Domestic Work Act. The Committee also asks the Government to specify the date of entry into force and publication in the Official Journal of this Act.

Article 2. Equal remuneration for work of equal value. Legislation and collective agreements. The Committee notes that section 65(e) of the Labour Code provides that “any collective labour agreement must contain the following requirements: … establishment of the principle of equal remuneration for equal work, and equally applicable to nationals or foreigners, men or women”, whereas section 317 of the same Code explicitly lays down the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. Recalling that the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value goes beyond the concept of equal remuneration for equal work, the Committee asks the Government to take the necessary steps to align the provisions of section 65(e) of the Labour Code concerning the content of collective agreements to those of section 317 of the Code providing for equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, and to supply information on the measures taken in this respect. It also asks the Government to indicate whether the collective agreements in force contain clauses which reflect the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, and to send extracts of collective agreements concerning remuneration for workers.

Articles 2 and 3. Minimum wages and objective job evaluation. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments underlining the importance of carrying out objective job evaluation in order to identify work of equal value and thereby apply the principle of equal remuneration for men and women as set out in the Convention, the Government indicates that it intends to make the Higher Wage Council operational, as mandated pursuant to the Labour Code (section 297). The Committee notes that this tripartite council will have the task of revising and determining minimum wages taking into account macroeconomic indices. Recalling that the fixing of minimum wages can make an important contribution to the application of the principle of equal remuneration prescribed by the Convention, the Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention to the need to ensure that the job evaluation method used to fix or revise minimum wages is free from gender bias and, consequently, that the choice of factors for comparison, the weighting of these factors and the actual comparison carried out are not inherently discriminatory. In particular, the Committee recalls that it is important to ensure that certain skills considered to be “female”, such as manual dexterity and those required in caring professions, are not undervalued or even overlooked, in comparison with traditionally “male” skills, such as heavy lifting. The Committee asks the Government to supply information on the setting up of the Higher Wage Council and on its activities relating to the fixing or revision of minimum wages, stating the method used by the Council.

Application of the law. Labour inspection. The Committee notes the Government’s statement to the effect that, in order to promote equal remuneration and apply it in practice, in accordance with the Convention and section 317 of the Labour Code, it is about to prepare, with technical assistance from the ILO in the context of the “Better Work” project, a labour inspection guide which will take account of all the ratified Conventions. It also notes the information supplied by the Government on the inspections undertaken and the workers covered. The Committee welcomes the efforts made by the Government regarding enforcement of the labour legislation and reinforcement of the training of labour inspectors with respect to child labour, trafficking of persons, combating AIDS in the world of work, and fundamental standards. The Committee encourages the Government to continue and intensify the training activities for labour inspectors and requests that gender equality be made a specific objective of such training, particularly with regard to pay, in order to increase inspectors’ ability not only to identify pay discrimination but also to increase the awareness of employers, workers and their organizations of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women, including the concept of “work of equal value”. The Committee also asks the Government to continue to supply information on the advisory and supervisory activities carried out by the labour inspectorate with a view to eliminating any form of pay discrimination.

Statistics. The Committee notes the data regarding pay for men and women, according to categories of workers (labourers, administrative staff, etc.), which were collected by labour inspectors during workplace inspections. However, it would like to draw the Government’s attention to the fact that these statistics reflect a purely formal equality in remuneration and are still too general in nature, since they indicate very wide ranges of pay for the categories of workers concerned and do not enable an evaluation of the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women in the enterprises concerned. The Committee asks the Government to supply, as far as possible, any available recent statistics relating to remuneration for men and women in the private sector, by sector of activity, to enable it to evaluate the application of the Convention in practice.