Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) - Nepal (Ratification: 1974)

Articles 1 and 4 of the Convention. Minimum wage fixing machinery – Excluded categories of workers – Full consultations with and direct participation of the social partners. The Committee notes the latest increases of the minimum wages in the private sector. It notes, in particular, that pursuant to a Notice published in the Nepal Gazette on 23 May 2011, the minimum wage for the organized sector with the exception of the tea plantation sector, is now fixed at 3,550 Nepalese rupee (NPR) (approximately US$41.5) per month, or NPR221 (approximately $2.60) per day, while by virtue of another notice published in the Nepal Gazette on 13 November 2011, the minimum wage for workers employed in tea plantation estates is now fixed at NPR4,424 (approximately $51.5) per month, or NPR158 (approximately $2) per day. It also notes that the Government has fixed the minimum wage for agricultural workers at NPR221 (approximately $2.60) per day. The Committee requests the Government to transmit copies of the notices establishing the abovementioned minimum pay rates.

With regard to earlier comments of the General Federation of the Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) concerning the replacement of permanent posts in the civil service by service contracts which often carry wages lower than the minimum wage rates, the Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no response. The Committee understands that public sector employees are not covered by the minimum wage legislation as they are not deemed to be “employees” within the meaning of section 2 of the Labour Act of 1992. The Committee recalls, in this connection, that domestic workers and workers in enterprises of less than ten workers are also excluded from minimum wage coverage. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to indicate any measures taken or envisaged with a view to extending minimum wage protection to the categories of workers currently excluded from the scope of minimum wage provisions of the Labour Act.

Furthermore, the Committee recalls that in previous comments it had drawn the Government’s attention to section 21(5) of the Labour Act which empowers the Government to fix the minimum wage when it is not possible to set up the Minimum Remuneration Determination Committee. Recalling that under the Convention the Government is obliged to create and maintain conditions allowing for full consultations with, and direct participation of the social partners at all stages of the minimum wage fixing process, the Committee requests the Government to consider appropriate action – possibly in the context of the on-going process of drafting new labour laws – to ensure that the national legislation fully reflects the requirements of the Convention on this point.