Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2004, Publicación: 93ª reunión CIT (2005)

Convenio sobre igualdad de remuneración, 1951 (núm. 100) - Burundi (Ratificación : 1993)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in reply to the observations of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) dated 23 March 2003. It will examine this information at its next session. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request which read as follows:

2. Article 1(a). With respect to its previous comments concerning the limited scope of the definition of remuneration in section 15(f) of the 1993 Labour Code, which excludes family benefits as well as other advantages in kind and reimbursement of costs, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that family allowances are paid to the head of the household and to the wife if the husband does not work. The Government also adds that pursuant to sections 80 and 84 of the Social Security Code of 1999, these allowances will by paid through a social security regime as soon as the Family Allowance Fund is put in place. The Committee wishes to point out that the designation of the husband as the head of household can have an adverse impact on women in relation to the receipt of employment-related benefits, such as allowances. The Committee therefore hopes that, in order to bring the law and practice into greater conformity with the Convention, the new Family Allowances Fund, once in place, will grant equal entitlement to men and women to receive family allowances, rather than starting from the principle that they should systematically be paid to the husband, and only in exceptional cases to the wife. It also asks the Government to indicate how it ensures that no discrimination on the ground of sex is committed with regard to other advantages and reimbursement of costs, and whether it has any intention to amend its legislation to bring it into greater conformity with the Convention.

3. Article 1(b). With reference to its previous comments concerning article 26 of the Constitution and section 73 of the Labour Code, which set forth the principle of equal remuneration for equal work, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that the formulation of section 73 of the Labour Code could be revised in line with the provisions of the Convention. It urges the Government to amend the said legislation, incorporating the principle of equal remuneration not only for identical work but also for different work of equal value, and to report on any such changes.

4. Article 2. With regard to the application of the Convention in the public service, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the level of education is the only criterion used for the classification of posts and the determination of grades and steps. The Government further indicates that if the public service does not take into account the principle of the Convention, this should be rectified, although the problem does not exist in practice. The Committee wishes to point out that while the level of education may appear to be a neutral factor, it may in practice be applied differently between men and women. In this regard, it refers to the ICFTU’s allegation that women face discrimination in education. Also, wage classification structures which are not based on objective job evaluations may play a part in inequalities in remuneration between men and women. The Committee therefore asks the Government to provide information on the number of men and women employed in the various grades and steps in the public service, with an indication of the posts corresponding to these steps and grades as well as their corresponding salaries.

5. Article 3. With reference to its previous comments concerning the existence of objective job evaluation methods and the need for specific information on the progress of the application of the Convention, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that there does not yet exist such an objective job evaluation method nor any statistical data that allow this to happen. The Committee wishes to point out that, although the Convention does not provide an unconditional obligation to take measures for the objective appraisal of jobs on the basis of the work to be performed, it follows from Article 3, paragraph 1, that the implementation of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value necessarily implies some form of comparison between jobs. Since men and women tend to perform different jobs, it is essential to adopt a technique to determine whether jobs involving different work may nonetheless have the same value for the purpose of remuneration. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure that the objective of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is achieved in any wage fixing or review process, such as, for example, through the undertaking of a gender analysis.

6. Further to the above, the Committee also draws the attention of the Government to the need for both the Government and the Committee to have specific information, in particular statistical data on the positions and wages of men and women in all categories of employment, both between the economic activity sectors and within them, in order to assess adequately the situation in regard to the application of the Convention. The Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide more complete information in this regard.

7. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the Ministerial Order No. 650/11 of 30 April 1988 is considered outdated and that for that reason employers pay wages beyond the statutory minimum wages. It further notes that the social partners also consider it necessary to update the provisions of the Order. Noting that no national employment agreements setting minimum wages have yet been adopted per sector pursuant to the inter-occupational agreement of 3 April 1980, the Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information of any progress made in the adoption of agreements setting minimum wages at sector level and to provide information on the wages paid beyond the minimum wage to men and women in the sectors covered by the 1988 Order. Please also indicate the manner in which cooperation with the employers’ and the workers’ organizations is effected for other aspects of application of the Convention.

8. The Committee notes the statement by the Government that no equal pay violation has been noted by the labour inspectorate and that no complaint has been lodged by employees to the Labour Tribunal. The Government is requested to continue to supply information on the supervision effected by the labour inspection services, particularly on the nature and number of violations and complaints noted and any action taken in respect of them.