Do you know your labour rights? Web-based solutions developed by ILO keep youth and workers informed in North Macedonia and Moldova

The app will guide youth in learning about employment contracts, social security, work conditions and occupational safety and health. Newly hired young people may not be aware of labour regulations, or of how these relate to their own employment. They might be eager or even desperate to find a job, and accept any available offer, even if it comes without an employment contract or the benefits of social security and labour protection. The mobile application comes as a solution, bringing information within easy reach, in a format conducive to learning for this generation. The app can be downloaded free of charge from Google Play and from the AppStore.

During the competition, students were encouraged to download the interactive game and to take the test. The application database included all schools and those that registered the biggest number of downloads became the winners. The winners of the competition were announced on the 7th of December, 2020, and the winning schools received modern training equipment as a prize. During the competition, the “Rights at Work for Youth” application were downloaded by 6,340 students aged 15-20 years.

„Rights at Work for Youth” was developed by the ILO with the support of the Government of the Czech Republic. In the past years, the Government of the Czech Republic supported several projects targeting Moldovan youth, including the mobile application "Surfing the labour market: job search skills for young people", also available in the AppStore free of charge. This app aims to help young people to learn more about themselves, find work and pursue careers that are fulfilling and aligned with their skills and abilities.

In North Macedonia, the ILO launched a webpage “My labour, my rights” on 30 December, 2020 that enables workers and employers to find information and answers to questions related to labour rights. The webpage offers an overview of the most important laws and regulations concerning workers’ rights and obligations, discrimination at the workplace, social security, health and safety and many more. The Macedonian-English language site is easy to navigate, and the user-friendly language makes it accessible for a wide audience. The website information is pragmatic, tackling questions including: what does a worker need to know about a contract, and what are the elements of an employment contract? What is a fixed term contract? What is paid/unpaid leave? How is termination of a contract regulated?

For youth not yet participating in the labour market, learning about rights will be facilitated by a mobile application “YouthRights@Work” and a student competition to be launched in March, 2021.

The launch of the “My labour, my rights” website was the opening act of a 6-month campaign. Throughout the campaign, the ILO project “Strengthening Social Dialogue”, funded by the European Union, will promote learning and awareness about rights at the workplace with the support of the national and local Economic and Social Councils. The messages will be promoted through television and social media. Since the launch of the page until 25 February, 2021 the “My labour, my rights” site had 70,000 pageviews. As Jagoda Shahpaska, Macedonian Minister of Labour and Social Policy said at the campaign launch , "only those who are well informed and well aware of their rights can fight for the protection of those rights”.