Advocacy

ILO undertakes a range of advocacy efforts, which reinforce the messages delivered through enterprise training programmes, such as SCORE. These include:

• Social marketing campaigns to promote positive workplace practices amongst workers and managers alike, both at the global and the country level.
• Engaging national counterparts (e.g. labour inspectorates, employer associations, etc.) and building their capacity to promote responsible workplace practices, thereby moving ILO objectives higher up their agenda.
• Adding ILO’s voice to the enterprise sustainability debate at the international and national level.

As a complement to ILO’s right-based approach, recent advocacy efforts have also emphasised the benefits that responsible workplace practices can bring to businesses, pointing out that:

• People are at the heart of competitive enterprises and workplace cooperation provides a way to tap into the knowledge, and harness the often unknown potential within the employee group.
• Respecting workers’ rights is one step along the road to compliance with labour standards and, increasingly, with contract terms addressing working conditions.
• Regular employee-management line meetings can lead to quick solutions and avoid long standing problems developing.
• Recruiting and replacing employees is a costly process and satisfactory working conditions can substantively reduce turnover.
• Improving safety and health prevents injuries and absences, and saves costs.