Good Practices in Labour Administration

Introduction

The practices and innovations presented here are taken from a work compiled by the ILO's Department for Government, Labour Law and Administration (GLLAD), titled Labour Administration as a Key Partner in Development: New Organizational and Working Priority, due to be availalble in November 2000 ^*. They have been placed into four categories: labour, employment, labour relations, and - given the importance of the subject - evaluation.

The list of countries where these innovations and practices have been put in place was chosen according to certain criteria:

• the principle fields of activity in which labour administration is involved;
• balanced representation according to geographical region, stage of economic development, etc.; and
• the principal forms of government (centralized or decentralized, etc.).

Each practice or innovation has first been studied according to certain themes, such as historical background, institutional framework, ways of application, management of human resources, information technology, partnerships utilized, financing, and evaluation. They have then been described taking into account the three dimensions proper to labour administration:

• the fields of activity in which it is implemented;
• the various users of the services offered; and
• the different levels at which these practices are implemented.

The mode of functioning of the various political, legislative and administrative authorities

The first element presented is a description of the socio-economic situation of the country, preceded by an overview of the normal manner of functioning of the legislative, political and administrative authorities, i.e. the traditions and culture in these matters. Do we speak of a country characterised by an oral or written tradition, by negotiation between the various social partners or decisions imposed by political authorities, by social conflict or workers' participation? To the greatest extent possible, we have described the manner of functioning of the national bodies (parliament, prime minister, ministry of labour, etc.) responsible for the measures being dealt with in the study, and added important events which have had an influence on those bodies.

The historical stages of the putting into place of the administrative system are sometimes noted to the extent that they assist in understanding the outcome and the means by which action was taken.

This is followed by a synopsis of the situation in the field which gave rise to the decision taken. This situation is political, economic, social and sociological in nature. If the measure in question is concerned with the re-employment of workers made redundant, then we must take into account the background situation on the one hand, and on the other the level of commitment of the government, and popular perception and degree acceptance of the changes, in order to understand the significance of the measure. What problems are being addressed and by what means - regulation, legislation or decree?

The origin of the action

The background of the action is sometimes dated. A law, decree or regulation may have been envisaged at a specific moment and afterwards revised, reviewed, modified, etc. Which actor - parliament, the Prime Minister, the ministry of labour, a special committee - initiated it? Can we know the relationship between these different actors?

Objectives of the Action

Next, the official, publicly stated objectives of the action are described - but keeping in mind the political context and the actions' strategic value of these objectives. The success or failure of a measure can depend on the manner in which it sets in motion, assists, promotes, obstructs or constrains this or that actor. For example, an initiative to protect the health of workers, the objective of which may appear neutral and above partisan conflict, still can only be understood if we take into account the interests of the actors involved, especially those of the workers' and employers' organizations regardless of whether they have a tradition of either antagonism or negotiation.

Knowledge of the preceding factors guide the actors to effectively present their situation and commit themselves to action. It is here that those concerned with labour administration will find those elements delineating the action they shall engage in.

Warning

We emphasize that these examples were studied primarily from 1998 to 1999; the information given refers, therefore, to that period.

The legislative and political contexts, even the mechanisms themselves, might have changed drastically since then.

Note: This site shall soon be augmented from other sources and constitute a data base on best preactices in labour administration included as a part of the ATLAS data base on national systems.