Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Morocco (Ratification: 1979)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Application of the principle of the Convention in the private sector. The Committee notes that according to the Government, the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training has embarked upon a process of the institutionalization of equality between men and women in the employment, vocational training and social protection sectors. The Committee nevertheless notes that, according to a document entitled “Assessment of the situation with regard to equality/equity in the employment, vocational training and social protection sectors”, which was prepared to facilitate the implementation of the process referred to above and published in June 2010, the wage gap was 5.5 per cent in the export sector and 40.3 per cent in “ other sectors” in 1999 (9.6 and 28.9 per cent, respectively, in 1993). The study also shows that these wage gaps are essentially due to discrimination (the unexplained component of the wage gap). The Committee further notes that, in its previous report, the Government indicated that the Code of Practice on equality in employment, prepared with ILO support, would be made available to enterprises wishing to establish a vocational equality strategy, and notes that the Government has not provided further information on this subject. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures adopted or envisaged, within the framework of the process of the institutionalization of equality between the sexes, or in any other context, with a view to eliminating wage discrimination between men and women in the private sector and ensuring compliance with the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value, including in relation to the formulation and implementation of methods for the objective evaluation of jobs. The Government is also requested to provide information on the dissemination in enterprises of the Code of Practice on equality in employment and to indicate whether, and to what extent, vocational equality strategies, including a component on equal remuneration, have been established at the enterprise level.

With reference more specifically to wage discrimination between men and women in the textile sector and the informal manufacturing sector, in which women workers are more numerous, the Committee notes once again that the Government’s report does not contain information enabling it to assess whether measures have been taken to combat the wage disparities reported in 2003 by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, now the International Trade Union Confederation. With a view to providing a basis for an adequate evaluation of the nature, extent and causes of wage disparities between men and women and the progress achieved in the application of the principles of the Convention, the Committee urges the Government to provide the fullest possible information on the measures adopted to combat wage disparities, as well as the available data on the distribution of men and women and their remuneration levels in the textile sector and the informal manufacturing sector.

Supervision of application. Labour inspection. The Committee notes that according to the Government’s report, the system for the centralization of data does not produce statistics on violations of section 346 of the Labour Code, which prohibits any discrimination in relation to wages between men and women for work of equal value. However, it notes the Government’s further indication that a system for the disaggregation of violations by sex is currently being established and that it will make available relevant data concerning equal remuneration between men and women, as well as on women’s work in general. The Committee hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to provide specific information on the inspections carried out by the labour inspectorate in relation to equal remuneration, the violations of section 346 reported by labour inspectors and the penalties applied, particularly in the textile sector and the informal manufacturing sector.

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