Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2013, publiée 103ème session CIT (2014)

Convention (n° 100) sur l'égalité de rémunération, 1951 - Jamaïque (Ratification: 1975)

Article 1(b) of the Convention. Equal remuneration for work of equal value. Legislation. The Committee recalls that the Employment (Equal Pay for Equal Work) Act, 1975 (the Equal Pay Act) requires employers to pay women and men equal pay for “equal work”, and is thus narrower than the principle of the Convention, as it does not fully capture the concept of “work of equal value”. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that no consideration has been given to amending the Act since it was felt that it dealt adequately with the issue of equal pay for men and women performing similar tasks. The Committee notes further that in its report on the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), the Government indicates that a review of the Equal Pay Act is currently under way. The Committee also notes the concluding observations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) raising concerns regarding the concentration of women in low-paying jobs, and the horizontal and vertical gender segregation of the labour market (CEDAW/C/JAM/CO/6-7, 27 July 2012, paragraph 27). The Committee also notes that the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) expressed concern regarding the wage gap between men and women (E/C.12/JAM/CO/3-4, 10 June 2013, paragraph 14). The Committee recalls that the concept of “work of equal value” is fundamental to tackling occupational sex segregation, as it permits a broad scope of comparison, including but going beyond equal remuneration for “equal”, “the same” or “similar” work, and also encompasses work that is of an entirely different nature, which is nevertheless of equal value (see General Survey on fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraph 673). The Committee urges the Government to take the opportunity of the review of the Equal Pay Act to give full legislative expression to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, and asks the Government to consider requesting ILO technical assistance in this regard. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on the steps taken to this end, as well as on the specific measures taken to address occupational sex segregation and the gender pay gap, in the public and the private sectors.

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