Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1961)

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Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Gender wage gap. In relation to the measures contemplated to reduce the gender wage gap and increase the participation of women in the labour market, the Government reports, inter alia, that during 2022: (1) 87 women were trained in Workshop Schools programmes, specializing in electrical technology, carpentry, construction, blacksmithing and forging, stonemasonry, agroecology and dressmaking; (2) through labour intermediation by the National Employment Service, 2,468 women entered the labour market; (3) the Directorate-General of Employment within the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare provided career guidance to 14,220 women members of the Garífuna, Maya, Mestizo and Xinca peoples; (4) equal numbers of women and men entered the labour market through the National Employment Service; and (5) women’s participation in the executive branch rose to 53 per cent. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, in 2022 the economically active population increased to 7,165,879 persons (62.31 per cent men and 37.69 per cent women). The Committee requests the Government to report on: (i) the measures contemplated to promote the access of women to employment and occupation, in particular to a broader range of jobs, including those with greater opportunities for professional development and promotion; and (ii) the labour force participation of men and women in the public sector and the private sector, disaggregated by occupation and, if possible, hierarchical level.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (1) the National Decent Work Policy 2017–2032 is being updated and, in the context of the National Wage Policy, joint minimum wage committees have been established; and (2) the Ministry of Labour is issuing a document to record good labour practices, with a view to encouraging and promoting formal methods for objective job evaluation. The Committee requests the Government to report on the steps taken to promote the adoption of objective job evaluation methods in the context of the ongoing updating of the National Decent Work Policy 2017–2032 and the implementation of the National Wage Policy. The Committee also requests the Government once again to report on whether formal methods of objective job evaluation are promoted in the documents recording good labour practices.

Application of the Convention in practice. With regard to the activities of the labour inspectorate and the number of complaints calling for equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, the Government indicates that: (1) the labour inspectorate received three complaints in which no labour rights violations were confirmed, having exhausted administrative proceedings in the respective cases; (2) the judicial authority has no record of complaints for discrimination in remuneration; and (3) various awareness-raising initiatives on gender have been held for labour inspectors. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether in the training provided to labour inspectors the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value was addressed. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate whether it has considered the possibility of taking steps to disaggregate judicial records on discrimination in employment by grounds and types of violation.