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95th Session of the International Labour Conference in 2006 - The Employment Relationship

A standard setting discussion in 2006

In March 2004, the Governing Body decided to place an item on the Employment Relationship on the agenda of the 95th Session of the International Labour Conference in 2006, in view of the possible adoption of an International Labour Recommendation. To this end, the ILO issued a law and practice report (Report V (1) - ILC 95th Session - Employment Relationship) in 2005, which includes a questionnaire for the Member States. In February-March 2006, the ILO published Report V (2A) containing the summary of replies received and the commentary of the ILO, as well as Report V (2B) with the draft Recommendation to be submitted to the Conference. These reports are available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, German, Russian.

Background

This issue was addressed by the International Labour Conference at its 85th and 86th sessions (see the Report of the ‘Contract Labour’ Commission, and its adoption). While efforts to adopt a Convention and Recommendation failed, the International Labour Office was requested by the Conference to continue its work in examining which workers needed protection in the situations that the Committee of the Conference had begun to identify (see the 1998 Resolution). The Conference furthermore invited the Governing Body to place this issue on the agenda of a future session of the International Labour Conference with a view to the possible adoption of new instruments.

In this context, 29 national studies were undertaken by the Office during 1999-2001 to be supplemented by ten others done at a later stage (see below in Further Information). These studies demonstrated that many workers suffer from a lack of protection arising from disguised or ambiguous employment relationships, relationships that fall outside the scope of legislation, are under-regulated, or are ignored by enforcement bodies.

These studies formed the basis for a basic technical document (MEWNP/2000) which was submitted to a tripartite Meeting of Experts on Workers in Situations Needing Protection which took place at ILO headquarters in Geneva, May 2000. This meeting issued a common statement calling upon member States to pursue national policies to address the lack of protection experienced by these workers and, if necessary, bring legislation in line with current employment realities. This statement further elaborated possible ILO actions in this area as including the adoption of international instruments by the Conference, the provision of technical cooperation to member States and the facilitation of the exchange of information concerning changes in employment relationships.

A general discussion on the issue was furthermore included in the 91st Session of the International Labour Conference in 2003 to which the ILO submitted a report (Report V - ILC 91th Session - Employment Relationship). The Conference adopted important conclusions concerning the employment relationship and the significant role the ILO has to play in this area. In particular, the conference considered that the ILO should envisage the adoption of an international response on this topic, and a Recommendation was an appropriate response. See also the Report of the ‘employment relationships’ committee)..

Questionnaire

In preparation for the upcoming discussion at the 95th International Labour Conference, Governments were invited to give detailed replies to the abovementioned questionnaire (rtf 135 KB), in consultation with the most representative organizations or workers and employers . The replies were received during 2005 from governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations of 78 countries.

Contact

Social Dialogue, Labour Law and Labour Administration Department (DIALOGUE)
International Labour Office
4, route des Morillons
Geneva CH-1211
Switzerland

Tel: +41 22 799 7035
Fax: +41 22 799 8479

Further information

Last update: 27 September 2006

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