Convention 100Equal Remuneration, 1951

• Basic principle: gender should not be the basis upon which remuneration is calculated or paid - either directly or indirectly

• Scope of comparison: women and men

• Problem: women continue to earn less than men even when calculations take into account seniority, educational levels, leave periods

Fundamental Principle

Equal remuneration for work of equal value

It is a « promotional » convention establishing the objectives and leaving to countries the choice on the methods to reach the stated objectives

Ratifications

144 Member States

The high number of ratifications indicates the almost universal acceptance of the principle of equal remuneration without discrimination based on sex.

Remuneration

• Remuneration includes all wages and emoluments whether paid directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, in return for labour

• It includes: overtime, bonuses, allowances, grants, vehicles, travel payments, business expenses, uniforms and equipment, housing, etc.

Requirements of the Convention• State must ensure equal remuneration for

women and men in the public sector• Promote payment of equal remuneration

between men and women in private sector• Use laws, regulations, wage fixing machinery,

collective agreements or combination of all methods

• Undertake objective job appraisals of work performed

• Co-operation of social partners

Methods of wage determination

• Legislation (minimum wage legislation, labour acts or codes, protection wages acts, wage orders, wage regulations, sector specific legislation, family law)

• Public service wage classification• Collective agreements (national,

sectoral and enterprise based)• Custom and practice

Strategy for the application of the Convention

• Review means of wage setting to eliminate any direct differential between men’s and women’s pay [this may require gradual introduction of pay increase to women over time period]

• Review laws and practices that indirectly determine wage or benefit amounts such as definition of head of household in family law and use of term in labour law or social security law for eligibility of benefits

• Eliminate discrimination in collective agreements• Include a provision on equal pay in legislation,

collective agreements and wage directives

Strategy for the application of the Convention (con’t.)

• Undertake surveys and studies of men’s and women ’s pay and benefits to identify areas of greatest differential comparing occupation, job categories within and between sectors

• Review suspect differential pay categories corresponding to men and women, i.e. light work and heavy work, gatherers and pickers

• Promote use of job evaluations based on analytical methodology which eliminates, among other things, gender bias, in pay systems

Strategy for the application of the Convention (con’t.)

• Revise pay schedule to eliminate differentials that are not based on job content or seniority or productivity linked

• Collect and analyse statistics• Use evaluation systems based on an

analytical methodology• Set up pay equity councils (on tripartite

basis) competent to address questions related to the application of the principle

Strategy for the application of the Convention (con’t.)

• Encourage effective and sensitised labour inspection

• Ensure co-ordination between labour inspection and the competent bodies addressing the issue at the national or regional levels

• Education campaigns, in particular for workers and employers

Statistics• Distribution of men and women in sectors

by earning levels and hours of work classified by branch, occupational grouping, level of education, age, seniority, hours actually worked or paid for, and size of the enterprise

• Composition of earning (hourly, overtime, bonuses, allowances, gratuities…)

• Always collect sex desegregated data

Job evaluation• Job evaluation techniques are used to

measure and compare objectively the relative value of work performed by men and women

• Traditional job evaluation schemes used to classify jobs in occupational hierarchy need to be refined

• The purpose is to develop job evaluations systems that avoid gender bias and measure aspects of women’s work as well as men’s

Job evaluation methodology

Knowledge and skill

Effort

Responsibility

Working conditions

Gender neutral job evaluation criteria

Knowledge and skill

•Knowledge and understanding

•Physical skills

•Intellectual skills

•Communication skills

•Management of human resources skills

•Multiple task skills

Gender neutral job evaluation criteria

Effort

•Physical effort

•Intellectual effort

•Emotional demands

Gender neutral job evaluation criteria

Responsibility

•Information and material sources

•Supervision over other employees, persons

•Well-being over health and safety of others

•Planning, organisation, development

Gender neutral job evaluation criteria

Working conditions

• Hazard exposure

•Risk of injury, diseases (pollution)

•Exposure to disagreeable work

•Poor working environment