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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Nigeria (Ratification: 1974)

Previous comment

Article 2 of the Convention. Minimum wage. The Committee notes that despite its previous requests, the Government has not taken the necessary steps to extend the scope of the national minimum wage to all workers. The National Minimum Wage Act 2019 therefore continues to exclude certain workers from its coverage, including those in establishments with less than 25 employees, workers employed on a part-time basis, workers paid on commission or piece rate and workers in seasonal employment such as agriculture. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the extent to which women are impacted by the exclusions from the national minimum wage provided for under the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, 2019, as well as on any steps taken to address the consequences of such exclusions in practice. It further requests the Government to take the necessary steps to extend the scope of the national minimum wage to those sections of the workforce currently excluded from its coverage, and to provide information on any progress made in that regard.

Articles 2(2)(c) and 4. Collective agreements and cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee previously noted that the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment had established a monitoring unit in the Trade Union and Industrial Relations Department to monitor the implementation of the agreed wage structure and collective bargaining agreements and ensure that social partners are in compliance with collective agreements. Recalling the important role that can be played by collective agreements in the application of the principle of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to provide: (i) information on any measures taken, in cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations, to promote the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value through collective agreements; (ii) summaries of the provisions on wages determination and equal remuneration that have been included in collective agreements; and (iii) information on the activities of the monitoring unit of the Trade Union and Industrial Relations Department with regard to equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that the principle of the Convention is taken into consideration in the job evaluation scheme in the public service, in particular that it does not only provide for equal remuneration for “equal”, “same” or “similar” work but also addresses situations where men and women perform different work that is nevertheless of equal value. It asks the Government to provide information on the job evaluation scheme established, the occupational categories determined and their remuneration levels, as well as statistical data on the distribution of women and men in each occupational category in the public sector. In light of the gender pay gap especially in the private sector, the Committee also asks the Government to provide information on any measures taken to promote the use of objective job evaluation methods and criteria that are free from gender bias, such as qualifications and skills, effort, responsibilities and conditions of work, in the private sector.

Monitoring and enforcement. The Committee notes the Government’s general statement, in its report, that there is no wage disparity in the employment policies of either the public or private sectors. In this regard, it wishes to recall that no society is free from discrimination. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on: (i) any activity undertaken to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the competent authorities, including judges, labour inspectors and other public officials of the principle of equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value; (ii) the measures taken to raise public awareness of the principle of the Convention, and the procedures and the remedies available; and (iii) the number, nature and outcomes of any cases or complaints concerning pay inequality dealt with by labour inspectors, the courts, or any other competent authority, as well as on the sanctions imposed and the remedies granted.