All ILO Newsroom content
January 2022
-
Publication
The evolution of labour law: Calibrating and comparing regulatory regimes
13 January 2022
Using a newly-created data set which measures legal change over time, the authors present evidence on the evolution of labour law in Germany, France, India, the United Kingdom and the United States. Their analysis casts light on the claim that “legal origin” affects the content of labour law regimes. While some divergence between common law and civil law countries is found at the aggregate level, a more complex picture emerges from consideration of specific areas of labour law. The authors discuss the potential significance of this relatively new measurement-based approach to understanding the forces that shape the evolution of labour law.
September 2021
-
International Labour Review, Centenary Collection (2021), No. 2
Introduction: Labour and technology – Reflecting on a century of debate in theInternational Labour Review
20 September 2021
The aim of this Centenary Issue is to assess a century of debates about the relationships between labour and technology as reflected in various relevant articles in the International Labour Review. The recent wave of interest in sociotechnical change and its implications for the future of work has led numerous commentators to claim that we are on the brink of unprecedented and seismic change. The 14 articles selected for this issue were published between 1925 and 2020 and provide a timely reflection on foundational debates that continue to resonate today.
July 2021
-
International Labour Review, Centenary Collection (2021), No. 1
Introduction: The long discourse on informality as reflected in selected articles of the International Labour Review
19 July 2021
This article presents a Centenary Issue on Informality to mark the 100th anniversary of the International Labour Review (ILR). The issue brings together ten articles published in the ILR between 1975 and 2016 that are devoted exclusively to the analysis of informality. This introduction begins with an analytical framework, considers the origins of the informality discourse and then discusses the articles in this Centenary Issue, locating them in the broader literature through illustrative rather than comprehensive referencing. It concludes by looking ahead to what the coming decades of analysis and policy discourse may bring.
May 2021
-
ILO brief
Implications of the COVID-19 crisis for enterprises’ human resource management policies and practices
19 May 2021
The COVID-19 crisis has increased the importance of human and social capital for enterprise success. The competitiveness and viability — even survival — of an enterprise increasingly depend on its ability to make its employees motivated, skilled and committed. This can only be achieved in a workplace environment characterized by a spirit of social dialogue, mutual trust and respect, non-discrimination, and the absence of violence and harassment. This brief illustrates how enterprises have coped with the COVID-19 pandemic by adjusting their people management approaches, policies and practices.
-
International Labour Review - Centenary Collection (2021)
Delving into the past – Looking to the future
05 May 2021
This Editorial introduces the Centenary Collection published by the International Labour Review as part of the celebration of its 100th anniversary in 2021. In particular, it provides the background and highlights the content and purpose of this virtual Collection.
December 2020
-
International Labour Review, Vol. 159 (2020), No. 4
The Rana Plaza disaster seven years on: Transnational experiments and perhaps a new treaty?
18 December 2020
This article examines several noteworthy initiatives that were implemented following the deadly 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh. They broke new ground in transnational labour law. The ILO-backed initiatives were largely successful but remain insufficient to achieve lasting change in the ready-made garment industry, where global brands’ supply chain buying practices constrain investment in occupational safety and health. A proposed United Nations treaty on business and human rights now seeks to enhance corporate accountability. Although promising, as part of a smart mix of multi-level public and private solutions, the treaty needs fine-tuning in the light of lessons learned from post- Rana Plaza experiments.
-
International Labour Review, Vol. 159 (2020), No. 4
Introduction: Transnational futures of international labour law
18 December 2020
This Special Issue on transnational labour law is placed in the context of the ILO centenary and the challenge of achieving the objective of decent work in a new century, under distinct transnational pressures. The author argues that international labour law, as the normative core of transnational labour law, can play a crucial role – in conjunction with a wide range of actors and the ILO in its standard-setting and convenor capacities – in addressing this challenge and in reshaping the transnational legal architecture.
November 2020
-
Publication
Promoting the health of Migrant Workers in the WHO European Region during COVID-19
06 November 2020
This interim guidance is intended to support WHO European Region Member States and partners in promoting the health of migrant workers in particular through effective approaches and best practices in enhancing preparedness, prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as considerations for mitigating the negative socioeconomic impact of the pandemic.
June 2020
-
Policy brief
COVID-19 and global supply chains: How the jobs crisis propagates across borders
29 June 2020
This brief investigates the international propagation through global supply chains of the demand and supply disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis. It provides estimates of the number of jobs in manufacturing supply chains that are at risk as a result of those disruptions.
May 2020
-
Publication
Automation, employment, and reshoring: Case studies of the apparel and electronics industries
06 May 2020