Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Luxembourg (Ratification: 1967)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Assessment and reduction of the gender pay gap. The Committee previously noted that the Affirmative Action Programme, which encourages enterprises to draw up a plan of action covering aspects of equal treatment, including equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, had been extended to the public sector and a higher number of participating enterprises in the private sector, and led to the setting-up of a network for the exchange of good practices. It requested the Government to provide information on the content and scope of the programme and on its impact on reducing gender pay gaps. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that the gender pay gap stood at 5.7 per cent in 2017. It further notes that, according to Eurostat, the unadjusted gender pay gap (the difference between the average gross hourly earnings of men and women expressed as a percentage of the average gross hourly earnings of men) decreased from 5.5 per cent in 2016 to 4.6 per cent in 2018. The Committee welcomes this information. It however notes that, according to Eurostat, the gender pay gap remains substantial in several sectors, and was estimated in 2017 at about 22 per cent in the financial and the insurance activities and in wholesale and retail trade, which employ an equal share of women and men, and up to 30.7 per cent in other service activities, where a majority of women are employed. In that regard, the Committee refers to its comments on occupational gender segregation in relation to the application of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). The Government indicates that companies are regularly informed and encouraged to ensure equal remuneration for the same work or work of equal value, in particular through the Affirmative Action Programme. It adds that the Ministry of Equality between Women and Men (MEGA) offers advice and financial support to the partners of the programme, in both the public and private sectors, for the voluntary implementation of concrete measures in favour of equal pay and the elimination of gender wage inequalities, as well as equal access for men and women to management positions. The Committee notes that, during the implementation of the two-year action plan, regular progress reports shall be provided by the company to the MEGA, which carries out a final evaluation to assess the impact and effectiveness of the affirmative actions implemented once the action plan is completed. The Committee however observes that the Government has not provided specific information on the action implemented in this framework or on its impact in reducing gender pay gaps. The Committee therefore asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken to address the gender pay gap and its underlying causes, such as vertical and horizontal occupational gender segregation, including by providing examples of the specific action implemented in the framework of the Affirmative Action Programme, and on its impact on reducing gender pay gaps, both in the public and private sectors. It asks the Government to provide extracts of any available study or assessment report undertaken in that regard, in particular by the Ministry of Equality for Women and Men. The Committee further asks the Government to continue providing statistical data on the gender pay gap, disaggregated by economic activity and occupation, in both the public and private sectors.

Articles 2 and 4. Collective agreements and collaboration with the social partners. The Committee previously noted that, according to a 2011 study, only 56 per cent of branch collective agreements addressed the issue of equal pay and asked the Government to take steps to encourage the social partners to include in collective agreements clauses dealing with equal remuneration for work of equal value. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that collective labour agreements must contain provisions on the methods of application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women. In this regard, it notes the examples of clauses contained in three collective labour agreements concluded in 2017 and 2018, forwarded by the Government. The Committee however observes that, while such clauses provide that the employer is required to ensure equal remuneration for men and women for the same work or work of equal value, they do not contain any information on the objective method or criteria that shall be used for that purpose for the evaluation and classification of the tasks laid down in the collective agreements. The Committee therefore asks the Government to provide information on: (i) the measures taken to ensure that the method and criteria for the evaluation and classification of tasks set out in collective agreements are objective and do not result in the undervaluation of jobs traditionally held by women in comparison with those traditionally held by men; and (ii) the extent to which the obligation to include clauses in collective agreements on the methods of application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value is implemented in practice. The Committee asks the Government to continue providing extracts of collective agreements of which the terms reflect the principle of the Convention.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee previously noted that a new version of the equal pay evaluation tool (Logib-Lux) had been used by some 50 enterprises as part of their participation in the Affirmative Action Programme, and requested the Government to take steps to promote the use of this evaluation tool by enterprises and workers’ and employers’ organizations with a view to reducing pay inequalities. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that this pay evaluation tool is available to all companies, which can download it free of charge from the MEGA website, but that any company that participates in the Affirmative Action Programme automatically accept an evaluation of its salary structure by the Logib-Lux software. The Government adds that, in the framework of the Affirmative Action Programme, business leaders and managers can benefit from training to enable them to better evaluate jobs and classify functions and skills to establish perfectly fair salary scales. The Committee notes that nearly 80 companies of all sizes and from different sectors have already participated in the programme, employing 13 per cent of the active population. The Committee asks the Government to continue: (i) taking steps to promote the use of the Logib-Lux evaluation tool by enterprises and workers’ and employers’ organizations, in both the public and private sectors, with a view to reducing pay inequalities and applying the principle of the Convention; and (ii) providing information on the number of the enterprises that have used the pay evaluation tool, including in the framework of the Affirmative Action Programme, as well as specific information on the results of the evaluations undertaken and any adjustments made. In this regard, the Committee asks the Government to provide specific examples of possible improvements that have been suggested to enterprises and of good practices that have been implemented to ensure equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Enforcement and awareness-raising. The Committee previously noted that the Regulation of 15 December 2016 inserted sections L.225-1 to L.225-5 into the Labour Code, reproducing the Grand-Ducal Regulation which had thus been repealed, while adding a definition of the expression “work of equal value” and establishing fines for employers for any failure to meet their obligation to pay equal wages for equal work or work of equal value. It requested the Government to provide information on awareness-raising activities undertaken on the new provisions of the Labour Code and on their application in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that a brochure and a leaflet on equal pay, providing information on the new provisions of the Labour Code for employees and companies, as well as a list of contact bodies to which the persons concerned can refer to when needed, were disseminated in May 2017. The Government adds that in 2018 the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines (ITM) set up an information line and new reception facilities to specifically address the issue of equal pay for men and women. In 2018, eleven requests for information and one complaint regarding gender pay inequality were received by the ITM. The Committee further notes that, according to the Coalition Agreement 2018-23, the Government plans to implement the necessary measures to bring an end to pay inequalities between women and men in practice, including by strengthening the means of control of the ITM. The Committee asks the Government to continue providing information on: (i) the measures implemented to raise awareness among workers, employers and their respective organizations on the principle of the Convention and the penalties provided for in the Labour Code for non-observance; (ii) any measures taken to strengthen the means of control of the ITM with regard to pay inequality; and (iii) the number of cases or complaints on pay inequality dealt with by the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines, the courts or any other competent authorities, the penalties imposed and remedies granted.