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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Burkina Faso (Ratification: 1969)

Article 1 of the Convention. As regards family allowances, the Committee notes that Act No. 15-2006/AN of 11 May 2006 (section 43) states that “family benefits (prenatal allowances, family allowances and maternity benefits) are payable to the mother or, failing that, to the father of the child”. The Committee asks the Government to supply information, including statistics on the practical application of this section with regard to the payment to mothers and fathers.

Article 2. National Policy for the Advancement of Women. The Committee notes with interest that, according to the Government’s report, the National Policy for the Advancement of Women, adopted in 2004, has resulted in significant improvements in the gross school attendance rate for girls, which increased from 64.9 per cent in 2005–06 to 79.1 per cent in 2007–08 in secondary education. It also notes the Government’s indication that this policy has contributed to the creation or revival of structures for financing and support for women entrepreneurs and to the easing of conditions for women’s access to credit. The Government explains that these advances have resulted in a significant reduction in the segregation of women in the labour market, in greater access for women to middle and top management posts and in reductions in remuneration inequalities between women and men. Welcoming the measures taken by the Government in favour of employment for women, the Committee requests the Government to supply detailed information, including any statistics available, showing the impact of these measures in reducing inequalities in pay and to continue to supply information on the implementation and impact of the Policy for the Advancement of Women as regards equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the specific measures taken in this respect, particularly with regard to the development of education and the diversification of vocational training for girls and boys and for men and women, in order to combat occupational segregation in the labour market and create access to better paid jobs, occupations and posts.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the job classification system is largely based on qualifications and experience, regardless of the occupation or job under consideration, and that efforts are being made to introduce the criterion of the value of work done. The Committee recalls that the effective application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women implies that the value of jobs can be determined on the basis of the tasks involved, objectively and free of any sexist stereotypes or prejudices, in order to classify them according to the value identified and thus establish the applicable rate of pay. Even though the Convention does not prescribe the use of a particular evaluation method, the Committee emphasized in its general observation of 2006 that for the purpose of ensuring gender equality in the determination of remuneration, analytical methods of job evaluation have been found to be the most effective. These enable a systematic comparison of jobs on the basis of explicit, clearly defined criteria, thus reducing the risk of subjective decisions. Such methods analyse and classify` jobs on the basis of objective factors relating to the jobs to be compared, such as skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions (see paragraph 141 of the 1986 General Survey on equal remuneration). It is important to ensure that the selection of factors for comparison, the weighting of such factors and the actual comparison carried out are not inherently discriminatory. Often skills considered to be “female”, such as manual dexterity and those required in caring professions, are undervalued or even overlooked, in comparison with traditionally “male” skills, such as heavy lifting. Inviting the Government to continue the efforts made to introduce the concept of the “value of work” in the job classification system, the Committee asks the Government to supply detailed information on the measures taken or contemplated, in cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations, for developing a job evaluation method on the basis of objective, non-discriminatory criteria, going beyond the qualifications and experience required for a job, and for promoting the use of this method in both the public and private sectors.

Article 4. Cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government on the activities of the Labour Advisory Committee (CCT) relating to labour legislation. It also notes that the validation of a national study on discrimination in employment and occupation within the context of the programme to support the implementation of the declaration (PAMODEC) has brought together all the social partners and also organizations from civil society. The Committee asks the Government to indicate specifically how the Government cooperates with the social partners to achieve equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value and to provide information on the work of the CCT relating specifically to this issue.

Labour inspection. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the activities of the labour inspectorate relating to enforcement in enterprises of the application of the legislation concerning equal remuneration for men and women and also on infringements reported or detected and penalties imposed. It also asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken or contemplated, particularly through specific training, to enable labour inspectors to be better equipped to detect discrimination with regard to remuneration and to handle such cases effectively.

Statistics. The Committee notes that in reply to its request for statistical data on remuneration for men and women, the Government indicates that the wage scales applicable in the different branches of activity of the public and private sectors are the same for men and women, with respect to the same jobs, and that there is no differentiation which would necessitate the compilation of statistics. The Committee recalls that the statistics requested relate to the actual earnings of men and women in practice and not to the wage scales applicable to the different branches of activity. Moreover, with reference to its general observation of 1998 on the Convention, the Committee wishes to emphasise that an analysis of the position and wages of men and women in all categories of employment, and also between sectors of economic activity as well as within them, is necessary for tackling the problem of the gender remuneration gap. It is necessary to have the fullest information possible to enable an adequate evaluation of the nature, extent and causes of any inequalities in remuneration between men and women and of the progress made with respect to the application of the principles of the Convention and to adopt suitable measures. The Committee encourages the Government to take the necessary steps to undertake the compilation and analysis of statistical information on the distribution of men and women in the public and private sectors and also on their respective levels of remuneration, and requests it to supply information on the progress made in this regard.