Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Uzbekistan (Ratification: 1992)

Article 1 of the Convention. Legislative framework. The Committee recalls that for a number of years it has been referring to the need to amend the Labour Code of 21 December 1995, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, but which does not fully reflect the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value as set out in the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government has once again provided no information in this regard. The Committee also recalls that the concept of “work of equal value” lies at the heart of the fundamental right of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, and the promotion of equality. This concept permits a broad scope of comparison, including but going beyond equal remuneration for “equal work” or work performed under “equal conditions”, and also encompasses work that is of an entirely different nature, but which is nevertheless of equal value (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraph 673). The Committee notes from the Government’s Fifth Periodic Report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) that it is currently taking steps to improve the draft law on “guarantees of equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men” aimed at preventing discrimination against women (CEDAW/C/UZB/5, 14 April 2014, paragraph 31). Recalling that provisions that are narrower than the principle laid down in the Convention hinder progress in eradicating gender-based pay discrimination, the Committee asks the Government to take steps to give full legislative expression to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, ensuring that the provision encompasses not only equal work or work performed under equal conditions, but also work of an entirely different nature which is nevertheless of equal value, and to provide information on the steps taken in this regard.

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