Labour standards

International labour standards have grown into a comprehensive system of instruments on work and social policy, backed by a supervisory system designed to address all sorts of problems in their application at the national level.

Supervisory bodies and procedures

General Introduction

Supervising the application of standards

Reports of the supervisory bodies

Complaint procedures

What's new

Nigeria ratifies the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006)

18 June 2013

On 18 June 2013, the Government of Nigeria deposited with the International Labour Office the instrument of ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006). Nigeria is the 37th ILO Member State and the fifth State from the African region – after Benin, Liberia, Morocco and Togo – to have ratified the landmark Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.
Paraguay ratifies the Domestic Workers Convention

09 May 2013

On 7 May 2013, the Government of Paraguay deposited with the International Labour Office the instrument of ratification of the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189). Paraguay is the seventh ILO member State and the third Latin American member State to ratify this instrument which, in accordance with its Article 21, paragraph 2 of the Convention, will enter into force on 5 September 2013, twelve months after the date on which it was ratified by two ILO member States.
Bolivia ratifies the Domestic Workers Convention

18 April 2013

Bolivia is the sixth ILO member State and the second Latin American member State to ratify this instrument
Information document on ratifications and standards-related activities

28 March 2013

The Information document on ratifications and standards-related activities (Report III (Part 2)) provides an overview of developments in international labour standards during 2012. It supplements the information contained in the report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (Report III) (Part 1A).
367th Report of the Committee on Freedom of Association

26 March 2013
The comments of the ILO's Supervisory bodies: Usefulness in the context of the sanction-based dimension of labour provisions in US free trade agreements

21 March 2013

This paper looks at recent complaints under the labour chapters of three US trade agreements – the CAFTA-DR, the US-Bahrain and the US-Peru FTAs – and undertakes a preliminary analysis of the use of the comments of the ILO’s supervisory bodies in the regulation mechanisms of labour provisions contained in those trade agreements
© Charly Triballeau / AFP 2013

France ratifies the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006)

28 February 2013

France is the 35th ILO Member State and the 13th EU member State to ratify this landmark Convention.
ILO publishes the annual report on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations 2013

25 February 2013

The Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, whose work constitutes the cornerstone of the ILO's supervisory system on international labour standards, has just published its annual reports.
Collective bargaining in the public service: a way forward

25 February 2013

General Survey of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (2013) concerning labour relations and collective bargaining in the public service.
Understanding the Indigenous and Tribal People Convention, 1989 (No. 169) - Handbook for ILO Tripartite Constituents

19 February 2013

This handbook aims to answer some of the essential questions regarding Convention No. 169 and is addressed to governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, as well as for indigenous and tribal peoples.