International Labour Organization Convention Research Articles

Application of Burden of Proof to Child Labour as Protection of Children's Rights

Child labour should be given legal protection, one form of protection for child labour is to impose a Burden of Proof (Burden of Proof) for child labour in accordance with the provisions of the ILO Convention (International Labor Organization) No. 138 of 1973 on the minimum age to be allowed to work and the ILO (International Labour Organization) Convention No. 183 then 1999 on the abolition of the worst forms of work for. This research aims to examine the philosophical foundation of the burden of proof in the Indonesian legal system and to examine the burden of proof implementation for child labour in Indonesia. This research is legal research using a normative juridical approach, the data used are primary data and secondary data analyzed using quantitative analysis. The results of the study are the first philosophical application of the principle of reverse burden of proof that has been regulated in various legal rules in Indonesia, including Law No. 8 of 1999 on Consumer Protection, Law No. 40 of 2007 concerning limited Company legal No. 32 of 2009 on the protection and management of the environment and the provisions of the crime of corruption relating to the freezing, expropriation and confiscation of the perpetrators of the crime of corruption in accordance. Both countries have ratified ILO Convention No. 138 of 1973 on the Minimum age to be allowed to work and ILO Convention No. 182 of 1999 on the Prohibition and immediate action on the elimination of the worst forms of Child Labour which affirms the existence of a reverse proof for child labour.

2022 Amendments to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

On June 10, 2022, by consensus, the International Labour Conference (ILC) adopted a resolution amending the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work to encompass “a safe and healthy working environment.” Under this Declaration, adopted in 1998, all 187 member states of the International Labour Organization (ILO) have an obligation, arising from their membership, “to respect, promote and realize … the principles concerning the fundamental rights” that are the subject of ILO Conventions recognized as fundamental. The other four fundamental categories are freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor, the effective abolition of child labor, and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Is There a Dualistic Protection System for Migrant Domestic Workers? The "Easy" and "Speedy" Ratification of the ILO Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers in Italy

Domestic workers provide a variety of services and contribute significantly to the global economy. However, domestic work has long been undervalued in the labour market. In January 2013, Italy became the first country in Europe, and the first among the countries receiving migrant domestic workers, to ratify International Labour Organization Convention No. 189, the Domestic Workers Convention. In contrast to the unprecedented dedication to domestic workers’ labour rights specified in C189, the majority of domestic workers presently in Italy are migrant women and undeclared workers. This article draws on interviews to show how Italy’s ratification of C189 was accomplished through well-organised tripartism and top-down ratification processes, while perpetuating the undervaluation of the work status of migrant domestic workers. KEYWORDS: Domestic workers; ILO Convention No. 189; Italy; migrant workers; labour protection

Maternity Leave and Gender Equality: Comparative Studies of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand

This article discusses the implications of maternity leave on gender equality by taking comparative cases in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. This article focuses on three important issues, namely the implementation of maternity leave policies, the funding system for maternity leave policies, and the implications of these policies on gender equality in the workplace. This article uses secondary data from official government documents, and documents from international institutions, such as International Labor Organization, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and related studies. The results of the study show that maternity leave in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand complies with the recommendations of the International Labor Organization conventions 1952 and 2000. The benefits provided by maternity leave accommodate women to work and take care of children. In funding maternity leave, Indonesia and Malaysia use the employer liability scheme, while Thailand uses a combination of employer liability and the social security act. These funding schemes are aimed at employees in the private and informal sectors. To promote gender equality in the workplace, the benefits of maternity leave are influential in this effort. The more companies adopt this family-friendly work environment, the more it encourages enhancing gender equality in the workplace. The study finds women are barely in managerial positions due to their responsibility in the family matter. The discussion of maternity leave in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand cases leads to a better understanding of the implementation of maternity leave in developing countries, for which there is currently a research gap.

Indigenous struggles to overturn present-day discrimination and achieve differentiated rights in Roraima, Brazil

Abstract This article examines affirmations of differentiated Indigenous rights that are present in national and international legislation in the State of Roraima, Brazil, through significant efforts by Indigenous political movements, including activities by Indigenous lawyers. By creating internal mechanisms for solving conflicts, such activists contribute significantly to realising rights present in the Federal Constitution (1988) and the Indian Statute (Law 6.001/1973), and in international legislation such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 169 (1989). These mechanisms include the setting up, by the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR) and local Indigenous leader councils, of written customary laws (regimentos internos) as an alternative for solving conflicts to avoid sending people to violent and overcrowded prisons. The efforts of Indigenous organisations, activists, and lawyers also seek to overturn a commonplace notion of equality before the law, which fails to consider existing inequalities.

Implementing and Enhancing Labour Standards Through FTAs? A Critical Analysis of the Panel Report in the EU-Korea Case

The EU has been a long-time advocate of including labour provisions in trade agreements. The labour provisions in the EU’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) have gone through intergenerational development and become a staple practice. Moreover, recent years witnessed the EU’s strengthened enforcement of labour commitments made in FTAs by trade partners. In 2018, the EU initiated a dispute settlement process against Korea based on the EU-Korea FTA, which is the first and, up to now, the only case on alleged violations of labour provisions in an EU FTA. In the published report, the Panel makes findings on three key jurisdictional and substantive issues: the requirement of a trade-labour linkage, the incorporation of International Labour Organization (ILO) labour standards into the FTA, and the obligation to ratify the fundamental ILO Conventions. Based on a critical analysis, the Panel’s decisions arguably not only left much to be desired at the technical level, but may exert an unpleasant effect on the development of the relationship between labour protection and FTAs. Nevertheless, the EUKorea case provides an important opportunity to revisit the appropriateness of using FTAs to implement and enhance labour standards, including enforcing labour provisions through a dispute settlement process. Dispute Settlement, Free Trade Agreements, Labour Standards, The EU-Korea Labour Dispute, Trade-Labour Linkage

Perlakuan Terhadap Anak-Anak Indigenous People Dan Tanggung Jawab Negara

Introduction: Indigenous peoples continue to face threats to their sovereignty, the sovereignty that is meant is centered on how the state positions indigenous peoples into national policies, by imposing values on indigenous peoples.Purposes of the Research: To examine and find out whether the treatment of Indigenous People's children in Canada violates the provisions of International Law and to find out how the state's responsibility for the human rights of Indigenous People's children is. Methods of the Research: This research is a normative juridical law research, with primary and secondary legal materials as a source of law by using the nature of prescriptive research that aims to obtain suggestions on what to do.Results of the Research: The results of the study show that the treatment of children of indigenous people in Canada violates the provisions of international law, where indigenous children receive treatment from the state in the form of violence or coercion which is contrary to human rights and fundamental freedoms regulated in the ILO (International Labor Organization) Conventions. UNDRIP Declaration (United Nation Declaration of Rights on the Indigenous Peoples), United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, then on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and also to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Tanggung Jawab Negara Terhadap Pelanggaran Kemanusiaan Suku Aborigin Sebagai Indigenous People

Introduction: Aboriginal people are indigenous and constitute a minority population in Australia and are known as Indigenous Peoples.When the white people arrived in Australia, they took over the land rights of the aboriginals.Purposes of the Research: To find out how international law in providing protection for aboriginal tribes who are indigenous people and knowing and understanding the form of the Australian state's responsibility for humanitarian violations for aboriginal tribes as indigenous people. Methods of the Research: This research isnormative juridical law research, with primary and secondary legal materials as legal sources. Furthermore, it was analyzed qualitatively.Results of the Research: The results of this study indicate thatprotection for aboriginal tribes as Indigenous Peoples is regulated in the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169 of 1989, the United Nations Declaration of Rights on the Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) Convention in 1984 and the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) Convention in 1997.As a form of responsibility, Australia has signed various international treaties and conventions on human rights and as a form of state responsibility for violations of humanity of aboriginal tribes as aIndigenous Peoplesby formingThe Council for Aboriginal Reconciliationin 1992 and then apologized nationwide in February 2008

A New Chapter in China’s Stance on Labour Protection? An Assessment of the China–EU CAI

ABSTRACT China overhauled its pre-existing image of being insufficiently friendly to sustainable development in international investment agreements (IIAs) with its sweeping, specific, and strong commitments to labour rights protection in the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) recently concluded with the European Union. This article provides an assessment of these labour provisions and examines their impact on China’s national, regional, and global stances on labour protection. Firstly, it analyses the features and purposes of different types of labour provision and the integrated mechanism for settling disputes on labour issues. This article then identifies the gap between China’s commitments under the CAI and its actual practices and presents a wish list for China to enhance labour protection, including efforts to ratify fundamental International Labour Organization conventions, improve domestic legislation on core labour principles, and enhance corporate social responsibility among Chinese investors. Further, this article assesses the macro-level impacts of these labour provisions. It argues that the CAI presents an opportunity to strengthen sustainable development and labour rights protection within China, along the Belt and Road Initiative, and globally. China is advised to continue incorporating modernized labour standards into its future IIAs.

Gender Discrimination in Employment: BRICS Countries Overview

This article investigates the phenomenon of gender equality in employment in the BRICS countries where it is one of the factors hampering the economic development and basic human rights. The authors examine the international obligations of these states under the human rights treaties of the United Nations Organization (UNO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), compare the national anti-discriminatory norms with the international standards (ILO Conventions and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women) and evaluate the observations of the relevant international bodies recently adopted in respect of the BRICS states. In particular, the activities of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations are reviewed. In the paragraphs that follow, the national legislation and case-laws are examined. Furthermore, the reasons for the persistent gender stereotypes in the labor market, as well as the general attitude toward women’s roles in society in each country are reviewed. The authors identify the obstacles to achieving true gender equality in the workplace and formulate recommendations for improving protections against discrimination of women in employment as well as ensuring equal access to employment and promotion.

Sanctions or No Sanctions: Enforcing Labour Provisions in Free Trade Agreements

The inclusion of labour provisions in trade agreements which commenced with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the 1990s and other developed countries such as Canada and the EU saw the reaffirmation and implementation of commitments undertaken as part of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions that these countries have ratified – with specific emphasis on respecting, promoting and realizing the core labour standards. While the general commitments and the nature of labour standards included in different agreements are largely similar, the approaches to enforce these standards under various agreements have differed widely. While the major developed economies (US, Canada and the EU) all include substantive labour provisions in their trade agreements as a standard practice now, their approaches to enforcement of these provisions are strikingly different (with US-Canada approach largely similar). These two contrasting approaches are – (1) that entails a possibility of monetary assessment, countermeasures or suspension of preferential benefits (sanctions based) and (2) that is based exclusively on recommendations and directions by a Panel of Experts as part of the dispute resolution process without any possibility of economic assessment (non-sanctions-based). This article provides an overview of these two main approaches towards enforcement of labour provisions in trade agreements. In light of the recent emphasis placed on including stronger enforcement mechanisms within the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs’) on sustainability, specifically in the EU this article examines the two approaches and highlights the approach which would be better suited for enforcing labour standards. Labour Standards, occupational safety and health, TSD, Dispute Settlement, Enforcement, NAFTA, NAALC, USMCA, Labour Provisions in FTAs’, Rapid Response Labour Mechanism, ILO Conventions, EU-Korea Labour Dispute, countermeasures, monetary assessment, suspension of benefits.

Equal Opportunity in Employment: A Comparative Analysis of Pakistan's Legal Framework and International Standards

This research paper conducts a comprehensive comparative analysis of Pakistan's legal framework on equal opportunity in employment with international standards, particularly focusing on the conventions ratified by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Discrimination in employment remains a pervasive issue globally, affecting individuals based on gender, race, ethnicity, or beliefs, irrespective of qualifications. The paper examines how Pakistan's legal framework aligns with global standards and addresses challenges faced by female workers, particularly in sectors like transportation and agriculture. Despite Pakistan's ratification of ILO conventions, practical implementation remains a concern, with issues such as wage discrimination and inadequate social protections persisting. The paper highlights key Pakistani laws addressing equal opportunity in employment, including the Constitution of Pakistan, the Equal Remuneration Act, and various labor ordinances. It also discusses challenges such as low female labor force participation, educational disparities, and limited involvement in trade unions, suggesting strategies to empower women workers and enhance their representation in the workforce. By analyzing Pakistan's adherence to global standards and identifying areas for improvement, this paper aims to contribute to the discourse on gender equality and labor rights in Pakistan.

Missed reporting of nonfatal occupational injuries: estimation using the International Labor Organization datasets.

Most previous studies about missed reporting of nonfatal occupational injuries have four limitations: (i) mostly qualitative methods, (ii) arbitrary fraction used to estimate missed nonfatal occupational injuries based on subjective opinions, (iii) use of datasets derived from only one country, and (iv) use of a relatively simple estimation method. In contrast, (i) using quantitative approaches, this study will calculate the (ii) objective estimates on (iii) a multinational scale. (iv) A newly devised logical approach for estimation will be applied. Through this study, the fraction of missed reports of nonfatal occupational injuries will be estimated in a new way. Four International Labor Organization (ILO) datasets were analyzed in this study: (i) fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers by sex and migrant status, (ii) nonfatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers by sex and migrant status, (iii) inspectors per 10,000 employed persons, and (iv) labor inspection visits per inspector. The ratification status of 27 ILO conventions, classified into 12 categories, was used for the analyses. The GDP dataset from the World Bank Open Data was also used. In addition to basic descriptive analyses, a multilevel Poisson regression method was applied. The primary outcome was the risk ratio of the above-mentioned four selected measures when an ILO convention was ratified compared to when the convention was not ratified. Finally, for the estimation of the fraction of missed reports of nonfatal occupational injuries, a newly devised estimation method was applied. This method was devised based on a unique characteristic of reporting systems for fatal occupational injuries (duplicate reporting through multiple reporting systems). The ratio of discovered nonfatal occupational injuries to total estimated nonfatal occupational injuries ranged from 0.13 (95% CI 0.13-0.14) to 0.89 (95% CI 0.84-0.95). In other words, the minimum estimate of the percentage of missed injury reports is 11% (1-0.89 = 0.11) and the maximum is 87% (1-0.13 = 0.87). The mean value of the ratios of discovered nonfatal occupational injuries to total estimated nonfatal occupational injuries was 0.52. In other words, the most likely estimate for the fraction of missed injury reports is 48% (1-0.52 = 0.48). Underreporting of nonfatal occupational injuries could hinder the efforts of governments to address and improve the occupational safety and health status of the country. Accurate assessment of the current status of nonfatal occupational injuries is important for devising effective strategies to reduce this type of injury.

Appraisal of selected themes on the impact of international standards on labour and social security law in South Africa

For many years, South African courts have relied on International Labour Organisation (hereafter ‘the ILO’) conventions to interpret and give meaning to the fundamental social security and labour law rights enshrined in the Constitution, 1996. Social security and labour law has been one of the ILO's major initiatives of promoting decent work agenda since its inception in 1919. Decent work refers to the availability of employment in conditions of freedom, justice, security and human dignity. This is a multidimensional concept introduced by the ILO in 1999. It has four key components: employment conditions, social security, workplace rights and social dialogue. To this end, the preamble to the ILO Constitution sets out a number of objectives in this regard, including the protection of workers from illness, accidents, the protection of children, women, and the support of the elderly. The ILO pursues these noble values ​​by developing international labour and social security standards, which member states must ratify and incorporate into their national law. The purpose of these ILO standards is to provide a standard framework or regulatory tool to guide member states in establishing, improving and maintaining social security and labour law systems domestically, regionally and internationally.
 
 Against this background, this article examines selected themes on the impact of international standards on labour and social security rights enshrined in the Constitution. It looks at some of the relevant international instruments which have influenced the promotion and protection of these rights. Furthermore, it discusses the application of these standards in domestic courts, and shows how the courts have infused these standards into their judgments.

Appraisal of Selected Themes on the Impact of International Standards on Labour and Social Security Law in South Africa

For many years, South African courts have relied on International Labour Organisation conventions to interpret and give meaning to the fundamental social security and labour law rights enshrined in the Constitution, 1996. Social security and labour law has been one of the ILO's major initiatives of promoting decent work agenda since its inception in 1919. Decent work refers to the availability of employment in conditions of freedom, justice, security and human dignity. This is a multidimensional concept introduced by the ILO in 1999. It has four key components, namely, employment conditions, social security, workplace rights and social dialogue. To this end, the preamble to the ILO Constitution sets out several objectives in this regard, including the protection of workers from illness, accidents, the protection of children, women, and the support of the elderly. The ILO pursues these noble values and goals by developing international labour and social security standards, which member states must ratify and incorporate into their national law. The purpose of these ILO standards is to provide a standard framework or regulatory tool to guide member states in establishing, improving and maintaining social security and labour law systems domestically, regionally and internationally. Against this background, this article examines selected themes on the impact of international standards on labour and social security rights enshrined in the Constitution. It looks at some of the relevant international instruments which have influenced the promotion and protection of these rights. Furthermore, it shows how the courts have infused these standards into their judgments in South Africa.

English

Unions are prominent stakeholders in employment relations (ER), representing and protecting the rights of their members and other employees on labour-related issues that the workforce is overwhelmed with within the workplace. The purpose of this article was to examine global unionism to advise South African (SA) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector labour unionism. It focuses on the recent trends of global literature review to answer five research questions. The rationale is to gain a more theoretical understanding of union roles, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, global unionism, SA unionism, SA ICT unionism, union challenges and strategies. Globally, unionism drives advancements in socio-economic policies, calling for social dialogue between the tripartite alliances partners in ER: Unions, employers, and the government. However, SA ICT union leaders are weak when negotiating for equity, socio-economic justice, and the advancement of employees in their careers. This research study revealed that union challenges include poor social dialogue, ineffective strategies to sustain membership, inefficient partnerships, and non-collaboration between management and unions. By the results of this study, a strategic framework was proposed for union effectiveness to provide Human Resources (HR), ER and union leaders with a practical management tool. Thus, this study contributes by expanding the body of knowledge on global and SA ICT unionism.   Key words: Employees; employers; human resources; employment relations; information and communications technology; socio-economic advancement; social dialogue; South African; unionism.

Gendered Distributive Injustice in Production Networks: Implications for the Regulation of Precarious Work

Abstract This paper is concerned with how precarious work in gendered production networks can be regulated to address distributional injustices—examining the regulation of homework in Thailand as a case study. The contribution of this paper is to empirically analyse these outcomes of the organisation and governance of production as gendered distributional injustices. The analytic extends the distributive analysis employed by Shamir by applying feminist global production network scholarship developed by scholars such as Anne Tallontire, Catherine Dolan, Sally Smith, Wilma Dunaway and Stephanie Barrientos. Our aim is to capture the complex ways in which distributional injustices are created in gendered production networks by examining both distributional asymmetries between homeworkers and other actors along the value chain (vertical dynamics), as well as the way that local gender relations shape the social undervaluation of women’s home-based work (horizontal dynamics). We draw on rich empirical research to describe these distributional asymmetries for homeworkers in the North-East of Thailand who repair faults in fishing net production for global markets. A handful of countries in the Economic South have reformed labour regulation to address capitalist innovation resulting in new models of production and accumulation. Thailand joined these ranks in 2010, but this has gone without notice in the comparative labour regulation literature. We interrogate the extent that the gendered distributional injustices we identify are corrected through the interventions of Thai labour regulation. We compare the Thai approach with International Labour Organisation Convention 177 (1996) Homework (referred to herein as the ILO Homework Convention or C177). We conclude by suggesting ways that the Thai approach could be strengthened, drawing in places on examples of labour regulation advances in other countries.

Sanctioning Capacity in Trade and Sustainability Chapters in EU Trade Agreements: The EU–Korea Case

Although sanctions targeting political regimes receive the most media attention, the EU can also sanction states for labour rights violations through its trade policy. Although in practice such sanctions are applied only in extreme cases, the possibility of suspending trade preferences increases the EU’s leverage. In modern trade agreements, the EU incorporates Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters for labour and environmental matters. However, trade sanctions for non-compliance with this chapter are absent. Instead, a dedicated dispute settlement arrangement exists, leading to recommendations by a panel of experts. In 2019 the EU launched proceedings against South Korea for failing to uphold commitments to ratify and implement International Labour Organisation core conventions regarding trade unions under the 2011 EU–Korea Trade Agreement. In 2021, the panel of experts sided with the EU’s interpretation of commitments under the TSD chapter. This initial case represents the EU’s intention to focus on the implementation of TSD chapters. Using data from official documents, this article process-traces the dispute with Korea. It argues that the outcome of the case, and Korea’s ratification of fundamental International Labour Organisation conventions in 2021, demonstrate the potential of the TSD chapter, when forcefully enforced, to partially redress the weak sanctioning capacity in TSD chapters. It also uncovers important caveats regarding state capacity and alignment with government objectives as conditioning the effectiveness of TSD chapters’ non-legally binding sanctioning mechanisms.

International dimension of the indigenous problem in Latin America

The article examines the modern trends of the indigenous peoples’ development in Latin America and the obstacles of the indigenous population’s actorness in achieving political potential at the regional and global levels of international relations. Considerable attention is paid to a degree of ethnopolitical movements representativeness in the region and the role of indigenous peoples in the evolvement of alter-globalization line. The article provides an analysis of the dominant discourse from the perspective of the post-colonial concept Subaltern Studies in two fundamental documents: The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of 2007 and the International Labor Organization Convention N 169 of 1989. As a result of the study, the authors came to the conclusion that the indigenous peoples of Latin America have significant political potential, but in fact they cannot fully realize it due to the dominant colonial discourse, which does not allow promote the indigenous agenda at the global level and suppresses the actor's ability of indigenous peoples.

Delotvornost radnog zakonodavstva i uloga inspekcije rada u svetlu standarda Međunarodne organizacije rada

Regulation of labour relations is accompanied by adoption of measures pivotal to ensuring effective implementation of labour legislation. One of the most important measures is labour inspection. During the last century, a solid legal and institutional framework for labour inspection had been developed in most of the world, with many countries using the standards contained in the International Labour Organization conventions no. 81 and 129 as inspiration or model. Nevertheless, labour inspectors face many challenges and obstacles, because the proliferation of labour regulations and the emergence of new occupational risks and new forms of work are not accompanied by appropriate mechanisms to ensure effective protection of labour rights. This also applies to the emergence of economic and financial crises, which are regularly linked to employers' efforts to reduce the cost of work by bypassing the labour, social and tax regulations. We should not lose sight of the fact that a large number of workers are outside of the personal scope of application of labour legislation, which, in the contemporary world of work, is a serious obstacle to successful labour inspection. In addition, a large number of workers performs undeclared work, and the so-called externalization of work has blurred the legal position of workers, calling into question the traditional distinction between employment and independent work for others, but also the traditional (unitary) concept of an employer, as its prerogatives are now exercised by two or more entities. The seriousness of these challenges becomes even greater if we take into account the insufficient number of labour inspectors and their inadequate training, which often results in the unacceptably modest number of (registered and unregistered) entities being inspected. The low probability of inspection actually taking place will further encourage employers to continue to circumvent the applicable regulations. This is bolstered by the lenient penalties that the labour inspectors have at their disposal, as well as the fact that their work is often rendered meaningless by the negligence of the misdemeanor courts. Another problem is the lack of specialization of labour inspectors for certain labour issues, such as the protection of particularly sensitive categories of workers. The authoress seeks to examine the goals, functions and prerogatives of labour inspectors in view of the International Labour Organization standards, as well as to review them taking into consideration the current trends in labour law, like economic and political turn towards neoliberalism, economic and financial crises as well as the intense international migrations.