Labor Law Enforcement Research Articles

Burnout among labour inspectors in Greece: A nationwide cross-sectional study

The principal role of labour inspectorates is labour law enforcement and compliance, to secure effective implementation of legal provisions relating to the protection of workers. These aspects can turn the job context of a labour inspector into a really demanding occupation, that may have significant physiological and psychological effects. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of burnout between labour inspectors in Greece and associated factors. A semi-structured survey was conducted covering job characteristics, perceived job limitations, some associated with economic crisis, and a burnout assessment tool. There were 102 responses collected out of the 245 labour inspectors specialised in occupational safety and health. Two out of three inspectors (67.65%) reported that reduction of their salary resulted by austerity measures, affected their work quality and performance, 92% reported that job demands had significantly increased during the previous year and 55% that their work does not provide the flexibility, while NLI’s framework does not provide support in performing their job related tasks. Our study identified high rates of burnout and a plethora of work-related contributing risk factors such as increased job demands, lack of staff and resources. The establishment of an effective work framework, that would be supportive and protective for inspectors, in a top-down approach, promoting interpersonal relations and providing the necessary degrees of freedom to labour inspectors’ tasks, could significantly reduce the levels of experienced burnout.

Recognition of an employee as completely incapable of work in accordance with a medical certificate

In the article, on the basis of the current labor legislation and law enforcement practice, the features of the termination of an employment contract in connection with the recognition of an employee as completely incapable of labor activity are considered.

The State Giveth and Taketh Away: Public Sector Labour Law, the Legitimacy of the Legislative Override Power and Constitutional Freedom of Association in Canada

This article investigates the role of courts and legislatures in the design and enforcement of labour laws in the context of public sector employment. It does so by focusing on government employers’ legislative ability to temporarily override public sector labour rights, or to displace outcomes achieved under their processes. This issue is analysed through a case study of Canada, a country which offers constitutional protections for freedom of association, but which is also constructing a highly deferential approach to the constitutional review of override statutes. As a result of this deference, governments have been afforded significant leeway in the use and design of override legislation, which serves to undermine the legitimacy of the underlying public sector labour law regime. The result is to shake the confidence of public sector employees in the promise of workplace power redistribution and workplace voice and to undermine the legitimacy of public sector labour law. Because override legislation can so fundamentally undermine public sector labour rights, the courts should avoid excessive deference and instead undertake an active constitutional review of their use, where constitutional protections are available. Judicial Deference; Public Sector Labour Law; Legislative Override; Freedom of Association; section 2(D); The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; The Expenditure Restraint Act, Pre-Legislative Consultation; Legitimacy; Special Interests

Farm-Related Injuries and Fatalities Involving Children, Youth, and Young Workers during Manure Storage, Handling, and Transport

ABSTRACT Objective: Manure storage, handling, and transport facilities and equipment have been associated with life threatening hazards on many livestock farms. These hazards have been documented in prior research as including 1) exposure to toxic manure gases or lack of adequate oxygen in enclosed structures, which can be fatal to both humans and livestock; 2) below and above ground liquid manure storage structures that have the potential risk for drowning and falling; and 3) mechanical hazards associated with manure handling and transport equipment, including entanglement, road collisions, runover, and equipment failure. Methods: Over the past 40 years, Purdue University’s Agricultural Safety and Health Program (PUASHP) has collected, documented, and maintained data regarding agricultural-related injuries and fatalities associated with agricultural confined spaces in the United States. As part of ongoing surveillance, a total of 369 fatal and non-fatal cases relating to manure storage, handling and transport equipment, and facilities have been documented. Of these, 89 have involved children, youth, and young farm workers ages (birth–21) documented between 1975 and 2019. The purpose of this study was to summarize these 89 documented cases to better understand contributing factors and to develop recommendations for evidence-based strategies to reduce the frequency and severity of these incidents. Though recognized as not comprehensive for all incidents of this type, the data represent the largest data set known to exist, providing insight into previously unstudied hazards facing children and youth living and working on, and visiting farms as non-workers. Results: Findings in this study include: there has been an increase in the documented frequency of these incidents, which may be due, at least partially, to enhanced or more aggressive surveillance efforts; 57% of the cases were fatal; incidents involving underground or inground manure storage facilities were the most frequent type; incidents involving manure transport vehicles were higher than expected; 33% of the victims were five years of age and younger; and July was the month with the most documented incidents. Conclusions: Recommendations for future injury prevention strategies include incorporation of information on manure-related hazards in curricula targeting children and youth, more aggressive enforcement of child labor laws that currently prohibit the employment of youth to work in manure storage structures or to be involved in their operations, and greater use of physical and administrative controls, including safety signage, fencing, gates, and covers to restrict access to manure storage structures.

Harnessing Public Institutions for Labour Law Enforcement

The paper explores how to integrate a Transnational Labour Inspectorate (‘TLI’) dealing with transnational private instruments of Multinational Enterprises (‘MNEs’) into the International Labour Organization (‘ILO’). After exploring monitoring initiatives with roots in public international organizations, we will argue that from an international law perspective on international legal personality such activities can be justified. Under the qualification of ‘subject normation’, as we dub these activities, we will argue that the ILO is the best situated locus to embed a system to inspect commitments MNEs voluntary adhere to in their CSR strategies, including Global Framework Agreements. Finally, we explain how the TLI as we envisage it could fit within the existing system of enforcement and compliance monitoring of the ILO.

Staying under the radar: constraints on labour agency of pineapple plantation workers in Costa Rica?

Plantation workers have seemingly little opportunities for labour agency, defined as the worker’s ability to act and improve their conditions. In response to a call for a better understanding of the horizontal dimension shaping labour agency, this article questions what local factors determine the worker’s ability to act by analysing the institutional constraints embedded in the national context through a mixed methods approach. A combination of qualitative and quantitative data is used to understand what shapes and constrains the potential for labour agency in the case of plantation workers in the pineapple sector of Costa Rica. We provide new empirical evidence of the relation between the local opportunity structure—proxied by perceived job security and union awareness—and labour agency in terms of a worker’s intention to choose forthright (voice), evasive (exit) or repressed (loyalty) actions. The model results indicate that a lack of job security and a lack of union awareness significantly reduce the likelihood to use forthright actions (such as voicing concerns, striking or joining a union) compared to evasive (such as leaving the job) or repressed actions (such as doing nothing). In addition, the qualitative analysis of the local opportunity structure identifies four institutional constraints: weak employment protection, vulnerability of migrant workers, limited workers’ representation and insufficient labour law enforcement. Besides overcoming these institutional constraints, empowering workers to make their voices heard also requires awareness raising about their collective bargaining rights and more job security.

Nine-nine-six work system and people’s movement patterns: Using big data sets to analyse overtime working in Shanghai

Although topics regarding “996 work system” and overtime working have aroused hot arguments, there is scant literature that analyses the spatial distribution and movement patterns of people who work overtime. This article fills this gap by adopting big data analysis and examining the mobile phone signal data which allow the calculation of the approximate spatial position of the mobile-phone user, and the generation of transportation flows and individuals’ origin-destination (OD) flows. The findings show that no less than one third of employees in Shanghai work overtime, and that overtime workers face higher job-housing imbalance than workers who have normal work durations or flexible schedules. This corroborates David Harvey’s time-space compression theory. Going beyond that, we further discover the interchangeability between exploitation in the time dimension, and that in the spatial dimension, resulting in dual exploitation. This article has important policy implications for optimizing the urban spatial system of Shanghai, as it advocates that in addition to strengthening the enforcement of labor law, the government also needs to improve the public service such as strengthening the underground system’s capacity, and construct affordable houses, so as to alleviate the employees’ sufferings caused by temporal and spatial exploitation. Moreover, the research points out the necessity for Chinese cities to enhance the vertical mixing, in order to shorten the job-housing distance.

Labour Welfare Health and Safety Measures at Tamilnadu, India

Labour Welfare Sector aim at improving the working conditions, maintenance of better Industrial relations, strict enforcement of Labour Laws and launching of welfare activities for the benefit of industrial workers and their families. Industrial progress depends on satisfied labour force and in this connection the importance of labour welfare measures was accepted long back. In India, a vast majority of the labour force is employed in unorganized sector employments. The unorganized/informal employment is characterized by its casual and self employed nature. The purpose of this article is to study identifies the method of labour welfare health and safety measures to extract perception and opinion of the employee with regard to their labour welfare health and safety measures.

The Obstacles of Labor Inspection in Protecting Workers’ Rights in Indonesia

Labor inspection system is the fundamental function of labor law enforcement and effective compliance. Nevertheless, the lack of the system contributes to difficulties in promoting labor law compliance. This article aims to analyze the obstacles of labor inspection in Indonesia during the function be conducted by the district/regency government. By using descriptive and analytical methods, it can be concluded that there are some obstacles faced by the labor inspectors in the district/regency level in order to protect the workers’ rights. Those are the labor inspection planning is not going well, the stages of labor inspection process are not enforced, the number of labor inspector is not comparable with the number of companies that must be inspected, some the district/regency employment offices does not have civil servant investigators, intervention by local officials, no rotation of work area of the labor inspectors, most companies are small enterprises, and overlapping duties between labor Inspectors and mediators on advisory duty. These obstacles have caused the rights of workers to be less protected.

Seven Strategies to Rebuild Worker Power for the 21st Century Global Economy: A Comparative and Historical Framework for Policy Action

Is globalization good or bad for workers? One view sees it as an inevitable and desirable process of making economies more efficient: It may displace workers in the short run, but it has the potential to make them richer in the long run. Another view sees globalization as a net negative, leading to a loss of local and national control as workers are divided against each other in a race-to-the-bottom where business wins and labor loses. In Seven Strategies to Rebuild Worker Power for the 21st Century Global Economy, Roosevelt Fellow Todd N. Tucker uses historical lessons to lay out a framework for how to rebuild worker power and fight inequality, starting with a global labor agreement — what Tucker calls the Worker Power Agreement — modeled on the Paris Climate Accords. The report argues for governments to take on explicit targets to increase union density, as well as complementary policies that our trading partners make use of, including: Privileging firms that cooperate well with unions; Making labor law enforcement more favorable toward labor; Extending union contracts to non-union workers; Structurally incorporating unions into the policymaking process; Allowing unions to manage public benefits; and Making union membership the default status for workers. Recent Supreme Court decisions like Janus v. AFSCME reveal that the state (of which courts are a part) can and does put its thumb on the scale against labor. Thus, policy could instead actively tilt the other way. This paper proposes a fundamental re-visioning of the role of government in rebuilding worker power, which has a stronger foothold when it benefits from more than just one base of support. Instead of defeatist resignation, modest legal changes, or waiting for unions to save themselves, Tucker recommends ambitious and linked strategies at the international and domestic level to strengthen labor institutions across the globe.

Enforcement matters: The effective regulation of labour

AbstractThe distinction between de jure and de facto regulation is well understood in theory, but has rarely been applied to cross‐country empirical work on the impact of labour regulation on labour market outcomes for lack of data. Policy debate has been based on measures of stringency of law, suggesting a negative correlation between labour regulation and labour market outcomes. This article provides new cross‐country measures of labour law enforcement and evidence of a negative correlation between stringency and intensity of enforcement. Previous results concerning the consequences of labour regulation and the legal origins theory no longer hold when a measure of effective labour regulation is used.

Child labour in Ghana: Implications for children's education and health

Drawing on Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, this study investigated child labour experiences of children in Ghana. Using a qualitative research approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 25 participants who were purposively selected. Data collected were analyzed thematically and the findings indicated that reasons why children engaged in child labour included poverty, parental absence, and poor enforcement of educational and child labour laws. The findings further revealed that children's engagement in selling on the highway could negatively affect their health and education. Based on the findings, we recommend that there should be effective implementation of educational and child labour laws in order to mitigate this menace.

Labor supervision policy in Indonesian legal system based on Pancasila

Labor supervision policy is one of the important aspects of labor law enforcement. Through labor supervision, the state is present in an effort to provide legal protection for workers. Along with the passing of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the need to provide legal protection for workers is very important in an era of opening the demands of employment and investment. In the concept of Pancasila state law, labor supervision policy objectives cannot be separated from the country’s national objectives based on the ideals of Indonesia and Indonesian law. On the other hand, Indonesia’s participation in the AEC would bring consequences compliance with policies along the AEC. This paper analyzes on labor supervision policy in the Indonesian legal system based on Pancasila in order to provide legal protection for workers in an era of global competition. The study of this paper is normative with statute, concept, historical, philosophical, and analysis approach. The results of the analysis show that the policy of labor supervision as stipulated in the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 13 Year 2003 and Ministry Labor of the Republic of Indonesia Number 33 Year 2016 still have weaknesses in the aspect of substance, structure, and culture. These weaknesses have implications to the lack of legal protection for workers in the face of global competition.

Women’s Economic Empowerment Sans Labour Rights: Inadvertent Oversight or Tacit Omission

Empowering women has come to be seen as a primary means to achieve women’s development in the discourse of development and policy initiatives. This has led to greater attention than before on the questions that expand the conventional understanding of empowerment itself. Much consideration has been given to answering these questions. What, however, has been ignored is the due emphasis on labour rights. The studies conducted by the feminists in the recent years have not only expanded the understanding of empowerment but have also highlighted the challenges and barriers to achieving it. Despite the fact that almost all studies have referred to the issue of weak enforcement of labour laws, the workings of development agencies do not reflect a keen commitment to this issue, in particular issue. With this backdrop, this paper reviews the existing development literature on empowerment and maps the ways in which empowerment has been measured using macro-economic indices like Gender Inequality Index (GII), Gender Disparity Index (GDI) and Gender Gap Index (GGI). It identifies the discrepancies and contradictions in the evaluations that data generated from these indices, arguing that ‘instrumentalist feminist goals,’ which are achieved through a top-down policy-level approach, are often at odds with ‘micro-level’ qualitative assessments of economic empowerment. The paper concludes with casting doubt on the compatibility of ‘development’ with women’s economic empowerment as it ignores the concomitant discussion on labour rights. It also ponders whether this omission is serving the needs of global capitalism and offers an insight into the deliberate or an unintentional oversight by the development actors.

Enforcement Matters: The Effective Regulation of Labor

The distinction between de jure and de facto regulation is well understood in theory, but has rarely been applied to cross‐country empirical work on the impact of labour regulation on labour market outcomes for lack of data. Policy debate has been based on measures of stringency of law, suggesting a negative correlation between labour regulation and labour market outcomes. This article provides new cross‐country measures of labour law enforcement and evidence of a negative correlation between stringency and intensity of enforcement. Previous results concerning the consequences of labour regulation and the legal origins theory no longer hold when a measure of effective labour regulation is used.

LEGAL PROTECTION AGAINST WORKERS IN WORK AGREEMENT ON OUTSOURCING SYSTEM IN INDONESIA

<p>In an outsourcing system, it is certain that the working relationship between employer and worker is a working relationship with a particular Time Agreement. This status becomes a problem because there is no certainty about the continuity of the employment relationships and the non-fulfillment of the rights that workers should receive, thus this is harming the workers economically and socially. The regulation related to the outsourcing system that stated in the Manpower Act No. 13 of 2003 is also difficult to implement in a business world since the existing rules do not meet the needs of the labor market. Company does not make the flow of production activities so that it is unclear and no legal certainty about the nature and types of core business and non core business activities. In the implementation of job protection and work requirements for outsourced workers, the government should enhance its role in the supervision and enforcement of labor law through the quantity and quality of labor inspectors.</p>

U.S. Free Trade Agreements and Enforcement of Labor Law in Latin America

The paper provides difference‐in‐differences estimates suggesting that Latin American countries that signed a free trade agreement with the United States experienced an increase in the number of labor inspectors and inspections. We also find large heterogeneity across signers and no evidence that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) had a positive impact on Mexico. We conclude by suggesting that the stringency of content of the accord and the resources devoted by the U.S. government to increase enforcement make a difference.

Relacja między przepisami Kodeksu postępowania cywilnego w kwestii egzekucji z wynagrodzenia za pracę a przepisami prawa pracy

In the event of carrying out the execution of remuneration for work, specific obligations imposed on the debtor’s employer. Because he is obliged to make appropriate deductions from the employee’s salary and transfer the amounts withheld enforcement authority, where his role is to determine the correct amount, which is to serve the satisfaction of creditor. At the same time the employer may be liable for irregularities in this area – both the creditor – if it turns out that due to the action of the employer was unsatisfied creditor, as well as the terms of an employee ‒ if it wrongfully depleted. Therefore, of particular importance to establish a remuneration components, which may be the subject of deductions, as well as the use of proper methods of deduction. Important, therefore, it seems to indicate the correct relationship between the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure on enforcement of wage and labor laws.

Human Resource Management Practices in Manufacturing SMEs in Central Java, Indonesia

SMEs are major employers in Indonesian, yet little is known about human resource management (HRM) practices that they employ. This study focused on hiring, developing, and retaining employees in manufacturing SMEs in Central Java, Indonesia in comparison to the dominant discourse on HRM in SMEs. The study involved interviews with 13 owner-managers and 42 employees representing 13 SMEs. Findings suggest that HRM in these SMEs were not the coherent set of practices typically identified in ‘best practice’ literature, but practices that were characteristically informal and emergent. Cost and appropriateness were key considerations in making decisions regarding HRM adoption. Regarding attracting employees, ‘word-of-mouth’, employee referrals and ‘walk-ins’ were the preferred methods. Informal interviews and work samples were predominant ways of assessing skill levels of prospective employees. Training was usually informal, on-the-job and unstructured. Employees attended off-the-job training only when courses were free and such courses were usually provided by government institutions or major clients. Performance appraisal was rare, but when present it was typically informal and undocumented. Regarding retaining employees, owner-managers were intent on creating a harmonious, ‘family-like’ culture and providing work schedule flexibility. Factors such as labour market conditions, culture, labour law enforcement and the technology in use also contributed to the HRM investment decision and type of HRM adopted. Although the practices employed seemed informal, reactive and short-term oriented they could be justified as being congruent with the conditions and the characteristics of SMEs and were not necessarily ‘wrong’ or ‘inferior’.

Tackling Vulnerability to Labour Exploitation through Regulation: The Case of Migrant Fishermen in Ireland

In November 2015, the Guardian newspaper reported severe and widespread abuse of migrant workers within the Irish fishing industry.1 The patterns of exploitation identified by the team of journalists mirror findings across other jurisdictions and sectors relating to the labour conditions of migrant workers.2 They included workers being confined to vessels unless given permission to go on land; receiving no proper rest days; and being paid less than half the Irish minimum wage.3 The Guardian reports led to intense media coverage and pressure on the Irish Government, prompting the immediate formation of a Task Force and ultimately the adoption of an ‘Atypical Working Scheme for non-EEA crew in the Fishing Fleet’4 which sought to formalise and regularise the workers’ immigration and employment status. This is not a legislative measure as such: in the Irish system, atypical working schemes are administrative measures emanating from the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (within the Department of Justice and Equality). Atypical working schemes provide for permits for ‘atypical, short term employment’ not governed by the Employment Permits Acts 2003–20145 and thus constitute a form of regulatory regime for temporary labour migration. Ancillary reforms included the clarification of enforcement powers of the labour inspectorate to facilitate inspection of fishing vessels and the adoption of an inter-agency Memorandum of Understanding between the key enforcement bodies to streamline the effective enforcement of health and safety, marine and employment regulations in the sector. This package of measures constitutes an attempt to address the vulnerability to labour exploitation of a group of migrant workers primarily through the medium of ordinary employment and immigration regulation, as opposed to a criminal justice approach akin to that adopted in the UK in the Modern Slavery Act 2015, for example.6 This article examines the Atypical Scheme as a potential model of good practice for the use of regulation to counteract vulnerability to labour exploitation of migrant workers. More broadly, it considers the dual role of the law in this domain. The legal and institutional framework plays a significant role in creating vulnerability to labour exploitation. Paradoxically, however, legal tools also have the potential to counteract or address this vulnerability. On the question of the appropriate legal tools to counteract vulnerability to labour exploitation among migrant workers, Zou has concluded that neither the international human rights framework nor the trafficking/‘modern slavery’ discourse, adequately responds to the complex realities of migrants’ work relations on a continuum of exploitation.7 This article is based on the premise that a focus on protective labour law regulation and enforcement is more likely to respond to these realities. As the analysis here reveals, the devil is in the detail: industry-appropriate regulation; effective enforcement; and evidence-based policy development are essential to ensure that legal reforms which appear progressive on paper have a real impact on the protection of workers’ rights.