Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Norway (Ratification: 1959)

The Committee notes the observations made by the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), the Confederation of Unions for Professionals (UNIO) and the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), which were submitted with the Government’s report.

Articles 2 and 4 of the Convention. Collective agreements and cooperation with workers’ and employers’ organizations. The Committee previously noted the recommendations of the Equal Pay Commission regarding the need to implement wage increases in female-dominated occupations in the public sector. The Committee notes from the comments submitted by the LO that, in the 2012 national negotiations on wages, it was agreed by the social partners that women and/or female-dominated groups in the public sector would be entitled to 60 per cent of the sum negotiated at the central level. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the impact of the mentioned agreement on the wage rates of male and female workers respectively. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on any cooperation with the social partners in promoting and applying the principle of the Convention, including any activities to raise awareness of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value among workers, employers and their representatives, and the results thereof.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that job evaluation is not extensively used. It also notes the Government’s indication that, in the context of equal pay cases lodged before the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud, equal remuneration for work of equal value is ensured through an overall assessment of the expertise necessary to perform the work. The Committee notes, in this regard, the observations made by the UNIO and NHO with respect to the gender segregation in the labour market and its impact on the undervaluation of jobs predominantly performed by women. The Government also indicates that it will consider how existing sex disaggregated data on pay and occupations can be used to create an effective tool to achieve equal pay, and that it will consider how data from the planned report system EDAG (electronic dialogue with employers) could be developed as a data source for this purpose. The Committee asks the Government to indicate how the new tool to achieve equal pay will address pay differentials between female- and male-dominated occupations so as to determine whether the work is of equal value, based on objective criteria free from gender bias. Please also provide information on any measures taken, in cooperation with the social partners, to promote the use of objective job evaluation methods both in the public and private sectors.

Parts III and IV of the report form. Enforcement. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud has dealt with 37 equal pay cases in the period between 2007 and 2012. According to the Government, in ten of these cases the Ombud concluded that the employer was in breach of the equal pay provisions. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that no equal pay cases had been brought before the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Tribunal between January 2012 and May 2013. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the number and outcome of equal pay cases addressed by the Equality and Anti Discrimination Ombud and the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal, as well as on any measures taken to strengthen the enforcement of the equal pay provisions of the Gender Equality Act. Please also provide the statistical information on equal pay cases, to which reference is made in the report, but which has not yet been received by the Office.

Part V. Statistical information. The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government on the gender pay gap in some of the main bargaining areas. It notes from the figures provided that, although the gender pay gap decreased slightly between 2008 and 2012 in most of the selected occupations in both the private and public sectors, substantial pay differentials continue to exist in sectors with a high proportion of women, such as financial services (49 per cent of full-time women; women’s average wage 74.1 per cent of men’s earnings, 2012) and public health services (75 per cent of full-time women; women’s average wage 82.2 per cent of men’s earnings, 2012). The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide statistical information on the evolution of the gender pay gap in the public and private sectors.