Equal pay – Moving beyond discrimination to action in Africa

Background

Gender equality is far from being achieved in the workplace. Paying women less than men for the same work or for work of equal value is a common form of discrimination in employment. However, though it may seem to be a recent concept, the right to equal remuneration for women and men for work of equal value has been acknowledged by the ILO since 1919.
Globally, including in Africa, women tend to work in a smaller and lower-paying range of occupations and industries than men.
This is often a result of stereotyped assumptions regarding what type of work is “suitable” for women. Women are under-represented at highly paid levels and kept in lower level positions.
Slowly but surely, African countries are campaigning to promote effective ways and means to address the gender pay gap using ILO Conventions which promote equal pay for all workers. Promoting equal pay helps to address one important cause of the gender pay gap, namely, pay discrimination. It also contributes to enhancing overall gender equality in the world of work.

Facts and figures

• Over 90 per cent of ILO member States (185) having ratified Conventions Nos. 100 and 111.
• Globally, the gender pay gap is estimated to be 22.9 per cent; in other words, women earn 77.1 per cent of what men earn. However, the size of the gender pay gap varies by sector, by occupation, by group of workers, by country and over time.
• The gender pay gap is usually smaller in the public sector than in the private sector and is highest among older workers.
• The pay differential between men and women with family responsibilities, as well as between women with and without family responsibilities, is also significant.

African perspective

• In Kenya, the Employment Act provides that where discrimination is alleged, which includes cases concerning equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, “the employer shall bear the burden of proving that the discrimination did not take place as alleged”. Labour inspectors use a particular inspection form for tackling discrimination in the workplace, which includes questions relating to equal pay for men and women.
• In South Africa, under the Employment Equity Act, employers are required to include income differential statements as part of employment equity reports, providing data on remuneration for each occupational category and level, disaggregated by sex and race. Where “disproportionate differentials” are reflected in the statements, employers are to take measures to progressively reduce the differentials, including through collective bargaining.
• In Angola, the General Labour Act defines work of equal value as work determined to be equivalent through the application of objective job evaluation criteria, such as in the health and education sectors
• In Chad, the Labour Code states that the different elements of remuneration shall be determined according to identical standards for men and women; job categories and classifications and the criteria for promotion shall be the same for workers of both sexes; and that methods for the evaluation of jobs must be based on objective and identical criteria relating to the nature of the work involved in the jobs.
• In Uganda, pursuant to the Employment Act, “the Minister [of Labour] and the Labour Advisory Board shall, in performing their duties, seek to give effect to the principle of equal remuneration for male and female employees for work of equal value”.
• In Morocco, the Guide for inspections, prepared by the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training in collaboration with the ILO, specifically refers to discrimination in remuneration between men and women performing work of equal value as one of the issues to be addressed when inspecting conditions of work and remuneration.

Further info

The ILO released in October 2013 a step-by-step guide, which offers more details and practical guidance on this issue. It looks at the rights and pay of women, how and why they differ from those of men, and how these differences affect women's economic opportunities. It also examines legislations and international agreements, statutes, and case law. And it presents practical evidence and makes recommendations to strengthen equal pay's policies in practice.