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

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - North Macedonia (Ratification: 1991)

Article 3 of the Convention. Objective job evaluation. Noting that, once again, the Government does not provide information on this point, the Committee recalls that objective job evaluations are formal procedures that assist in giving effect to the principle of the Convention. Determining if two jobs that differ in content are nonetheless equal in ‘value’ requires some method to compare them. These procedures involve: (1) analysing the content of different jobs (based on objective factors such as such as skills/qualifications, effort, responsibilities and working conditions); (2) giving to each job a numerical value used for comparison; and (3) determining whether their corresponding pay is just and free from gender bias (for example, the undervaluation of jobs typically performed by women). The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate whether such formal procedures are in place both in the public and the private sectors and at the sectoral level, when fixing salary scales and determining wages.

Article 4. Cooperation with employers and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that both representative and non-representative social partners were consulted and participated in the drafting process of the new Law on Labour Relations and that cooperation with employers' and workers' organizations plays a crucial role in implementing the provisions of the Convention, by promoting equal remuneration practices and eliminating gender-based wage discrimination. The Committee asks the Government to provide: (i) more specific and detailed information on any form of cooperation or joint activities undertaken with the social partners specifically with a view to promote equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal ‘value; and (ii) detailed information on the manner in which the principle of the Convention was addressed during the revision of the Law on Labour Relations.

Enforcement. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Law on Labour Relations provides for the nullity of any contractual clauses, collective bargaining agreements, or employer actions that go against the idea of equal pay. However, it notes from the 2022 European Commission Gender Equality Report (EC Gender Equality Report) that: (1) so far, no claims have been brought before the courts regarding equal pay issues between men and women; and (2) one of the priority strategy goals of the National Strategy on Equality and Non-Discrimination 2016–20 was “raising public awareness among employers for equal validation of the work done by people with a disability, as well as based on sex”. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on: (i) any proactive measures taken to raise awareness of the meaning and scope of application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal ‘value’ among workers, employers and their organizations, as well as among law enforcement officials; and (ii) the number and nature of any cases of inequality of remuneration between women and men dealt with by the labour inspectors, the courts or any other competent authority, specifying the penalties imposed and the compensation awarded.