Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

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

Articles 1 to 4 of the Convention. Assessing and addressing the gender pay gap. The Committee welcomes the Government’s indication in its report that the Ministry of Labour has implemented the “Reducing Gender Pay Gap” project, which aimed to help create a system in Slovakia that eliminates the wage gap. Drawing on the knowledge of Iceland practice, the expert team developed recommendations to promote equal pay, which the relevant institutions are gradually putting into practice. As part of Slovakia’s bilateral cooperation with Iceland, a mission was carried out to gain experience and familiarise itself with good practice in the field of gender equality, in particular in reducing the gender pay gap through the Icelandic “Equal Pay” certification methodology. The programme also included a workshop organised by the Directorate of Equality, which presented recent developments and analysis of legislation in the field of pay for women and men, as well as experiences with the implementation of the Icelandic Gender Equality Act. The Committee notes that, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report published in June 2024, Slovakia's gender pay gap was estimated at 11.70 per cent in 2023 and increased to 13.81 per cent in 2024. The WEF report indicates that women hold more than two thirds of positions in sectors such as arts and humanities (68.39 per cent), education (81.80 per cent), health and welfare (77 per cent), and social sciences, journalism, and information (70.79 per cent). According to the WEF report, women accounted for only 35.22 per cent of graduates in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. In that regard, the Committee recalls the Government’s previous statement that, if despite their very good educational level, women do not achieve comparable earnings to men, it is because they chose to work in lower-paying jobs. Noting the lack of information with regard to its previous requests in that context, the Committee urges again the Government to take active steps: (i) to identify and address the underlying causes of the persistence of horizontal and vertical gender segregation in the Slovak labour market (e.g. household and family responsibilities; perceived costs of employing women; outdated societal attitudes and practices; undervaluation of work traditionally undertaken by women; gender stereotypes in education, vocational training, employment; etc.); (ii) to promote women’s access to vocational training, guidance and counselling to engage in jobs with career prospects and higher pay; and (iii) to provide statistical information on the earnings of men and women, disaggregated by economic activity and occupation, both in the public and private sectors. In that regard, please also refer to its requests under the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111).

Article 2(2)(b). Minimum wage. In response to the Committee's previous comment, the Government states that the minimum wage in Slovakia is adjusted annually. In 2024, the minimum wage is €750 per month for an employee remunerated on a monthly basis or €4,310 for each hour worked by the employee. The Committee notes that, under Act No. 663/2007 on the minimum wage (as amended), an employee’s salary in both the private and public sectors cannot fall below the statutory minimum wage. If an employee's salary does not meet this threshold, the employer is required to provide a supplement to cover the difference up to the minimum wage level. The Committee requests the Government to provide details on the practical steps an employee must follow to ensure his or her wage aligns with the annually adjusted minimum wage.

Articles 2(2)(c) and 4. Collective agreements and cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the Government indication that Act No. 103/2007 on tripartite consultations (the Tripartite Act) regulates tripartite consultations at national level between the State and the social partners, who, through their representatives, negotiate and discuss fundamental issues of economic, social and employment development with a view to reaching an agreement on these issues. The Act also establishes the Economic and Social Council of the Slovak Republic. Under the Tripartite Act, any changes to equal pay for work of equal value between men and women will be discussed in advance with representatives of both employers and employees. It notes with regret that once again it has not received any information from the Government on any cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations to promote the principle of equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value through collective agreements, including higher-level collective agreements. In light of the future transposition into national law of Directive (EU) 2023/970 to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms, the Committee asks the Government to report on its collaboration with the social partners throughout this process. Once again, it asks the Government to provide: (i) information on any measures taken or envisaged to promote the principle of the Convention through collective agreements; and (ii) excerpts from any existing collective agreements containing clauses on wage determination and equal remuneration for men and women.

Article 3. Objective job evaluation. The Government welcomes the indication provided by the Government that, in the context of the transposition of Directive (EU) 2023/970, the possibility of using objective, non-gender-biased methods and criteria for evaluating work, such as qualifications and skills, work intensity, responsibility and working conditions, will be considered. In addition, the Government describes at length the Ministry of Labour efforts to develop a methodology for conducting gender audits in the country, which also will address issues of personal evaluation, financial and non-financial remuneration and career progression. In that regard, the Committee wishes to recall that gender audits are very useful tools to assess and check the institutionalization of gender equality into organisations, including in their policies, programmes, projects and provisions of services, structures, proceedings and budgets. It is quite different from an objective job evaluation exercise which goal is to measure the relative value of jobs with varying content on the basis of the work to be performed. Objective job evaluation is concerned with evaluating the job and not the individual worker’s performance. The Committee asks the Government: (i) to provide information on the progress made in the transposition of Directive (EU) 2023/970 into the national legal framework; (ii) to report on any measures taken in this context 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 working conditions); and (iii) to ensure that jobs traditionally undertaken by women are not undervalued.

Enforcement. The Government reports that in 2023, 20 breaches of section 119a of the Labour Code (regarding wages for equal work and work of equal value) were detected, compared to 23 breaches in 2022; of these, 12 cases involved section 119a(2). However, reliable data on specific penalties imposed for these breaches is unavailable, as in practice, a single, combined penalty is often issued for multiple administrative offenses within a single case. The Committee refers the Government to its comments on enforcement under the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). The Committee reiterates its request for information on any activity undertaken: (i) to raise the general public awareness on the relevant legislative provisions, procedures and remedies available; and (ii) to strengthen the capacity of the competent authorities, in particular the Judges. Please provide detailed information on the number, nature and outcomes of any cases or complaints concerning violations of the principle of the Convention that are dealt with not only by labour inspectors, but also the Ombudsman or the courts.