Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2025, publiée 114ème session CIT (2026)

Convention (n° 100) sur l'égalité de rémunération, 1951 - Gibraltar

Articles 1 to 4 of the Convention. Assessing and addressing the gender pay gap. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that, for the first time, it has launched a Gender Pay Gap Survey in 2018 to accompany the Employment Survey, the results of which have not been published yet. The Gender Pay Gap survey, which is a key part of the Ministry for Equality’s Gender Equality Strategy, aims to ensure that women have access to the same opportunities in the workplace and that women’s overall lifetime earnings do not lag behind their male counterparts’ earnings. In this respect, the Committee observes that the Employment Survey for 2023 continues to show a significant gender pay gap, as well as a persistent horizontal and vertical occupational gender segregation. According to the Employment Survey report: In October 2023, significant gender pay, and employment disparities persisted across sectors. Men earned considerably more than women in both monthly and weekly-paid full-time roles, with an annual gender pay gap of 19.5 per cent for monthly-paid employees and 26.6 per cent for weekly-paid ones. Even in part-time work, where women are over-represented, men earned slightly more, showing a 4.2 per cent gap. Women were under-represented in full-time roles overall, particularly in the private sector, where their numbers were 47.4 per cent lower than men’s. Gender segregation by industry remained stark: women were concentrated in health, social work, and education, while men dominated fields like shipbuilding and construction. This trend extended to the public sector, where men held more full-time roles in government companies and construction, although women were the majority in health and social work. The Committee takes note of these detailed statistical data. The Committee requests the Government: (i) to report on the findings of the Gender Pay Gap Survey launched in 2018 once they are available; (ii) to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to address effectively the persistent and significant gender pay gap and occupational gender segregation highlighted in the 2023 Employment Survey; and (iii) to continue to provide detailed statistics on the respective earnings of men and women to monitor the progress achieved.

Articles 1(b) and 2. The principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value beyond the same employer. Legislation. The Committee notes the Government’s response to its long-standing request to consider revising section 31 of the Equal Opportunities Act, 2006, in order to ensure that the right to equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value is not limited to the same or an associated employer. While the Government has once again expressed its willingness to review this provision, the Committee notes with regret that no concrete steps have been reported in this regard. Moreover, the Government has not provided any information on the practical application of section 31 of the Equal Opportunities Act, including whether any relevant cases have been brought before the Employment Tribunal. Consequently, the Committee urges the Government to: (i) consider reviewing section 31 of the Equal Opportunities Act, 2006, to ensure that the right to equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value is not restricted to the “same” or an “associated” employer; (ii) provide information on the practical application of section 31 of the Equal Opportunities Act, 2006; and (iii) report on any measures adopted to ensure that workers can avail themselves in practice of their right to equal remuneration for work of equal value.

Articles 2 and 3. Application of the principle in the public sector. While the Government has previously stated that salary scales in the public sector are determined by grade rather than gender, the Committee notes that the 2023 Employment Survey reported an average gender pay gap of 21 per cent for full-time employment. The Committee stresses that, despite the existence of salary scales applicable to all public officials without discrimination on the ground of sex, pay discrimination in the public service can arise from the criteria applied in classifying jobs and from an undervaluation of the tasks performed largely by women, or from inequalities in certain supplementary wage benefits (2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paras 700–703). In this context, the Committee notes with regret the continued absence of specific measures aimed at identifying and effectively addressing gender pay gaps and occupational segregation in the public sector. The Committee once again requests the Government to: (i) ensure that, in the public sector, salary scales are determined based on objective criteria (such as skills, efforts, responsibilities and conditions of work), free from gender bias; (ii) adopt measures to address horizontal and vertical occupational gender segregation in the public sector and, specifically, to improve the access of women to higher ranking and better paid positions, through training or other means; and (iii) report on the results achieved on the reduction and elimination of the gender pay gap in the public sector.

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