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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Chile (Ratification: 1971)

The Committee notes the Government’s reply to the observations of the National Association of Public Employees (ANEF), the Association of Employees of the Women’s National Service (SERNAM), the College of Teachers of Chile AG, the National Confederation of Trade and Services and the Confederation of Unions in the Banking and Financial System of Chile, dated 15 September 2011, which the Committee is addressing in its examination of the application of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). The Committee also notes the observations of 14 June 2012 of the Federation of CODELCO Chile Supervisors and Professionals (FESUC), stating that CODELCO workers hired since 2010, more of whom are women than previously, do not receive the same remuneration or have the same working conditions as those hired prior to 2010. The Committee asks the Government to send its comments on this matter.

Work of equal value. In its previous comments the Committee referred to Act No. 20348 of 2 June 2009, inserting section 62bis into the Labour Code establishing that employers must observe the principle of equal remuneration for men and women who carry on the same work, and asked the Government to revise this provision in order to bring it into conformity with the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government refers to a document entitled Temas Laborales núm. 27, on the “right to earn the same”, produced by the Labour Directorate, which highlights the difficulties in applying Act No. 20348 and the discrepancy between the principle established in the Act and that established in the Convention and recognizes that the Act is restrictive in that it refers to the same work rather than work of equal value thus weakening protection of women’s wages. The Committee observes that the Government does not state whether any measures have been taken to amend this provision. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary steps to revise section 62bis of the Labour Code in order to ensure equal remuneration for men and women not only in situations in which they perform equal or similar work but also in situations in which they carry out jobs which are different but which are nevertheless of equal value.

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