Abstract A large literature links de-unionization to determinants of health, but direct evidence on objective health outcomes remains scarce. Exploiting the staggered implementation of right-to-work (RTW) laws across four US states, we quantify the role of union presence in opioid misuse. We combine the synthetic control method with staggered differences-in-differences to estimate time-varying effects. RTW adoption is followed by a persistent decline in unionization within 4 to 6 years, and this decline is associated with sizable increases in both nonfatal and fatal opioid overdoses, with no comparable changes for non-opioid drugs. Effects are concentrated among working-age men and align with channels tied to workplace conditions, including higher occupational risk, lower wages, longer hours, and elevated work stress. Taken together, the evidence indicates that the decline in unionization meaningfully contributes to the opioid crisis in affected states.

Spain’s social security system has served as a social tool that has adapted to the transformation of migration flows. From this perspective, it is clear how social security benefits have evolved from primarily supporting Spaniards returning to their country –through instruments such as old-age pensions, unemployment benefits, and extraordinary allowances– To the current approach, which focuses more on incentivising immigration flows. This article analyses this particular role of social security, using Spain as case study. This country is an exceptional example due to the large number of bilateral social security agreements signed with third countries and by the fact of being part of the Ibero-American Multilateral Agreement on Social Security, a pioneering experiment with the objective of guaranteeing the rights of migrant workers and their families.

The article examines the practical aspects of unifying the rules for calculating average earnings, aimed at more accurately reflecting the real labor income of a medical worker in calculations, which will ensure fairness in calculating compensation and benefits, reduce the risks of financial losses, avoid violations of labor rights, and optimize the costs of a medical organization through the rational use of the wage fund. The analysis of the procedure for calculating average earnings and their maintenance, including monetary and non-monetary payments for work in rural medical institutions, is carried out. The mechanism of calculating the average salary is considered, as well as law enforcement practice explaining the key concepts of the average earnings regime to ensure established guarantees of the labor rights of medical workers.

Although public debate casts the European care crisis as a demographic challenge and a labour shortage, its deeper causes lie in the erosion of solidaristic commitments within welfare regimes. While international human rights law and EU human rights frameworks proclaim commitments to dignity, equality and decent work, the rights of migrant live-in care workers remain largely symbolic, undermined by fragmented regulation, weak enforcement and institutionalized ambiguity. This paper advances the human rights perspective on care grounded in solidarity, one that could reconfigure EU governance of care beyond the precarious commodification of migrant labour. It approaches the care crisis as a governance crisis and analyses how solidarity operates both as a legitimizing discourse and as a hollowed-out principle within European welfare regimes. Through the socio-legal analysis of the 2021 German Federal Labour Court judgment in the case of Ms Dobrina Alekseva, a Bulgarian live-in caregiver whose claim for unpaid wages exposed the limits of legal recognition, the paper traces how human rights are enacted and contested across legal, policy and intimate domains of care. The discussed case illustrates that current regimes can sustain a form of de-solidarization in which rights remain largely symbolic, and in care relations, care workers bear the greatest risks.

The article focuses on the problems of effective practical implementation of legal norms designed to regulate domestic work in Ukraine. Across the world, domestic work is not always recognized as ‘real’ work, resulting in low wages and poor working conditions for domestic workers. The location of work performed by domestic workers who provide certain services in the household is an additional factor of instability, as it makes such workers more vulnerable to abuse by employers. At the same time, domestic work, which is largely ‘publicly invisible’, is quite dificult to regulate and control by the state. The author reveals the problems of the legal status of domestic workers, who remain vulnerable to abuse by employers and limited access to labour rights and social protection. It is proven that, despite the existence of international ILO standards, in particular Convention No. 189 and Recommendation No. 201, the practice of most states, including Ukraine, demonstrates significant gaps in the regulation, control and implementation of the rights of domestic workers. A conclusion has been formulated regarding the inadequacy of existing Ukrainian legislation, in particular after the adoption of Law No. 3680-IX ‘On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Regulation of Domestic Workers,’ which legalised the work of domestic workers but did not eliminate key regulatory shortcomings related to working conditions, working hours, social insurance, tax regulation and inspection control. For the effective legalisation of domestic workers and, most importantly, the proper implementation of their labour rights, directions for improving national legislation by bringing it into line with international standards have been proposed. It is necessary to develop a set of measures aimed at: further bringing national legislation into line with international standards, in particular ILO Convention No. 189 and Recommendation No. 201; improving tax legislation and creating an effective mechanism for the participation of domestic workers in the compulsory state social insurance system; encouraging formal employment by creating clear advantages for both employers and domestic workers to conclude employment contracts, in particular, developing a model employment contract for domestic work; conducting campaigns to raise public awareness and inform domestic workers about their rights, available support systems, existing trade unions or other representative organisations of domestic workers; monitoring and effective law enforcement by creating effective mechanisms to ensure the implementation of new regulations governing domestic work. Keywords: domestic worker, domestic work, decent work, social protection, labour rights and guarantees, employment contract, discrimination, international standards.

This paper argues that eliminating employment discrimination is a prerequisite for achieving the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Decent Work Agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8) in Nigeria. Drawing from the ILO’s Decent Work Indicator Framework, the paper explores how entrenched gender bias, weak labour administration and poor policy enforcement undermine fair wages, job security, and social protection, thereby hindering inclusive economic growth. It further highlights the crucial role of trade unions particularly the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their affiliates in combating inequality through collective bargaining, advocacy, and social dialogue. However, trade unions themselves face internal gender disparities that limit their representative capacity. The paper proposes a coordinated approach involving legal reform, capacity-building, integration of equality clauses into collective agreements, and international solidarity among unions. These strategies are essential to dismantle systemic discrimination, strengthen labour institutions and advance a non-discriminatory, equitable, and productive work environment that upholds the dignity and rights of all Nigerian workers.

ABSTRACT International relations, international law and political science provide different accounts of the relationship between international and domestic law and how this relationship should be measured and assessed. Yet the ‘black box’ of the state, and particularly the judicial system, as the core implementer of international law, remains underexamined empirically. This article presents findings from a unique cross-national database, the Migrant Worker Rights Database, in which 869 court cases were analysed to ascertain the influence of international law within domestic judicial outcomes. We conclude that while international law is not very important in broad domestic enforcement of migrant rights through the courts, that when it is utilised domestically, it is influenced by domestic factors that include: the method of incorporation of international law into domestic law – through executive or legislative powers; judicial reticence, informed by judicial seniority; and the capacity for litigants to appeal to supranational courts. This leads us to conclude that while international law generally does not play a large role in the domestic legal enforcement of migrant rights, when it does, domestic factors are important for supporting or blocking such inclusion.

It is routinely recommended that level-1 variables in multilevel models be disaggregated when they are of substantive importance. Yet, the consensus on the disaggregation of level-1 covariates is more mixed. Disaggregation clarifies interpretation and reduces bias in the covariate, though some methodologists argue that it is unnecessary when the covariate itself is not of substantive interest. Our study builds off recent work to explore the tradeoffs between bias and precision when choosing to disaggregate level-1 covariates when the primary interest lies in a level-2 predictor. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, we examine how factors such as the intraclass correlation, the magnitude of the contextual effect, the within- and between-level effect sizes, the correlation among level-2 effects, sample size at both levels, and the method of disaggregation (manifest versus latent) influence bias, precision, and power of a level-2 focal estimate. Our findings suggest that although disaggregation generally improves interpretability and reduces bias, there are conditions where a non-disaggregated approach may yield greater precision. These insights inform best practices for handling lower-level covariates in multilevel models.It is routinely recommended that level-1 variables in multilevel models be disaggregated when they are of substantive importance. Yet, the consensus on the disaggregation of level-1 covariates is more mixed. Disaggregation clarifies interpretation and reduces bias in the covariate, though some methodologists argue that it is unnecessary when the covariate itself is not of substantive interest. Our study builds off the work of Rights et al. to explore the tradeoffs between bias and precision when choosing to disaggregate level-1 covariates when the primary interest lies in a level-2 predictor. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, we examine how factors such as the intraclass correlation, the magnitude of the contextual effect, the within- and between-level effect sizes, the correlation among level-2 effects, sample size at both levels, and the method of disaggregation (manifest versus latent) influence bias, precision, and power of a level-2 focal estimate. Our findings suggest that although disaggregation generally improves interpretability and reduces bias, there are conditions where a non-disaggregated approach may yield greater precision. These insights inform best practices for handling lower-level covariates in multilevel models.

This paper traces the evolution of the United Arab Emirates’ strong public emphasis on interfaith dialogue from the pragmatic bestowal of rights for workers and guests to a consciously articulated doctrine of coexistence. It argues that while the UAE’s initiatives in tolerance and religious coexistence arise from authentic Islamic and ethical convictions, they also function as deliberate instruments of soft power serving three overlapping purposes: consolidating domestic cohesion within a multi-faith society, enhancing the country’s global reputation and tourism appeal, and strengthening international partnerships. Drawing on official policy statements, government programs, and academic literature, the paper demonstrates that the UAE’s model of institutionalized tolerance represents a synthesis of conviction and calculation rather than a contradiction between them. It contends that moral sincerity and strategic interest reinforce one another and produce a distinctive form of moral statecraft.

Protection for workers aims to ensure welfare, equality of rights, and freedom from discrimination, including for outsourced workers as implemented by PLN. The enactment of the Job Creation Law has brought changes to the outsourcing contract scheme at PLN, which was previously based solely on subcontracting and has now changed to three types: subcontracting, volume-based, and mixed. The change in the contract scheme has affected the status of outsourced workers, making them workers with Fixed-Term Employment Agreements (PKWT) who are no longer directly recorded and supervised by PLN. This condition triggers the potential vulnerability of normative rights for outsourced workers, such as job security, severance pay, social security, and protection from termination of employment. This research emphasizes the need for policy evaluation and adjustment to ensure that the legal protection for outsourced workers continues to align with the constitution and principles of social justice. This study aims to analyze the impact of Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation (Job Creation Law) on the legal protection and rights of outsourced workers at PT PLN (Persero) Makassar Region, highlighting the shift in contract schemes from permanent to fixed-term contracts and the potential weakening of protections, as well as providing policy recommendations for social justice and legal certainty for workers. The research uses a doctrinal method with systematic and qualitative analysis of the relationships between regulations, concluding with an analysis of PLN's outsourcing policy post-Job Creation Law, which includes guarantees when outsourcing workers' rights.

This study aims to critically examine how Law Number 4 of 2024 concerning the Welfare of Mothers and Children in the First Thousand Days of Life (KIA Law) reproduces gender bias against female workers through a law-and-gender-equality perspective. The problem raised is that several articles in the KIA Law perpetuate the domestication of women due to the minimal paternity leave provided and the lack of regulation of wage rights for workers who take paternity leave. This results in female workers being required to take full responsibility for the welfare of their children, while male workers are only minimally protected because they do not receive protection for their roles as fathers and husbands. The research method used is normative legal research with statutory and conceptual approaches. This study shows that in Indonesia, there is a stereotype that men's roles are in the public sector and women's roles are in the domestic sector. Although many women currently play roles in the public sector, domestication still occurs, creating a dual role for women. The KIA Law has not yet addressed this issue. The design of paternity leave and unclear wage schemes during this leave in the KIA Law still reflects structural gender bias that encourages the domestication of women. Lack of support from men, which aligns with the role of men, leads women to choose to stop working after giving birth. This research provides a normative contribution to the development of gender-equality-based employment regulations and serves as the basis for recommendations for parental leave policy reform in Indonesia.

This study aims to analyze the validity of the detention clause diploma by the company through the perspective of labor law and power relations theory. The phenomenon of diploma withholding is still found in the practice of Labor Relations in Indonesia, although it has no explicit legal basis in labor regulations and is often justified as a form of safeguarding the interests of the company. This practice reflects the inequality of positions between employers and workers, giving rise to an urgency to reassess its legal legitimacy within the framework of protecting the fundamental rights of workers. The research method used is juridical normative approach to legislation and conceptual. The results showed that the detention of diplomas is contrary to the principles of freedom of work, the principle of equality, and respect for human dignity as reflected in Law Number 13 of 2003 concerning manpower amended by Law Number 6 of 2023 concerning the establishment of government regulations in lieu of Law Number 2 of 2022 concerning job creation into law. The conclusion of the study confirms that the diploma withholding clause in the employment agreement is invalid and should have been declared null and void. The novelty of the study lies in the use of Michel Foucault's theory of power relations to explain the detention of diplomas as an instrument of control that maintains the structural dominance of employers over workers in modern industrial relations.

Female sex workers (FSWs) are often a mobile population, but the role of mobility in influencing FSW social capital outcomes-defined here as engagement with HIV intervention activities and community mobilization-remains unclear. To date, the evidence is mixed, with mobility both facilitating and hindering community engagement, depending on the context. This study is the first to employ a mixed-methods approach to examine how mobility impacts these outcomes. We combined baseline survey data from 211 FSWs living with HIV with semi-structured interview data from a sub-cohort of 20 FSWs in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Contrary to the expectation that mobility would reduce engagement, our quantitative findings indicate that mobile FSWs were more likely to participate in various HIV interventions, such as support groups for people living with HIV, compared to their non-mobile counterparts. Additionally, mobile women were more than twice as likely to engage in community mobilization efforts, such as rallies to promote sex worker rights, even after controlling for sociodemographic variables. Many participants, despite their mobility, shared that they actively engaged in HIV-related and community mobilization activities in Santo Domingo and gained benefits from these activities. Study implications highlight the need for more sex worker-driven activities in and outside of Santo Domingo to offer mobile women greater opportunities to connect and build social cohesion, as well as the development of mobile-friendly service delivery models and apps to facilitate connections when traveling outside the capital.

This research examines the urgency of implementing the principle of joint liability in outsourcing labor relations in Indonesia following the enactment of Law Number 6 of 2023 concerning Job Creation. The primary issue addressed is the imbalance in the protection of workers' normative rights when service providers default, while user companies tend to distance themselves from legal responsibility due to the absence of a direct contractual employment relationship. The research methodology employed is juridical normative, utilizing a statutory approach and a conceptual approach. The results indicate that the flexibility of the outsourcing system in recent regulations often overlooks aspects of job security and worker welfare. The application of the joint liability principle is viewed as a fair legal solution to ensure that fundamental worker rights, such as minimum wages, social security, and compensation, remain fulfilled despite financial constraints on the service provider's side. The integration of responsibility between provider and user companies not only provides a guarantee for the workforce but also encourages the creation of a more ethical and responsible business climate. The research conclusion emphasizes that to achieve a balance between business efficiency and labor protection, national regulations need to clarify the position of collective responsibility in outsourcing practices in Indonesia.

Background. Wages are normative rights and basic rights of workers that arise from the employment relationship between workers and employers. Wages not only serve as a reward for the energy and time that workers have given, but also as a means to guarantee a decent livelihood for workers and their families. Therefore, the state is obliged to provide legal protection for the fulfillment of workers' wage rights through the regulation and mechanism of resolving industrial relations disputes. Although Law No. 13 of 2003 concerning Manpower and Law No. 2 of 2004 concerning the Settlement of Industrial Relations Disputes have regulated wage rights and their settlement mechanisms, in practice there are still frequent wage violations that give rise to rights disputes. Purpose. This study aims to analyze the legal arrangements regarding workers' wage rights under Law Number 13 of 2003 and to examine the mechanism for resolving disputes over workers' wage rights under Law Number 2 of 2004. Method. The research method used is normative juridical research with a statutory approach and a conceptual approach. The legal materials used consist of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources collected through literature reviews and analyzed qualitatively. Results. The results of the study show that the legal arrangements regarding workers' wage rights have normatively provided clear and comprehensive protections, including the obligation of employers to pay wages on time, the prohibition on wage payments below the minimum wage, and the regulation of sanctions for wage violations. However, in industrial relations practice, there remains a gap between legal norms and their implementation due to weak labor supervision, low worker legal awareness, and a lack of firmness in law enforcement. Conclusion. The mechanism for resolving wage disputes through bipartite negotiations, mediation, conciliation, and Industrial Relations Courts has been regulated in stages, but has not been fully effective in providing optimal legal protection for workers. Implementation. It is necessary to strengthen the state's role through increased supervision, consistent law enforcement, and legal education for workers to ensure the fulfillment of wage rights in a fair and equitable manner.

This article seeks to clarify the content of creative workers’ right to the protection of their labour rights in Ukraine and to determine the position of that right within the wider system of such workers’ labour rights. Creative workers possess a corpus of rights as an integral element of their labour status: general (baseline) rights that form the foundation of the guarantee system and accrue equally to all persons employed under a contract of employment; special rights flowing from the distinctive legal status of creative workers as a professional category performing creative functions; and specific rights attaching to creative workers who also fall within protected categories, such as persons with disabilities or those with particular family responsibilities. Yet the nominal entrenchment of rights in legislation and contract is not synonymous with their effectiveness in practice, a disparity that is particularly acute in the creative sector. In the absence of adequate guarantees, the catalogue of rights risks degenerating into progressive but declaratory provisions; moreover, creative workers require legally defined and institutionally supported avenues (both human-rights based and law-enforcement oriented) to confirm the reality of their labour rights whenever these are disputed, unrecognised, or otherwise called into question. In these circumstances, the proper guarantee of a creative worker’s right to the protection of labour rights becomes pivotal: it is an autonomous subjective right belonging to the class of basic employee rights and it functions as a systemic guarantee that renders all other labour rights effective in fact. In formal terms, the purpose of this right is to secure the exercise and restoration of violated labour rights and to prevent further infringements. Conceptually, its purpose is to sustain a condition of socially safe existence that flows from participation in an employment relationship. It also serves a background aim: the re-establishment of an appropriate level of social security through the operation of Ukraine’s labour-law regime in the particular employee’s case. Taken together, these aims underscore the right’s socio-legal significance and confirm that, for creative workers, the acquisition and exercise of the right to the protection of labour rights is, first, a basic guarantee of the existence of employment as a socially safe form of legal interaction and, secondly, a specific guarantee of the proper implementation of the principle of decent work. They also reflect the evolution of modern labour law on humanistic foundations that unconditionally prioritise the person over production and industrial processes. Accordingly, the right of creative workers to the protection of labour rights occupies a central position within the system of labour rights: it is part of the basic (general) corpus of employee rights; it operates both as an autonomous entitlement and as a guarantee right that renders all other labour rights effective in practice. In functional terms, it performs instrumental, restorative, safeguarding, and deterrent roles. Keywords: creative worker, employee, equality, human-centrism, labour law, labour rights, reality of labour rights, right to protection, social security

Immigrants' employment is linked with health care access in the US, but we lack a thorough understanding of how immigrants' experiences of employment exclusions influence their health care access in the context of immigrant racialization. We aimed to assess employment exclusions (i.e., exclusions from jobs and violations at work) across Asian and Latine foreign-born adults, the two largest immigrant racial groups, and their associations with health care access. We also sought to understand variations by race, and current or past legal status. We used 2018-2020 Research on Immigrant Health and State Policy survey data from 2,010 Latine and Asian foreign-born adults in California. We measured seven indicators of employment exclusions and used weighted logistic regression to estimate associations between employment exclusions and health care access: usual source of care and delaying care in the past 12 months. We tested race, current legal status and past legal status as moderators. Nearly one-quarter (23.8%) of respondents reported ≥1 employment exclusion. Latine racial identity, current status as a non-citizen without permanent residency, and being previously undocumented was associated with greater employment exclusions. Employment exclusions were associated with 1.47 times (95% CI: 1.27, 1.69) greater odds of delaying care. Previous undocumented status, but not race or current legal status, moderated associations between violations at work and delay in care. Latine immigrants face a greater number of barriers to employment opportunities and protections of worker rights compared to Asians, while employment exclusions and past legal status drives poorer health care utilization.

As commercial space activities surge and plans for permanent extraterrestrial settlements advance, a critical gap has emerged in international law: the absence of enforceable human rights protections for individuals operating beyond Earth. This article examines whether existing international human rights treaties apply extraterritorially to outer space and what obligations exist for states and private actors under current space law. Through doctrinal legal analysis of international treaties, case law, and scholarly commentary, this research reveals that while foundational space law instruments—including the Outer Space Treaty (1967), the Rescue Agreement (1968), and the Moon Agreement (1979)—establish principles of peaceful cooperation and state responsibility, they lack explicit human rights protections essential for addressing contemporary challenges. These challenges include labor rights for space workers, equitable resource allocation, corporate accountability, and protection against exploitation in isolated extraterrestrial environments. Drawing on extraterritorial human rights jurisprudence, particularly from the European Court of Human Rights in Al-Skeini v United Kingdom and the International Court of Justice's advisory opinions, this article argues that human rights obligations follow states beyond terrestrial boundaries wherever they exercise effective control or authority. The article proposes concrete legal reforms, including amendments to existing space treaties, establishment of a UN Human Rights in Space Commission, and development of a Space Human Rights Convention to ensure that fundamental dignities, freedoms, and protections recognized on Earth extend equally to orbit, the Moon, and Mars.

This study analyzed the values attributed to care services and approaches to enhancing such values among workers engaged in long-term care and disability activity support. Using a general qualitative research method, ten care workers were interviewed and analyzed. The results revealed that in the domain of economic value, categories such as improving unstable employment conditions, reforming wage and allowance systems, and enhancing treatment were identified. In the domain of relational value, social awareness improvement, educational support for self-management and development of care workers, and efforts to strengthen mutual trust were derived. In the domain of human rights value, categories such as addressing unfair treatment, reducing instructions beyond job scope, and advocating for the rights of care workers were identified. Based on these findings, several implications were suggested.

Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems represent a paradigm shift from assistive automation to autonomous decision-making entities capable of independent reasoning, planning, and execution of tasks. While such systems offer efficiency, scalability, and personalization in education and employment domains, their autonomous nature introduces complex legal and regulatory challenges. This paper critically examines the legal implications of deploying agentic AI systems in academic assessment, student evaluation, recruitment, performance appraisal, and workforce decision-making. Through a systematic literature review and doctrinal legal analysis, the study identifies regulatory gaps related to accountability, transparency, algorithmic bias, data protection, and the absence of meaningful human oversight. The findings indicate that existing AI governance frameworks primarily regulate assistive or predictive AI systems and are insufficient to address the risks posed by autonomous agentic systems. The paper proposes a human-centric regulatory framework emphasizing shared liability, explainability, procedural fairness, and enforceable rights for students and workers. This study contributes to the emerging discourse on responsible governance of agentic AI by offering domain-specific legal insights for education and employment decision-making.