Labour Law and State Reluctance? A Tale of Two Regulatory Worlds

Abstract

In the South East Asian region where the labour market is complex and labour relations are notoriously problematic, state-sponsored legal regulatory models broadly reveal two directions. Interventionist regulation overseen by the courts is a feature of some ASEAN jurisdictions and recognizes the state’s role in managing employment market tensions. At the other end of the regulatory spectrum there is a marked reluctance by the state to interfere with contract-based market conditions, except where there is a clear intersection between labour force and migration policy. The reasons behind this regulatory divergence are as much a product of differing governance ideologies as they are a reflection of variations in labour market dependencies (such as foreign worker components). This paper, by focusing on a jurisdiction in which state-sponsored legal intervention has been both reluctant and sporadic, speculates on the necessity for a specific state/legal presence in the regulation of employment relations in vulnerable labour markets, if these markets are to contribute to sustainable economic development, as well as to ensure the integrity of labour valuing. The paper is in part descriptive due to the absence of legal scholarly interest in employment law in the region.