Publications

2011

1. 

   Study on Labour Inspection Sanctions and Remedies: The case of the United Kingdom

   31 August 2011

   This report describes the main features of the UK legal system for enforcement of labour standards, with a focus on the key strategies and sanctions available to government agencies responsible for oversight and enforcement of minimum employment standards and occupational health and safety.

2. 

   A Guide to Selected Labour Inspection Systems (with special reference to OSH)

   08 August 2011

   This “Guide to Selected Labour Inspection Systems” is part of a research programme in the area of labour administration and labour inspection carried out by the ILO Labour Inspection and Administration Programme (LAB/ADMIN) with a view to better understanding the functioning of the various systems in the world.

3. 

   Labour ministries and labour administration in transition: recent developments and future prospects

   29 May 2011

   This report is concerned with the organisation, resourcing and management of Labour Ministries and their role in national labour administration systems.

4. 

   Social Partners and the Governance of Public Employment Services: Trends and Experiences from Western Europe

   29 May 2011

   Public Employment Services (PESs) have undergone significant governance changes in recent years. This paper focuses on one important aspect: the role of the social partners. The cases selected include Austria, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom.

5. 

   International Labour Conference - Report on Labour Administration and Labour Inspection.

   04 April 2011

   Ahead of the 100th Session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva in June 2011, LAB/ADMIN has published a report that discusses the developments and future challenges for national systems of labour administration and labour inspection. This Report will be used as the basis for the ILC General Discussion on the same themes.

6. 

   Labour inspection and development: Some reflections

   30 March 2011

   This paper analyses the links between labour inspection and socio-economic development. It further provides an examination of tools and techniques for the identification, analysis and reporting of such links.

7. 

   Study on Labour Inspection Sanctions and Remedies: The case of Australia

   30 March 2011

   This report describes the main features of the Australian legal system for enforcement of labour standards, with a focus on the key strategies and sanctions available to government agencies responsible for oversight and enforcement of minimum employment standards and occupational health and safety.

8. 

   Labour Inspection in Italy

   30 March 2011

   The labour inspection system in Italy has undergone substantial changes. It had to adapt to the economic and social circumstances characterised by changes in the labour market and in the employment relationship and it had to respond in a more efficient way by ensuring compliance through preventive measures, advice and detection of labour legislation infractions.

9. 

   The Employment Relationship: A comparative overview

   05 January 2011

   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.

2010

1. 

   Technical Memorandum: Kenya

   05 December 2010

   This needs assessment of Kenya's labour administration and inspection systems was carried out upon the request of the Kenya Ministry of Labour. The exercise was part of the Government's initiative to build the capacity of its labour administration and inspection institutions following comprehensive national labour law reforms in 2007.

2. 

   Technical Memorandum: South Africa

   02 September 2010

   This needs assessment of South Africa's labour administration was carried out in the context of the ILO-Norway project "Strengthening Labour Inspection Services" (INT/09/62/NOR).

3. 

   Technical Memorandum: Tanzania

   16 August 2010

   This audit of Tanzania‟s labour administration and inspection services was carried out in the context of the ILO‟s project, Improving Labour Law Compliance in the United Republic of Tanzania (URT/08/03/USA), which is a project supported by the United States Department of Labour over a three-year period (2009-2012). The audit covered both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, which have separate labour ministries, inspectorates and labour legislation. Initial fieldwork was carried out in September 2009, with additional interviews and data collection lasting through November 2009.

4. 

   A comparative overview of terms and notions on employee participation

   02 March 2010

   Workers' participation, employee involvement, information and consultation are topics of relevance for labour administrators. Procedures for information and consultation of employees and their representatives exist everywhere. They can be of a different nature and reflect, inevitably, the labour administration and industrial relations systems within which they are applied.

5. Good labour practice compilation of labour inspection practices and guidelines for effective labour inspections in EPZs

   02 March 2010

   Labour inspection, as a main part of labour administration, is vital for ensuring that the principles of international labour standards are implemented at the enterprise and branch level and in promoting good governance in the world of work and making Decent Work a reality. In this context, export processing zones (EPZs) call for special attention because of the significant difficulties faced in carrying out effective labour inspections. The general lack of resources (material and human) and training of labour inspectors along with the non-existence of a clear legal framework present particular challenges for EPZ inspections. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to document and disseminate good labour inspection practices in EPZs that may be replicated elsewhere.

6. Labour inspection in Europe: undeclared work, migration, trafficking

   21 January 2010

   This report was prepared by LAB/ADMIN team as reference document for a meeting held in Budapest (29-30 October 2009) on labour inspection and undeclared work migration and trafficking in Europe. It highlights some of the different labour inspection measures taken in law and practice by the EU countries and it is based in part on a questionnaire filled out by participants prior to the event. A series of guidelines were prepared and endorsed by the experts based on the discussions with the hope that they will assist labour inspectorates and policy makers as they work toward developing more effective and better coordinated labour inspection responses to the phenomenon of undeclared work.

7. 

   Compliance with labour legislation: its efficacy and efficiency

   19 January 2010

   This volume is part of research and studies under the new Programme on Labour Administration and Inspection. The relationship between labour law and its efficacy and efficiency is not a new subject. However, the debate around this topic is becoming even more important in the light of the current crisis.

2009

1. Labour Administrations and National Labour Policies Current Challenges, Practices and Policies

   26 November 2009

   The current economic crisis has created multiple challenges for national systems of labour administration. The primary challenge has been the rapid increase in responsibilities entrusted to labour ministries and their agencies. The changed economic conditions and the resulting social disruption has led a majority of countries to adopt rescue programmes that represent a significant increase in all traditional areas of labour policy, such as employment, training and social protection. The purpose of this paper is to outline some responses of labour administration systems to the current crisis and to discuss the extent to which elements of these responses, adopted under the pressures of economic crisis and social hardship, could possibly outlive the crisis and represent lasting changes or new trends in labour policies.

2. The global economic and social crisis and its impact on labour inspection systems

   26 November 2009

   During the crisis, companies have made difficult choices in an effort to reconcile the survival of firms with security of employment, wages and benefits. In many cases, employees who feared losing their jobs accepted lower wages or reduced working time rather than face the prospect of unemployment. Sometimes these decisions were made through negotiation or concession bargaining between unions and employers. In other cases, such decisions were taken unilaterally by management. Regardless how the decisions were made, there is a vital role for labour inspectors to ensure that these compromises, while perhaps necessary and consensual, do not violate the rights of workers.

3. Smuggling-in flexibility: Temporary work contracts and the “implicit threat” mechanism. Reflections on a new European path

   28 October 2009

   This paper describes some of the changes which have taken place in business and workforce practices in recent decades. In particular, it focuses on firms’ increasing recourse to outsourcing and non-standard forms of employment in pursuit of business flexibility.

4. Technical Memorandum: Ethiopia Labour Inspection Audit.

   01 October 2009

   This report contains a number of recommendations for consideration by MOLSA and their social partners. These recommendations relate to several broad themes, such as the need for a national policy on labour inspection, better communications and data collection, organization and planning, human and material resources and training. A particular focus of this audit was the role of labour inspectors in helping to combat HIV/AIDS, supporting the aims of the SIDA project “HIV/AIDS prevention and impact mitigation in the world of work in Sub- Saharan Africa”.