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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Yemen (Ratification: 1976)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Repetition

Article 1(b) of the Convention. Work of equal value. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that section 67(a) of the Labour Code provides that men and women receive equal pay for work of equal value. The Committee recalls that section 67(a) of the Labour Code only provides that female workers are entitled to wages equal to those of men if they perform the same work under the same conditions, which is more restrictive than the concept of equal value contained in the Convention. The Committee notes that Yemen participated in a Tripartite Workshop on Gender Equality and International Labour Standards for the Gulf States, held in April 2009, which had among its objectives the improvement of constituents’ knowledge of the requirements and concepts of Convention No. 100. The Committee recalls its 2006 general observation and trusts that the Government will now be able, in consultation with the workers’ and employers’ organizations, to take the necessary steps to ensure that the final version of the Labour Code provides expressly for equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, and to report on the progress achieved in this regard. In the meantime, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on any other measures taken to ensure or promote the application of this principle in practice, including its application to domestic workers, agricultural workers and casual workers, currently excluded from the Labour Code.

Article 2. Wages scales and job classification – minimum wage. The Committee notes the Jobs, Wages and Salaries Act No. 43 of 18 June 2005. The Act fixes the minimum wage for all employees working in the administrative apparatus of the State, the public and mixed sectors, and provides for a classification of job levels and grades in the public service. It also notes that in accordance with section 55 of the Labour Code No. 5 of 1995, the same minimum wage floor is set for the private sector. The Committee asks the Government to provide statistical information, disaggregated by sex, on the number of men and women respectively employed in the different job levels and grades covered by the Act. It also reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on how the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is being ensured for wages in the private sector above the minimum wage.

Wage disparities. The Committee recalls the significant wage disparities between men and women in sales, agricultural types of occupations and the production and transport sectors. It also recalls that only 9.8 per cent of women workers are salaried workers, and that the large majority of women are employed in traditional areas such as agriculture, hunting and forestry, especially in rural areas. The Committee notes that the Government seeks to provide job opportunities for women in rural areas through its support of small enterprises and assistance through the Social Welfare Fund. The Government also indicates that educational levels of women are low but that efforts to improve education in both rural and urban areas have showed positive results. The Committee notes in this regard that information concerning the determination of skills and specializations by the Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training will be provided as soon as possible. The Committee asks the Government to provide further details on the results achieved with respect to the activities undertaken to increase the income levels of rural women, as well as those aimed at improving women’s educational levels in order to improve their access to paid employment. Please also provide information on the measures taken to examine the actual nature and scope of the current wage disparities between men and women.

Promoting the principle of equal remuneration for men and women. The Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on the specific activities undertaken by the Women’s National Committee to give effect to the principle of the Convention and to reduce wage disparities between men and women.