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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Viet Nam (Ratification: 1997)

Assessment of the gender wage gap. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to the findings of the Viet Nam Country Gender Assessment prepared in 2006 by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the UK’s Department for International Development and the Canadian International Development Agency, according to which the gender wage gap existing in the country resulted from sex-based labour market segregation, due, inter alia, to “widespread discrimination against women in recruitment”, and the “low value attached to women’s work in particular sectors”. It urged the Government to take the necessary measures to collect, analyse and provide statistical information on men’s and women’s earnings that would allow an assessment of the progress made in closing the gender pay gap. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that in 2008 the Department of Gender Equality was established under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and that the collection of statistical data relating to gender equality has not yet been arranged. The Committee also notes that, according to the data at the disposal of the General Statistical Office, in 2006 the average monthly income of women in the public sector amounted to 92 per cent of men’s remuneration while in the private sector and in the foreign invested sector it accounted, respectively, for 75.9 per cent and 65.5 per cent of men’s income. The same source indicates that the gender wage gap in the mining sector was 29.9 per cent, in the processing industry it was 25.1 per cent and in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector it was 19.7 per cent. The Committee urges the Government to take appropriate measures to reduce the gender wage gap and address its underlying causes and asks it to provide information on the implementation of such measures. It also asks the Government to provide information on the distribution of men and women in the different sectors of economic activity, occupational categories and positions and to continue to supply statistical information on men’s and women’s remuneration levels in both the private and public sectors.

Work of equal value. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that section 111 of the Labour Code and section 13 of the Law on Gender Equality fall short of fully reflecting the principle of the Convention and urged the Government to consider giving full legislative expression to the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value and to report on the steps taken in this regard. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that no discrimination between men and women in respect of remuneration is allowed either under the Labour Code or under other legislation. The Committee points out that the provisions of the Labour Code and the Law on Gender Equality provide only for equal remuneration for men and women who perform equal work, while the Convention also requires that men and women performing jobs of a different nature, which are nonetheless of equal value, receive equal remuneration. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to its 2006 general observation addressing this matter. It emphasizes once again that comparing different jobs on the basis of objective factors free from gender bias is essential in order to eliminate pay discrimination resulting from the undervaluation of jobs traditionally held by women. Noting that by 2010 the Labour Code will be subject to a comprehensive revision, the Committee urges the Government to take the opportunity afforded by the revision process to give full legislative expression to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, and asks it to provide information on the steps taken in this regard.

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