Working conditions

Working conditions are at the core of paid work and employment relationships. Generally speaking, working conditions cover a broad range of topics and issues, from working time (hours of work, rest periods, and work schedules) to remuneration, as well as the physical conditions and mental demands that exist in the workplace.

The ILO monitors trends and developments regarding working time, work organisation, and work-life balance around the world and analyses key and emerging issues, in order to provide ILO constituents and policymakers with practical information and research-based policy advice grounded in state-of-the-art knowledge. In addition the ILO seeks to collaborate with national research institutes and academic institutions to obtain the state-of-the-art knowledge needed to support workers and employers in developing and implementing balanced working time arrangements that can protect workers’ health, benefit their well-being and work-life balance, and promote sustainable enterprises as well.

Key resources

  1. Working Conditions Laws Database

    The INWORK Database of Conditions of Work and Employment Laws provides a picture of the regulatory environment of working time, minimum wages and maternity protection in more than 100 countries around the world (database).

  2. Decent Working Time

    Provides an exploration of current developments in working time in the industrialized world; how those developments vary in different countries and under different sets of socio-economic circumstances; and the public and enterprise policies that are best suited to addressing these developments.

Highlights

  1. The Employment Relationship: A comparative overview

    This book presents the complex relation of labour legislation to the employment relationship, reporting on the many terms, notions, definitions, laws and practice in the various regions of the world.