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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Niger (Ratification: 1966)

Public service. Noting that the Government merely indicates in its report that it notes the Committee’s comments, the Committee asks it to take the necessary steps in the near future to abolish any provision which discriminates against women in the public service and, in particular, to amend the provisions of Decree No. 60-S/MFP/T and of Act No. 2007-26 of 23 July 2007 establishing regulations governing the civil service to ensure that women receive family allowances on the same terms as men. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard.

Minimum wages. In its report, the Government indicates that pursuant to section 149 of the Labour Code, the methods used to determine the levels of remuneration for different occupations are essentially based on the nature of the work they involve. With reference to its general observation of 2006 on the Convention, the Committee reminds the Government that it is important to ensure that the methods used are free of any gender bias, i.e. 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. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the manner in which it is ensured in practice that jobs traditionally performed by women are not undervalued and that the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is applied when establishing the minimum wage for each occupational category. Furthermore, recalling the Government’s undertaking to refer to occupations with gender-neutral terms in the event of the revision of Decree No. 2006-59/PRN/MFP/T establishing minimum wages for each occupational category, the Committee asks the Government to supply information on any developments in this respect.

Collective agreements. The Committee notes that the Government reiterates in its report that section 38 of the interoccupational collective agreement states that under equal conditions of work, occupational qualification and performance, wages shall be equal for all workers, regardless of gender. The Committee emphasizes once again that these provisions are more restrictive than those of the Convention, which, like section 148 of the Labour Code, provides that men and women must receive equal remuneration for work of equal value. The Committee therefore asks the Government to take steps to encourage the social partners to revise section 38 of the interoccupational collective agreement to include explicitly the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. It asks the Government to supply information on any steps taken in this respect.

Statistics. The Committee notes the statistics supplied by the Government on the situation of women and men in employment (public, semi-public and private sectors). It notes that according to these data women account for only 30 per cent of public service staff and that only 20 per cent of “category A” officials are women (as at 30 September 2010), whereas they constitute some 60 per cent of “category D” officials. The Committee also notes that women account for only 27 per cent of workers in the semi-public and private sectors, with a combined total staff of 54,010 for all occupational categories (2007 National Employment Agency yearbook of statistics). While welcoming the availability of such statistics to allow a general appraisal of the situation of women in employment, the Committee asks the Government to provide information, disaggregated by sex, on the earnings of men and women in the public service (by category) and in the private sector, these data being essential to enable it to evaluate the application of the principle of the Convention in practice. It encourages the Government to take the necessary steps to collect this information and asks it to provide information on progress made in this regard.