Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Ukraine (Ratification: 1956)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. The Committee recalls its previous observation noting that section 17 of the Law on Ensuring Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities of Women and Men, 2006, requiring the employer to ensure equal pay for men and women for work involving equal skills and working conditions is more restrictive than the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value as set out in the Convention. Furthermore, by linking the right to equal remuneration for men and women to two specific factors of comparison (skills, working conditions), the Committee considered that section 17 may have the effect of discouraging or even excluding objective job evaluation on the basis of a wider range of criteria, which is crucial in order to eliminate effectively the discriminatory undervaluation of jobs traditionally performed by women. The Committee consequently urged the Government to take the necessary steps to amend the legislation to give full legislative expression to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

The Committee notes that the Parliamentary Committee on Social Policy and Labour, with the support of the Project “Gender Equality in the World of Work in Ukraine”, co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the International Labour Office (ILO), organized on 27 May 2010, a high-level round-table discussion on the implementation of Convention No. 100 and of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), which included a discussion on the Committee’s comments regarding the application of the Convention. The Committee notes that this event resulted in the adoption of specific recommendations intended to serve as a roadmap for the authorities and the social partners in bringing the national gender equality legislation into compliance with international labour standards. The Committee asks the Government to take the necessary steps to follow-up on the recommendations approved by the Parliamentary Committee on Social Policy and Labour with a view to giving full legislative expression to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. The Committee further asks the Government to provide information on the implementation and enforcement of the current equal remuneration provisions of section 17 of the Law on Ensuring Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities of Women and Men, 2006, including information on the number and outcome of any relevant cases dealt with by the competent administrative authorities or the courts.

Articles 2(2)(c) and 4. Collective agreements. The Committee recalls that section 18 of the Law on Ensuring Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities of Women and Men, 2006, provides that collective agreements at the different levels should include provisions which ensure equal rights and opportunities for women and men and that agreements should, inter alia, envisage the elimination of inequality in the remuneration of the labour of men and women, wherever it exists. The Committee notes that one of the recommendations adopted by the Parliamentary Committee on Social Policy and Labour was for the parties to the General Agreement to reproduce the gender equality principle in the Agreement pursuant to section 18 of the Law of 2006. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the follow-up by the social partners to the insertion of a gender equality provision in the General Agreement, including on equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, as well as any other steps taken by the Government to cooperate with the social partners to ensure that collective agreements promote equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, as well as examples of relevant provisions of collective agreements.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes the Government’s description of the manner in which wages are being established, notably that official salary rates are established based on the complexity of the work, the organizational and legal level of a position, the functions and working conditions, and that wages in sectoral agreements are broken down by occupation and occupational qualifications without making distinctions between men and women. The Government adds that wage and salary levels are therefore established irrespective of gender. The Committee notes that it continues to remain unclear whether the methods used to evaluate the work performed in the different jobs and occupations are appropriate to eliminate gender bias in determining wage rates, including the undervaluation of jobs and occupations that are predominantly carried out by women, resulting in lower wages compared to those applying for jobs and occupations predominantly carried out by men. The Committee asks the Government to take specific measures to promote the use of objective job evaluation methods free from gender bias with a view to promoting and ensuring the establishment of wages and salary scales in accordance with the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Statistical information. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that, according to data from the State Statistics Committee, monthly wages in 2009 were 1,677 Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH) for women and UAH2,173 for men, reflecting a monthly wage gap of 23 per cent (compared to 27.3 per cent in 2007). While noting that the gender wage gap with respect to average monthly wages appears to be decreasing, the Committee notes that the gender wage gap is still very high. The Committee further notes that one of the recommendations adopted by the Parliamentary Committee on Social Policy and Labour is to ensure the collection and analysis of statistical data, particularly on the wages of men and women at the various grades and levels of the civil service, by occupational groups, and in the private and public sectors in accordance with the general observation on this Convention of 1998. The Committee asks the Government to make every effort to collect, analyse and supply statistical data on the earnings of men and women, in as much detail as possible, including data on the earnings in the different economic sectors and occupations in the private and public sectors.

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