Conference Agenda

After elaborating on the functions and types of wages, this paper documents the widespread decline of the wage share in national incomes and its causes. (Lifting) statutory minimum wages (SMWs) may counteract this trend, but a large informal sector and the weak enforcement capacity of governments remain as serious obstacles. A related problem is the growing global inequality in private wealth; here, the regulation of the worldwide financial system has left ample room for tax evasion. Since 1995 declining wage shares and tax-evasive practices have impeded economic growth and employment creation on a near-global scale. More recently a counter-movement is gaining momentum based on the notion that wages should be a main source of support for living standards: ‘living wages’. International declarations can provide leverage to bring living wages closer. In particular lending arguments from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) 8, 1, 5 and 10 may be useful.

The usual indicator of the extent of underemployment is the unemployment rate. Underemployment, however, is like an iceberg, of which only the part visible above water is measured by the unemployment rate. In recent decades, criticism of the traditional concepts of measuring unemployment has increased. This is no coincidence! Especially in the less developed countries with their high shares of informal employment, unemployment rates have little meaning. In these countries, few underemployed people are eligible for unemployment benefits and thus have an opportunity and incentive to register as unemployed. There is now widespread agreement that there is no "one right indicator" to capture the different forms of underemployment in the labour market, but that one needs several indicators. It is shown that the ILO's goal of developing a globally comparable system of indicators in its decent work agenda can only be achieved to a limited extent due to the different significance of the same statistical indicators in developed and less developed countries.

Digital labour platforms have gained prominence within the development agenda in recent years, as they have the potential to create income and employment opportunities. These platforms are also argued to formalize workers as they register them on platforms and facilitate the financial transactions. This paper makes an attempt to understand what digital labour platforms mean for development and whether they contribute to development outcomes and the achievement of SDGs in developing countries. It focuses on whether the platforms help in realizing SDG 8 on decent working conditions for workers and SDG 5 achieving gender equality and empowering women using global and country level surveys of workers on platforms. It highlights some of the challenges in realizing these goals and suggests some pathways to ensure that all work on platforms is decent.

Decent work and decent workplaces are the key determinants of sustainable workforce. They play a vital role in reducing organization’s attrition rate and preventing employee burn-out. However, the notion of decent work is incomplete without any discussion on the working conditions and place of work. A decent workplace provides decent working conditions to its workers. The reverse is not necessarily true. Regulations aim to ensure that workplaces meet the health, safety and welfare needs of all members. The paper discusses the heterogeneity of primary workplace, co-working space, hybrid, remote, workstation, telework, home work and home-based workplace. Indicators of decent workplace have also been discussed. Decent workplaces also have long-term linkages with decent work and well-being. Creation of decent workplace is directly associated with creation of decent work opportunities for workers. Decent workplace provides the necessary infrastructure and settings conducive for decent work provision.

In an ideal world, decent work would coincide with a comprehensive social protection system under an eco-social welfare state. In reality, however, four billion people are not covered by social protection –informal economy workers, migrants, refugees. Women are particularly affected. This dire situation is a result of the downsizing or even dismantling of government regulatory responsibilities since the 1980s in step with emerging hyper-globalisation.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights casts social protection as a right. In lower-income countries, the shift into formalized, decent work is not probable in the foreseeable future; in higher-income countries, increasing numbers of adults do not enter or are pushed out of formal employment. Conflict, climate catastrophes, poverty, and lack of decent work necessitate access to universal social protection. It can address income and social cleavages, and promote solidarity among income groups and across social classes. The recent UN initiative for a Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions could help re-unite decent work and social protection, and further a move towards an eco-social welfare state.