Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - Congo (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 3 of the Convention. Minimum wage-fixing machinery. The Committee recalls its previous comment in which it had noted that, in the absence of updated economic data, particularly on the price index, allowing the adoption of a pertinent method for fixing minimum wages, the National Labour Advisory Commission determines the minimum wage rate with direct reference to the lowest wages in the public service. In this respect, the Committee wishes to recall that, as the objective of the Convention is to ensure a wage to workers and their families which enables them to maintain their purchasing power at a decent level, the minimum wage-fixing machinery should take into account social and economic considerations, including the real needs of workers and their families, the general level of wages in the country and fluctuations in the price index. It therefore hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to provide updated information concerning such data with a view to the establishment of minimum wage-fixing machinery that guarantees workers a decent minimum wage rate that is compatible with the objectives of the Convention.

Article 4. System of supervision and sanctions. Further to its previous comment on this point, the Committee recalls that, under the terms of Article 4 of the Convention, this system is intended to ensure that the employers and workers covered by the legislation are informed of the minimum rates of wages in force so as to guarantee that the wages actually paid are not lower than these rates, and to ensure that workers who have not benefited from the rates that are in force are entitled to recover by judicial or other legal proceedings the amounts due. The Committee wishes to emphasize that the fixing of decent minimum wage rates does not necessarily imply that the legislation respecting such wages is applied in practice. Only the establishment of an appropriate system of supervision and sanctions makes it possible to guarantee compliance with the legislation and accordingly to ensure a decent living standard for all workers and their families. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate the legislative or other provisions which give effect to Article 4 of the Convention. It also requests the Government to provide, where possible, extracts from the reports of the inspection services indicating the number and nature of any violations reported and the sanctions applied.