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CONVENTION 100 NEW ZEALAND (TOKELAU)

Article 22 of the Constitution of the ILO

Report for the period 1 July 2004 to 31 May 2008
made by Tokelau on the

EQUAL REMUNERATION CONVENTION, 1951 (No 100)

  1. Please give a list of the legislation and administrative regulations the decisions of legally established or recognised bodies or if the principle of the Convention is applied according to paragraph 2(c) of Article 2 the collective agreements which apply the provisions of the Convention. Where this has not already been done please forward copies of the said legislation and regulations to the International Labour Office with this report together with any available copies of the decisions of legally established or recognised bodies and of existing collective agreements. Please give any available information concerning the extent to which these laws and regulations have been enacted or modified to permit of, or as a result of, ratification.

In 2004 Tokelau agreed that all public services for Tokelau should be handled consistently and that common manuals and instructions should be developed for each village and the Apia based office.  In Tokelau, the Convention’s main principles are embodied in the Public Service Rules 2004 (the Rules) and the Tokelau Public Services Human Resources Manual (the Manual), which were approved and endorsed by the General Fono (Tokelau’s national legislative and executive body) in 2004. Rules of the General Fono have legal effect in Tokelau.

The Committee has already been provided with a copy of the draft Manual. A copy of the endorsed version of the Manual, the Code of Conduct and a copy of the Rules, is enclosed with this report.

Rule 4(1) of the Rules states that decisions on the range of positions in the National Public Service and the Village Public Services, and the salary levels and other payments within these services shall be established by the General Fono and clearly stated in the Tokelau Employment Manual. The Manual, in particular Chapters 3 and 4 and Appendices 1 and 2, set out these provisions, e.g. in relation to salary and grading, allowances, overtime etc.

  1. Please indicate in detail for each of the following Articles of the Convention the provisions of the legislation and administrative regulations or any other measures, in particular the decisions of legally established or recognised bodies and the provisions of collective agreements relating to the application of each of these Articles. In addition, please provide any indication specifically requested below under individual Articles. If in your country the ratification of the Convention gives the force of national law to its provisions please indicate the constitutional texts from which this effect is derived. Please specify also any measures which have been taken to give effect to those provisions of the Convention which require the intervention of the national authorities, such as measures designed to promote or to ensure the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value, and measures designed to promote the objective appraisal of jobs on the basis of the work to be performed and the co-operation of the employers’ and workers’ organisations concerned. If the Committee of Experts or the Conference Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations has requested additional information or has made an observation on the measures adopted to apply the Convention, please supply the information asked for or indicate the action taken by your Government to settle the points in question.

Article 2

  1. Each Member shall, by means appropriate to the methods in operation for determining rates of remuneration, promote and, in so far as is consistent with such methods, ensure the application to all workers of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value.
  2. This principle may be applied by means of-
    • national laws or regulations;
    • legally established or recognised machinery for wage determination;
    • collective agreements between employers and workers; or
    • a combination of these various means.

As can been seen from the relevant sections of the Public Service Rules 2004 (Rules 3(3) and 4(1)) and the Tokelau Public Services Human Resources Manual, appointments to the Tokelau Public Service are made on merit and salary scales relate to jobs, not people. In accordance with the Manual, general workers are paid on a hourly rate set by the General Fono and listed in the salary scales in the Manual.

Article 3

  1. Where such action will assist in giving effect to the provisions of this Convention measures shall be taken to promote objective appraisal of jobs on the basis of the work to be performed.
  2. The methods to be followed in this appraisal may be decided upon by the authorities responsible for the determination of rates of remuneration, or, where such rates are determined by collective agreements, by the parties thereto.
  3. Differential rates between workers which correspond, without regard to sex, to differences, as determined by such objective appraisal, in the work to be performed shall not be considered as being contrary to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value.

See response to Article 2 set out above.

  1. Please state to what authority or authorities the application of the above mentioned legislation and administrative regulations, etc., is entrusted and by what methods application is supervised and ensured.

The Public Service Rules 2004 (enclosed) sets out the lines of accountability in relation to National Public Service.

Previous reports have explained the special constitutional relationship between New Zealand and Tokelau. However, an information paper on the relationship is attached for the Committee’s information.

  1. Please state whether courts of law or other tribunals have given decisions involving questions of principle relating to the application of the Convention. If so please supply the text of these decisions.

No court or tribunal decisions of this kind have been issued in Tokelau.

  1. Please give a general appreciation of the manner in which the Convention is applied, including for instance extracts from official reports information concerning the number and nature of the contraventions reported and any other bearing on the practical application of the Convention.

Please see comments in previous reports.  

  1. Please indicate the representative organisations of employers and workers to which copies of the present report have been communicated in accordance with article 23 paragraph 2 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation. If copies of the report have not been communicated to representative organisations of employers and/or workers or if they have been communicated to bodies other than such organizations please supply information on any particular circumstances existing in your country which explain the procedure followed. Please indicate whether you have received from the organisations of employers or workers concerned any observations, either of a general kind or in connection with the present or the previous report, regarding the practical application of the provisions of the Convention or the application of the legislation or other measures implementing the Convention. If so, please communicate the observations received, together with any comments that you consider useful.

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
Business New Zealand

Responses to comments made by the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations in 2007

  1. Article 2 of the Convention. Equal remuneration for men and women in the public service.

    The Committee notes the adoption of the Public Service Manual and the Public Service Code of Conduct, which requires public service employers to develop and implement a human resources policy which include “good and safe working conditions including freedom from harassment and discrimination”. The Committee asks the Government to provide information in its next report on the manner in which this provision is applied in practice with respect to protection against discrimination with respect to wages and emoluments, as well as how the village employment committees are promoting in practice the principle of the Convention. Please also provide information disaggregated by sex on the distribution of men and women in the various grades and salary scales of the public service (Appendix 1 of the Public Service Manual).

These comments are made in response by the Government of Tokelau:

The total number of national public servants, which consists only of those working for government departments, is about 45 staff members. Of the total number of 45 staff members, 19 are males and 26 are females.

On the salary grading, a total of 28 staff fall within the salary grading and 17 fall outside the grading because they are working on contracts. For the 28 staff, 8 are males and 20 are females. For the 17 staff outside salary grading, 11 are males and 6 are females.

  1. Application of the principle in the private sector.

    The Committee notes that those working in the fishing and related trades industry are often self-employed, and recalls that the Convention also applies to self-employed men and women. The Committee reiterates its previous request for information on how activities to promote gender equality and economic empowerment of women have contributed to the promotion of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value in the private sector.

These comments are made in response by the Government of Tokelau:

There is a very limited private sector in Tokelau. To date there are no records on the remuneration for men and women for work in the private sector. However, in Tokelau there is equal opportunity for men and women to sell their handicrafts as that is the main product sold in the private sector. Both men and women have included in their prices their labour.

  1. Article 4. Cooperation of the social partners.

    The Committee notes that the NZCTU is monitoring the developments regarding the role of women in Tokelau and asks the Government to indicate in its next report the manner in which it is cooperating with the social partners in promoting the principle of the Convention.

These comments are made in response by the Government of Tokelau:

The Government of Tokelau have always been supportive towards the women of Tokelau. The Women’s organizations have always received funds annually from the Government to support their work in their respective villages.  Further, regional organisations such as UNDP, UNESCO, SPC have also funded projects to support the work of the women in the villages. At present the Office of the Council for the Ongoing Government of Tokelau is also supporting the women in their efforts to enhance the lives and of the women of Tokelau. At present there is a draft national policy for women and national plan of actions which will assist the Government to respond to the issues highlighted by the women as important for the development of women of Tokelau.