Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Iran (Islamic Republic of) (Ratification: 1972)

Article 1(b) of the Convention. Equal remuneration for work of equal value. Legislation. The Committee recalls that for a number of years it has been noting that section 38 of the Labour Code is narrower than the principle in the Convention, as it provides for the payment of equal remuneration for men and women for equal work under equal conditions. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that it has submitted a revision of section 38 of the Labour Code to the Islamic Consultative Parliament for adoption, after it was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers and signed by the President on 3 December 2012. According to the Government, the amendment would provide that “women and men in the same workplace must be paid equal remuneration for performance of work of equal value”. The Committee notes that the amendment is currently under investigation by Parliamentary committees. The Committee welcomes the proposed amendment to include “work of equal value” into section 38. It would also like to draw the Government’s attention to the fact that the Convention includes, but does not limit application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value to men and women “in the same workplace”, and provides that this principle should be applied across different enterprises to allow for a much broader comparison to be made between jobs performed by women and men. The Convention thus calls for the reach of comparison between jobs performed by men and women to be as wide as possible in the context of the level at which wage policies, systems and structures are coordinated (see the General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraphs 697 and 698). The Committee hopes the Government will be in a position in its next report to indicate that section 38 of the Labour Code has been amended to include the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value for men and women. It also hopes the Government will ensure that the principle of work of equal value applied to men and women in employment, as far as is consistent with wage fixing, and not only to those within the same workplace. The Committee also asks the Government to supply copies of the Directives issued on 30 December 2013 and 21 February 2015 which implement sections 38 and 49 of the Labour Code and address discrimination in payments, establish justice and pay parity and regulate the job classification system.

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