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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Ghana (Ratification: 1968)

Equal remuneration for work of equal value. Legislation. In its previous comments, the Committee had asked the Government to provide information on the progress made with a view to amending section 68 of the Labour Act 2003, which provides only for equal pay for equal work, so as to ensure full conformity with the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value set out in the Convention. Section 10(b) of the Labour Act is expressed in the same terms. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that due to a change of government, the Committee’s comments in this respect are still being examined by the new Minister responsible for Labour. With reference to its previous comments and recalling its 2006 general observation on the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value, the Committee trusts that the Government will take the necessary measures in the near future with a view to amending sections 10(b) and 68 of the Labour Act 2003 in order to give full legislative expression to the principle of the Convention.

Remuneration in the public sector. The Committee notes that the job evaluation exercise undertaken to determine the value of all public sector jobs, one of the objectives of which is to ensure that jobs within the same job value range are paid within the same pay range, was completed in April 2009. As a result, a single spine pay structure was adopted. The Committee also notes that the ultimate goal for the National Job Analysis and Evaluation Exercise, as set out in the briefing notes on the public sector pay policy attached to the Government’s report, “was to enable government to reward its employees in accordance with the principle of “equal pay for equal worth” consistent with article 24(1) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and section 10(b) of the Labour Act”. Both the Constitution and the Labour Act refer however to “equal pay for equal work”. The evaluation has been made on the basis of four main job factors (knowledge and skill, responsibility, working conditions and effort) which were subdivided into 13 sub-factors and it has used the point factor method. The Committee notes that during the consultative workshop held in May 2009 on the single spine pay policy, the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs and the Ghana Trade Union Congress agreed that the policy should be implemented, as of 1 January 2010, while efforts are being made to address concerns and challenges that may arise from its implementation. It also notes that the unions and associations were to submit outstanding issues or concerns to the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission. The Committee asks the Government to ensure that the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value will be duly taken into account and recognized as an explicit objective in the implementation of the public sector pay policy. It also asks the Government to provide information on the implementation process of this policy, including on the issues dealt with by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and the steps taken by this Commission to ensure full application of the principle of the Convention in the public service. The Government is requested to provide a copy of the single spine pay policy and of the single spine pay structure adopted.

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