Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Czechia (Ratification: 1993)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Gender remuneration gap and measures to address such gap. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that in 2014, the average wage of women still represented 78.4 per cent of men’s (78.5 per cent in 2013). The Committee welcomes the strong commitment from the Government to address effectively the gender remuneration gap through the set of measures and actions in the Strategy for Equality of Women and Men for 2014–20 and the project entitled “Equality of Women and Men at the Labour Market focusing on (In)Equal Remuneration of Women and Men – 22% to full EQUALITY” to be implemented between 2016 and 2020 in cooperation with the European Social Fund. In addition, to the numerous initiatives and measures planned to ensure in general gender equality on the labour market, including measures to address vertical and horizontal segregation between men and women, the Committee notes the following specific measures: the organization of an information campaign on the gender pay gap and stereotypes; an in-depth analysis of the pay differentials, including identification of their underlying causes; the promotion of tools to identify such inequalities, such as the LOGIB-CZ self-test tool; training for labour officials, labour inspectors and employers; an analysis of legal possibilities to provide incentives to employers applying gender equality in practice; a national media awareness-raising campaign; the elaboration of proposals, including legislative provisions, aimed at increasing transparency in wages as well as a strategic action plan to reduce pay differentials between men and women. The Government also indicates that one of the indicators in the Strategy for Equality of Women and Men is to reduce the difference in remuneration of men and women to the average difference in the European Union (around 12 per cent). The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the legal and practical measures taken, within the framework of the Strategy for Equality of Women and Men 2014-2020 and the 22% to full EQUALITY project or otherwise, to reduce the gender remuneration gap, the obstacles encountered and the results achieved.

Scope of comparison. For a number of years, the Committee has been pointing out that the Labour Code limits the application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value to workers employed by the same employer (section 110(1)). The Government indicates in its report that the introduction of the obligation for employers of more than 50 employees to publish information regarding the average remuneration in individual comparable categories of employees and job positions according to gender is part of the priorities in implementing equality for women and men for 2015. In this respect, the Committee notes the observations from the Confederation of Industry attached to the Government’s report, indicating that although employers are interested in closing the pay gap, they do not support such legislative proposal. The Committee considers that more transparency in information regarding wages would help workers to identify inequalities and contribute to implementing the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. However, the Committee notes that the Government continues to consider that the application of the principle to workers with different employers is not possible in practice. The Government also reiterates that there are significant differences in the standard of living between the different regions of the country and that this is reflected in the different wage rates applied on the basis of the principle of supply and demand. The Committee would like to point out once again that the Convention does not require the abolition of differences in the general wage level between various regions, sectors or even enterprises, where such differences apply equally to men and women. The Committee recalls that to address effectively the differences in men’s and women’s wages, the reach of comparison between jobs performed by women and men should be as wide as possible, in the context of the level at which wage policies, systems and structures are coordinated. Where women are more heavily concentrated in certain sectors or occupations, there is a risk that the possibilities for comparison at the enterprise or establishment level will be insufficient if the application of the principle is limited to the same employer. Legislation should not exclude the possibility of bringing equal pay claims where no comparator is available within the enterprise, particularly in cases where enterprises predominantly employ women. The Committee asks once again the Government to take the necessary measures, in consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations, to examine at its earliest convenience the possibility to enable the comparison of jobs beyond the same employer, particularly where there is no appropriate comparator available in the enterprise, in order to implement fully the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the action taken with respect to the proposal to publish information on wages.

Application of the principle in the public sector. The Committee notes from the Government’s report the adoption of Act No. 234/2014 on Civil Service, which governs in its Part IX the remuneration of civil servants, including basic characteristics of salary scales, and Government Regulation No. 305/2015 on salaries of civil servants establishing salary scales. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Act does not include any provisions prohibiting discrimination between men and women but it provides that where the details of the remuneration of civil servants are not governed by the Act they are regulated by the general provisions of the Labour Code and therefore indirectly by the Anti-Discrimination Act to which the Labour Code refers. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure that the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is applied in practice to the public service and how male and female civil servants can avail themselves of their right to equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. Recalling that, in the public sector, pay differentials between men and women may come from the post classification and therefore the salary scales applicable – work mainly performed by women is often undervalued – the Committee asks the Government to indicate the methodology used to ensure that salary scales were established free from gender bias and took into consideration the principle of the Convention.

Enforcement. Labour inspection. The Committee welcomes the Government’s indication that a pilot project on the supervision of the performance of labour inspectors in the area of equal remuneration for men and women was to be implemented from March to May 2016 in some regional inspectorates. The results of this pilot project will be used as a basis for the elaboration of a specific methodological instruction on this issue. The Committee also welcomes the Government’s indication that of 144 labour inspectors, 16 inspectors are specialized in equal treatment at the workplace and are regularly trained through seminars and meetings. The Committee notes, however, that the Government continues to provide statistics that do not concern specifically violations of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, but rather violations in the field of discrimination or of the right to equal treatment in general. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the results of the pilot project on equal remuneration and the methodology developed on the basis thereof. It also asks the Government to provide information on any violations concerning specifically the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value detected by, or brought to the attention of, the labour inspectors as well as cases dealt with by the Public Defender of Rights, indicating the nature of the case, any sanctions imposed and the remedies provided. The Committee once again asks the Government to take the necessary measures to promote public awareness of the legal provisions on equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value and the procedures and remedies available where there has been a violation thereof, and to assist complainants in such procedures.