Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Central African Republic (Ratification: 1964)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Application in law of the principle of equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value. In its previous comments, the Committee drew the Government’s attention to the fact that section 9 of the draft Labour Code which concerns equal remuneration was not conform with the Convention because it required equal wages for equal working conditions. Noting the enactment on 29 January 2009 of Act No. 09.004 issuing the Labour Code, the Committee observes that section 10, relating to equal remuneration reproduces the terms of the abovementioned draft and provides for “equal wages for equal working conditions”. The Committee further observes that according to section 222 of the Labour Code, “for equal conditions of work, skills and output, wages shall be the same for all workers, regardless of their origin, sex and age …”. The Committee points out that by limiting equal wages to jobs involving equal working conditions, skills and output, rather than to “work of equal value”, sections 10 and 222 of the new Labour Code lay down a narrower principle than the one enshrined in the Convention. It reminds the Government that work done by a man and by a woman may involve different working conditions or require entirely different skills and yet still be of equal value, and that accordingly the Convention requires that it must be remunerated at the same level. The Committee would also draw the Government’s attention to the fact that experience shows that “insistence on equal conditions as regards work, skill and output can be taken as a pretext for paying women lower wages than men” (General Survey on equal remuneration, 1986, paragraph 54). Consequently, the focus should be on the nature of the work performed so that the tasks involved can be compared and evaluated on the basis of objective criteria, an objective evaluation being essential to effective elimination of the undervaluation of jobs traditionally done by women. The Committee notes with regret that the Government failed to take the opportunity afforded by the adoption of a new Labour Code to give full effect in law to the principles set forth in the Convention. The Committee trusts that the Government will take the necessary steps to amend sections 10 and 222 of Act No. 09.004 issuing the Labour Code in the near future so as to provide expressly for equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value. The Government is asked to provide information on measures taken to this end.

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