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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Honduras (Ratification: 1956)

Article 2 of the Convention. Minimum wages. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the Directorate-General for Wages has incorporated a clause relating to compliance with the Convention in negotiations on minimum wages, and that the Directorate-General and the Inspectorate-General are responsible for enforcing compliance with the minimum wage. The Committee also notes the information relating to minimum wages fixed by sectors of activity and the Agreement on Protection and Employment Stability and Strengthening Employer–Worker Relations in the Honduran maquila (export processing) sector. Under this agreement the State, the trade unions and the Honduran Maquila Industry Association, establish the minimum wage adjustments to be applied in the maquila sector. In view of the fact that wages are generally lower in sectors where women workers predominate, such as the maquila sector, the Committee recalls that when fixing wage rates, special care must be taken to ensure that they are free from gender bias and, above all, that certain skills considered to be “female” are not undervalued. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the manner in which the principle of the Convention is applied when minimum wages are fixed and how it is ensured that the fixing of minimum wages is based on objective criteria free from any gender bias.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that individualized evaluations have been carried out in each Secretariat of State and all staff members in all departments have been evaluated to verify that they have a suitable profile and that there is no disparity in pay for posts with equal responsibility. The Committee notes from the documentation provided, that the Government refers to performance appraisal, which is aimed at evaluating how workers carry out their tasks. The Committee emphasizes that this is different from objective job evaluation, the objective of which is to measure the relative value of jobs with different content on the basis of the work to be performed. Objective job evaluation is concerned with evaluating the job and not the individual worker (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraph 696). In order to facilitate the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, the Committee asks the Government to take steps to adopt a mechanism for objective job evaluation that makes it possible to measure and compare the relative value of jobs on the basis of objective, and non discriminatory criteria that are free from gender bias, such as skills, effort, responsibility and conditions of work. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on any developments in this respect.

Article 4. Cooperation with workers’ and employers’ organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Directorate-General for Wages will promote the inclusion of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value on the agenda of the tripartite Economic and Social Council. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on this matter and on any collective agreement containing clauses on equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Part IV of the report form. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on any court decisions relating to the application of the principle of the Convention.

Part V of the report form. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on how the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is ensured in the employment and economic development zones established by Decree No. 120-2013 of 20 March 2013, which are authorized not only to establish their own policy and regulations, but also tribunals with exclusive competence in these zones, including a tribunal for the protection of individual rights for the protection of fundamental rights.