Conference Agenda

This paper analyses global patterns of foreign direct investment (FDI) from 2012 to 2020, examining its implications for employment creation and structural shifts in labour markets. We integrate comprehensive FDI flow and stock data from the OECD's Activities of Multinational Enterprises (AMNE) database. To estimate the employment impacts of multinational enterprises (MNEs), we employ a multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model that combines the OECD Inter-Country Input-Output Tables — capturing the production structures of domestic and foreign firms — with labour statistics from the International Labour Organization's ILOSTAT database. This approach enables us to quantify both direct and indirect employment effects across countries and sectors, shedding light on how global value chains influence job creation and labour market transformations.

In the second stage, we develop a general equilibrium gravity model to project FDI trends through 2030. These projections are integrated into the MRIO framework to estimate the potential for employment creation at national and sectoral levels. By providing forward-looking employment estimates, our study contributes to discussions on the future of work in an evolving macroeconomic environment, where technological advancements, demographic shifts, and global trade dynamics play a crucial role.

Our findings underscore the growing role of FDI in shaping labour market structures, emphasising its potential to generate employment while also raising questions about the quality of jobs created. In line with the congress theme, this study provides insights into policy interventions that can maximize the employment benefits of FDI, particularly in developing economies where informal work remains a challenge. By offering a detailed analysis of the employment effects of FDI, our research contributes to the wider debate on economic policy strategies that are intended to encourage decent work in the face of changing global economic and demographic trends.

The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Sustainable Employment Policies in Labor-Intensive Sectors : Case of Vietnam

This research examines the multifaceted impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on sustainable employment within Vietnam's labor-intensive sectors, specifically textiles, footwear, electronics and wood processing. While FDI has been a key driver of job creation, particularly for young, low-skilled workers, it presents significant challenges to long-term employment stability.

The study investigates three research questions:

(i) What are the opportunities and risks associated with FDI-driven job creation? This analysis highlights two critical threats to sustainable employment : FDI relocation towards countries with lower production costs and technological disruption.

(ii) What challenges do aging workers and labour-intensive industries face in ensuring workforce stability? Labour-intensive sectors struggle to accommodate aging workers who cannot meet physical job demands but are not yet eligible for retirement. Furthermore, the lack of career progression and insecure prospects also discourages younger workers from entering these industries, compounding long-term recruitment challenges.

(iii) How can the Government address labour challenges to ensure sustainable employment? The study examines the roles of Government and enterprises, emphasizing corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, promoting vocational training programs and employment guarantees, and identifying policy gaps that hinder effective cooperation.

Methodology: This research utilizes a mixed-methods approach combining statistical data analysis with qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, including workers, training centers, policymakers, and FDI enterprises. Additionally, comparative case studies from other developing countries are included to inform policy recommendations. This approach provides an understanding of intergrating quantitative and qualitative data to analyze the impact of FDI on the Vietnam labor market.

Key Findings: The study identifies critical gaps in current policies, emphasizing the need for:

(i) Proactive Workforce Reskilling: Implementing comprehensive training programs to equip workers with the skills necessary to thrive in an automated environment.

(ii) Strengthening Social Safety Nets: Providing adequate support and retraining opportunities for workers displaced by automation or FDI relocation.

(iii) Improving the Attractiveness of Labor-Intensive Sectors: Implementing strategies to enhance career pathways and job security to attract and retain a skilled and motivated workforce.

Policy Implications: This research contributes to the RDW 2025 agenda, particularly Track I on "Decent Employment Now," by providing actionable recommendations for policymakers to balance the short-term economic benefits of FDI with the long-term imperative of sustainable employment. The findings offer a roadmap for enhancing workforce resilience and aligning with the objectives of SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

Export is the prominent driver of economic growth and employment. Individuals with quality employment can contribute to economic productivity, secure income, and improve their living standards. On the other hand, unemployment affects an individual's well-being and macroeconomic performance. At the individual level, unemployment leads to financial hardship, reduced living standards, and psychological stress. At the macroeconomic level, unemployment reduces income, weakens demand, and limits economic growth. High unemployment also increases poverty, generates inequality, and creates social unrest. Employment or unemployment is determined by various factors, such as economic growth, investment climate, labor market regulations, educational status, the availability of a skilled workforce, demographic trends, and fiscal and monetary policies. Besides these factors, industrial structure and globalization also determine the employment rate. Globalization through exports has transformed labor markets, creating new job opportunities. The present study examines the impact of exports on the structure and nature of employment across manufacturing, services, and retail firms. We use cross-sectional data of about 44,771 firms from around 94 countries over 2016-2023, provided by the World Bank Enterprise Survey. We employ Pooled Ordinary Least Square (POLS), Instrumental Variables (IV)-based two-stage Least Square (2SLS), and IV-based two-stage Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM) to evaluate the impact of exports on aggregate labor, gender- and skill-based labor employment. Confirming the neo-classical trade theories with empirical literature, we find that the firms’ expansion in exports raises aggregate labor employment. Additionally, our results support Becker's discrimination and the Ricardo-Viner models and observe the disproportionate impact of exports on gender-, and skill-based employment. The rise in exports increases the permanent production-related semi- and low-skilled female laborers compared to males, with minor variations across income levels and firm sizes. These results imply that females are mostly employed for semi- and low-skilled production-related activities. On the other hand, firms across the globe prefer male employees over females for highly skilled production-related activities. Therefore, the government should be flexible in its trade regulations and give subsidies to exporting industries, increasing female employment and reducing gender inequality. The government should also focus on vocational training programs to increase female workers' skill levels. This will result in hiring more female workers as high-skilled workers.

This paper examines the relationship between firm productivity, wage dynamics, and employment patterns in Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector, using firm-level data from the Large and Medium Manufacturing and Electricity Industries Survey (LIMMS) for 2018–2020. It explores how key firm characteristics—including size, age, and ownership—shape employment trends and wage-setting practices.

The study addresses two key research questions: (1) To what extent does productivity growth translate into wage increases in Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector? (2) How do firm characteristics mediate this relationship, particularly in terms of employment expansion and wage inequality? Using regression analysis, the paper estimates firm-level wage-productivity elasticity, controlling for sectoral, regional, and firm-specific factors.

Findings reveal that a 1% increase in value added per worker leads to only a 0.2% rise in real wages, suggesting that only 20% of productivity gains are passed on to workers. Wage-productivity elasticity also varies significantly across subsectors, with industries such as beverages and textiles exhibiting stronger pass-through effects compared to food production. Additionally, the study highlights gender and regional wage disparities, with firms employing a higher share of female workers paying systematically lower wages and certain regions demonstrating high productivity but persistently low wages.

This paper contributes to the literature on wage-setting mechanisms and labor market dynamics in developing economies by providing empirical evidence on the weak link between productivity growth and wage increases. These findings underscore the need for targeted policies that enhance firm-level productivity while ensuring that gains translate into equitable wage growth, stronger SME participation, and reduced labor market disparities—key factors for fostering inclusive industrial development in Ethiopia.

Global energy transitions, particularly the shift away from coal, are driving significant changes in labor markets, with profound implications for workers in coal-dependent regions. In this context, trade unions are pivotal actors in advocating for just transitions that ensure socio-economic support for affected workers, promote economic diversification, and facilitate inclusive, participatory decision-making processes. Drawing from comprehensive empirical research, this paper critically examines the evolving role of trade unions in shaping just transitions in India.

The paper addresses two key research questions: First, how can trade unions in India can lay claims in emerging energy systems while maintaining their influence in India’s coal sector? Second, what are the key stakeholders shaping trade union agendas on just transitions, and how do these interactions influence outcomes?

The study employs a rigorous mixed-methods approach. I have conducted 37 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with union leaders, policymakers, and experts across India's coal regions. This is complemented by a unique, primary dataset of 500 union-led grievances filed in coal belts from 2015 to 2024, providing a longitudinal perspective on labor issues, union demands, and evolving priorities. Additionally, the research integrates document analysis of union charters, meeting minutes, and reports, along with media and policy analysis to contextualize union activities within broader socio-political and economic dynamics. The analysis applies the power resources approach (PRA) and frameworks from the political economy of coal to examine how unions mobilize resources, build alliances, and negotiate with stakeholders.

The findings indicate that the revival of the PRA provides trade unions with opportunities to assert their influence in emerging energy sectors. Unions can advocate for employment in these sectors and address the needs of informal workers, as both the coal and renewable energy industries in India are characterized by a high degree of informality. Unions are uniquely positioned to contribute insights into supply chain data, worker skill sets, and the socioeconomic dependence on coal due to their close connection with workers. The study also reveals that unions are expanding their agenda to include broader community concerns and actively engaging with local governments, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to influence transition planning in some way advocating social movement unionism.

This paper makes a significant contribution to the literature by presenting the first comprehensive empirical dataset on grievances addressed by trade unions in India’s coal regions and their role and influence in both existing coal-dependent labor markets and the emerging renewable energy sector.

Climate change disproportionately impacts workers’ livelihoods. Over 1 billion agricultural workers and 66 million textile workers across the world suffer from heat stress, exposure to air pollution, and other extreme weather events (ILO, 2019). This paper studies the presence of “green clauses” and comments related to environmental policies in Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) using the WageIndicator CBA database (2025). Cross-Continental (Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America) analysis of 2,644 CBAs across 67 countries shows that only 148 CBAs (or 5.6%) had a green clause, only 15 CBAs (or 0.56%) had comments related to environmental policies, and only 34 CBAs (or 1.28%) included training programs related to the introduction of green practices at work. Almost half of all CBAs with green clauses were associated with the manufacturing sector, and only 5.4% of CBAs with green clauses were negotiated for workers in agriculture. We find that green clauses advocate for workers to receive a monthly pollution allowance (a “dirt allowance”) and practical training for human resources development in the context of the green economy. This paper makes two primary policy recommendations — to include more comprehensive green clauses in CBAs, and for green clauses to center workers instead of the environmental impact of their labour.

Introduction

The increasing diffusion of digital technologies and the institutional pressure towards electric mobility represent two crucial challenges for unions in the automotive sector, especially in Europe. In this context, it is particularly interesting to look at the case of France and Italy. Despite the existence of a strong tradition of collective bargaining in both countries, over the last decades unions have been weakened by the emergence of large international companies, the deregulation of labour market and the continuing decentralisation of collective bargaining. Studying union action at the company level in the face of the so-called “just transition” is therefore essential to understanding its concrete impacts on labour, not only in terms of potential unemployment, but also in terms of working conditions and workers’ rights.

Research question

What are in practice the strategies adopted by trade unions in companies dealing with the digital and ecological transition? What interests do they defend? What power resource do they rely on, and what compromises are they willing to make?

Methodology

The empirical analysis is based on different and complementary data. Between May and November 2023, around 50 interviews were conducted with managers, workers and unionists in 1 major car manufacturer, 1 luxury car manufacturer and 2 first-tier component firms. In addition, in-depth visits were made to the plants, and relevant documents were collected. In particular, the analysis of collective bargaining agreements was crucial to assess the degree of workers’ agency and the importance of social dialogue in resisting or adapting to the double transition.

Contribution to the literature and findings

Our findings show that, when faced with processes of digitalisation and decarbonisation at company level, unions lack the resources to shape and directly influence them. As a result, they often have to choose between accompanying the transition and accepting – also through collective bargaining – its most ‘unfair’ consequences, or resisting, when such processes jeopardise jobs.

When they are not faced with such a brutal alternative, unions seem to focus on traditional bargaining agenda interpreting the e-mobility transition as ‘just’ another transition in the industry. Even in cases where they have established favourable power relations, unions at the company level often seem to lack both the vision to play a proactive role and the institutional leverage to influence the strategic choices of their companies.

Work regulation is challenged by employers using new technologies: people lose their jobs. Digitalisation including AI can be used to amplify workers’ voices and to help to improve performance (Kochan et al.,2024). Digitalisation may boost productivity, but also raise challenges to achieving decent work. Digitalisation can be implemented to have positive outcomes for workers. But employers may also use digitalisation to precipitate negative outcomes (e.g. to detract from human dignity at work).

Hence it is worth considering employers’ digitalisation strategies and their implications for worker voice – an indicator of decent work. It is important to evaluate the potential of digitalisation including for fostering cooperation, innovation, productivity and well-being. The issues are important for employers, workers, unions, governments and regulators.

Research questions

Which jobs are being created and lost? To what extent are employers using digitalisation for training, management by algorithms, skills, surveillance, dispute resolution, health and safety? How involved are workers in decisions around digitalisation, workforce composition, working hours and remote working? How does digitalisation affect the quality of management-worker relations?

Methodology

Our UK partners conducted a nationally representative survey of employers including those in informal and formal sectors. We conducted a similar large survey of employers across all sectors in Australia. Both surveys focus on managers’ views and experiences of digitalisation. They yield novel and comparable data.

Contribution to literature and findings

We compare our findings especially with UK data. Both countries have experienced neoliberal changes to work contexts. This has constrained unions. We compare employers’ strategies and the institutions including regulation, training and collective bargaining. We examine employers’ choices as they adopt digitalisation. We draw on theories from political economy and comparative employment relations.

We contrast rhetoric and realities of digitalisation in workplaces. We contribute to the literature on new technologies, work, and regulation by contrasting two similar countries. Our conclusions include discussion of policy implications and proposals.

Reference

Kochan, T. A. et al., 2024. An integrated strategy for technology design and implementation. Unpublished paper, MIT, Cambridge.

While much policy and scholarly attention goes to the negotiation of pay in collective bargaining agreements, there is relatively little attention to the hours to which these pay rates refer. Yet, the wages employees earn cannot be understood without reference to working hours: weekly working hours play an important role in understanding whether wages are adequate and working time reductions can constitute an alternative method of increasing wages (c.f. Piasna et al., 2024). Moreover, different pay rates are often negotiated depending on the timing, predictability and variability of work hours. Premium pay for inconvenient hours (e.g., shifts, nights, weekends, overtime) can constitute an important part of monthly incomes, which may help especially low skilled workers make ends meet (Ilsøe, 2012). Thus, to guarantee that policies related to the adequacy of minimum wages and collectively bargained wage floors result in improved standards of living for workers, it is essential to understand the working time aspect of wage bargaining.

In this paper session, we present and discuss research into the collective bargaining agenda on pay for standard and non-standard working times. We contribute to current discussions about decent wages, living wages and in-work poverty, all of which commonly acknowledge that insufficient work hours compound challenges of earning decent incomes in many households at risk of poverty (Besamusca, 2019; Ilsøe et al., 2024; Salverda, 2018). We also relate to the industrial relations literature on the decentralization of collective bargaining (Ibsen & Keune, 2018; Katz, 1993; Visser, 2016), which posits collective bargaining over working times is facing major changes due to a combination of modern employees’ preference for individualized arrangements in collective agreements (e.g., working more hours to save for longer holidays or sabbaticals) and employers’ push for more discretion over employee work hours to adapt to the 24/7 economy of today’s global market (Boumans, 2021; Chung & Tijdens, 2013).

An important question addressed in this session is the access that groups of workers have to collectively bargained pay arrangements relating to standard and non-standard working hours. This question is crucial for understanding the role of collective bargaining in (effectively) curbing labor market inequalities. The session’s papers interrogate this question through analyses of country and sector level differences in collective bargaining practices, such as the occurrence of working time-related provisions in collective bargaining agreements. To do so, the papers in the session make use of the unique WageIndicator CBA database, which contains over 3100 coded collective agreements from countries worldwide. Secondly, three of the session’s papers combine these data with other sources (e.g., microdata on wages, surveys among factory workers) to study the gap between the collectively bargained provisions that are agreed on paper, and resulting labor market outcomes in practice.

Session overview

The session opens with a paper on recent developments in the collective bargaining agenda on pay for standard and non-standard working times. This paper presentation provides an overview of current debates on standard working times (e.g. working time reduction, individual time saving schemes, and structural unpaid overtime) and non-standard working times (e.g., availability of premium pay for inconvenient hours, payment of premiums in time off, integration of premium pay in basic wage rates based on shift characteristics). Secondly, it presents findings from an analysis of over 1800 European collective agreements to estimate the extent of inequality in the provision of premium pay for inconvenient hours across countries and sectors.

Building on this general overview, the other papers interrogate the difference between collectively bargained provisions on paper, and how they work out in terms of labor market outcomes. Addressing the need to estimate reliable standard working times in order to implement living wages across global supply chains, Prof Tijdens & Mr Ahmad compare standard working times in collective bargaining agreements to statutory provisions on maximum standard working times as well as to contractual and usual working times across 193 UN countries. Assessing whether premium pay rates negotiated in CBAs effectively raise workers’ incomes, Dr Elias Moreno measures the premiums associated with overtime, shift and weekend work hours using microdata on wages from EU member states, and compares them to bargained provisions. Finally, Ms Feby investigates whether the inclusion of more extensive and stringent provisions on payment for overtime hours is associated with greater compliance and lower incidence of wage theft in the Indonesian garment sector. Invited reactions by expert discussants contribute to the session by integrating perspectives from the North American and African bargaining contexts.

Together, the papers in this session contribute to a better understanding of the effectiveness of collective bargaining as an institution in setting decent working conditions, including decent pay and working times.

Over the last decade, there have been major attempts to radically reshape the structure of labour law in several South Asian jurisdictions. The objective has been to consolidate and modernize the fragmented, inconsistent and often obsolete laws which reflect the area’s British colonial legacy. For example, India has enacted new labour codes and Pakistan’s provinces are also debating draft labour codes. In both cases, the International Labour Organization has urged that the new codes reflect its fundamental Conventions.

Systematic reform has, however, proved difficult. The challenges include: increasing the scope of the laws beyond the small fraction of workers they currently cover; improving consistency of the substantive provisions, and, creating more robust methods of implementation, especially given the relatively low number of inspectors and delays within the formal dispute resolution systems.This presentation focuses on the first of these challenges.

The presentation reflects the experience of three labour law scholars who have been extensively involved with the reform process in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the capacity of international advisors. Our core research question is: how does the legal terminology which continues to be deployed in these systems contribute to a narrow and partial vision of labour law, one that can be implemented only in segments of the labour market? We move beyond the generalised observations previous commentators have made about the limited scope of laws to a specific analysis of legal texts and judgements, pinpointing problems in concepts such as "worker", "employee", "establishment" and "industry". We ground our discussion in the literature of comparative labour law and labour law and development.

Our discussion focuses on occupational safety and health (OSH), but highlights the connections with other areas of labour law. The OSH focus is productive since in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, we can see both the legacy of narrow concepts and some emerging possibilities for broadening out those concepts, for example, transcending the fixation on direct employer-employee relations as the determinant of scope. Our suggestions for reform do not entail using Western countries as unrealistic benchmarks. Rather, we point to other countries in the Global South, especially in East and Southeast Asia which have already succeeded in broadening the law's scope.

Our analysis has implications not only for South Asia, but for many other former British colonies in the Global South that seek to recraft their labour laws to be more comprehensive in light of their domestic circumstances.

Decent work is a cornerstone of sustainable development, yet in Namibia, the informal economy, which accounts for a big portion of employment, is inadequately regulated. This paper uses a systematic literature review to analyse the regulatory frameworks and policies put in place to achieve decent work in Namibia's informal economy. This paper identifies, synthesizes, and categorises the themes from academic literature, government reports, and international labour studies published between 2019 and 2024 using the PRISMA approach. Thematic analysis revealed three core challenges: (1) lack of appropriate regulatory frameworks which do not address specific vulnerabilities of informal workers; (2) weak mechanisms for enforcement and institutional capacity; and (3) gender disparities reinforcing inequity in working conditions. The specific barriers uncovered in this research within these themes include lack of social protection, occupational health and safety gaps, and wage insecurities that undermine the realisation of decent work.

Amongst others, the study also identifies innovative approaches in policy discourse: digital platforms for informal worker registration, micro-social security schemes, and localised enforcement models. All these innovations show promise of effectively filling the regulatory gaps in tandem with the socio-economic situation of Namibia. It adds to the literature with an overall analysis of the Namibian approach in regulating decent work within the informal economy. It highlights the need for context-sensitive regulatory strategies that balance international labour standards with the lived realities of informal workers. Additionally, the findings provide a set of policy-relevant insights for achieving sustainable and inclusive labour practices, emphasising collaboration between government, civil society, and international stakeholders. Methodologically, the SLR ensures analytical rigor by providing a transparent and replicable framework for exploring regulatory issues. Through thematically synthesising the challenges and opportunities in Namibia's labour market, this study provides a roadmap for future research and policymaking to achieve equitable growth and social justice. The study therefore underlines the importance of regulatory innovations in promoting decent work and places Namibia's informal economy as a case study with transferable lessons for other developing countries facing similar challenges.

This paper seeks to examine de minimis regulations. There are rules that govern the non-regulation of small packages moving across borders. Although originally intended to simplify parcel logistics, these regulations have been appropriated by e-commerce platforms such as Temu, Shein and Aliexpress to enable low-cost direct sales from Asia.

Digital platforms have been argued to be leading to significant labour challenges. This includes platforms selling goods, where labour challenges relate to the fragmented nature of platformized sellers, their intense competition and platform power. This is evident most notably in the online “faster fashion” sector.

As a consequence of employing parcel modes of logistics (exploiting deminimis rules), importing countries often have limited ability to regulate distant platforms and incoming goods, including related to labour conditions. Moreover, these challenges are intensifying – new segments of e-commerce are adopting such models, including Amazon's new ‘Haul’ platform and social e-commerce (e.g Tiktok & Instagram sellers).

Aligned with emerging challenges, policymakers have called for reform of de minimis, with labour issues being at the forefront of the debate. For example, the EU reform targets Temu and Shein who have been argued not to “play on a level playing field” in terms of labour. In the US, Republican-led groups argue that de minimis is facilitating illegal imports of goods linked to forced labour.

Although de minimis has been discussed within the technical trade literature, there has been very little systematic understanding of its link to platform labour conditions. To examine such debates, I will take a techno-political approach - examining the technical aspects of logistics in hand with the political economy of deminimis reform. The paper will track the emergence of de minimis regulations, its incorporation into “e-commerce and development” discourses and how deminimis reform links into a broad set of goals (labour, competition, trade wars). Overall, based on this analysis, I argue that de minimis rules are an important prong of building a labour regime that disciplines problematic platform labour. However, current policy suggestions may be symbolic with limited impact without deeper reforms.

This work aligns with the conference track by considering effective labour regulation. In the platform economy, there is an acknowledgement that where labour regulation are weak, finding a more holistic and pragmatic set of tools and effective implementation that discipline problematic forms of platform business model may be a more effective remedy.

This paper provides an evaluation of the legal safeguards contained in the EU Platform Work Directive. It highlights the Directive’s potential, but at the same time, critically assesses certain aspects that could have been better regulated. At the outset, the overall scope of application of the Directive is scrutinized, which appears to be broader than many national regulatory strategies. Subsequent to this clarification, the focus is shifted to the assessment of two core areas of the Directive, namely the legal presumption of an employment relationship and the algorithmic management protections. The presumption of employment has been carefully considered, by looking at the evolution that this legal tool went through, and focusing on its final version, which is less prescriptive but could be more future proof. Importantly, some practical examples are provided of countries which have already adopted legal presumptions, but where problems still persist on the correct employment qualification. The algorithmic management chapter of the directive has been singled out as truly innovative, with the potential to open the stage to broader initiatives for regulating artificial intelligence at work. Importantly, the paper touches upon two rather surprising aspects of the instrument: the Directive’s expected impact on the collective labor rights of persons performing platform work, and the Directive’s potential (indirect) effects on crowdwork outside of the European Union. Finally, an answer is provided to the question of whether the Platform Work Directive constitutes a milestone or a nothingburger.

This contribution attempts to answer the following research questions:

1) What are the benefits and drawbacks of the final version of the presumption of employment, as agreed by the EU institutions?

2) Why do algorithmic management provisions constitute the most cutting-edge protections provided by the Directive?

3) What is the Directive’s contribution with regard to collective labour rights?

4) How can the Directive impact crowdwork outside the European Union?

5) Can the Directive be considered a milestone or a nothingburger?

The research conducted in this paper has a legal nature. This implies that it draws on legal sources, such as legislative acts, case law as well as legal literature. In comparison with the existing literature, it offers a comprehensive analysis of the different legal safeguards contained in the Platform Work Directive, and in particular, the part on the potential impact on crowdwork outside the EU, constitutes an added value.

Introduction: Since the inception of digital labour platforms, the employment status of gig workers has confounded courts and legislatures. In the U.S., states and municipalities have attempted to regulate different aspects of gig work, like minimum wage, with varying degrees of effectiveness. Meanwhile, three states (California, Washington, and Massachusetts) have instituted new categories for gig workers (independent contractor “plus”), situated in between employee and independent contractor. This paper and talk will focus on the construction of these hybrid categories.

Research question: Can a hybrid status classification create and maintain an effective regulatory structure for delivery of worker rights in the on-demand economy?

Methodology. Legal and policy analysis, including compilation, study, and analysis of national, state, and municipal cases, statutes, and referendums.

Contribution to literature and findings. Until the gig economy developed, the U.S. had never recognized an intermediate category (unlike other countries that have had or experimented with one). The independent contractor “plus” categories that have been created to respond to digital labour platforms have been the result of political compromise, revision, and retrenchment. As such, the categories in the three states that have adopted them are not consistent and aim at different methods of implementation. The Massachusetts category envisions unionization as the main mechanism for enforcing worker rights. However, California’s structure deprives the independent contractor ”plus” category the ability to organize and bargain collectively. The Washington State category, meanwhile, focuses on rideshare and on each driver’s right to be free from arbitrary dismissal. This paper explores how the conditions of platform work have shifted in response to these nascent independent contractor “plus” categories, and what that tells us about a path forward for future regulatory interventions.

The digital economy has been, is, and will continue to be a driver of disruptive change for the organisation of society, product and service markets, and, not least, the world of work. Software, data, algorithmic management, AI, digital platforms or “gatekeepers,” and their ecosystems are the bricks and mortar equivalent of the modern economy. This paper explores the transformative effect of digital economy firms on power dynamics and labour market structures, and argues for the need for a normative rethinking of the allocation of employers’ obligations across the value chain, so as to better target the actual holders of labour market power.

In particular, the paper seeks insights into how the scope of the obligations of the employer might be broadened beyond the contractual employment relationship. To this end, it explores recent normative openings in European Union labour law such as the Platform Work Directive and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. It also draws on competition law developments in the digital economy field, which might provide interesting insights for promoting fairer labour markets in situations of excessive power concentration.

The paper’s research question stems from the growing mismatch between the role of the employer as typified in labour law frameworks — as the owner of productive assets and able to conduct its business autonomously — and the actual (weak) economic and labour market position of the firms that gravitate in the ecosystems of digital tech corporations. This phenomenon can be attributed to two parallel trends. The first is the aggravation of contractual and corporate fragmentation, driven by subcontracting and outsourcing practices; while the second is the changing nature of power dynamics among business players, resulting in new forms of market concentration. If left unaddressed, both evolutions would eventually lead to a widespread deterioration of working conditions.

The paper also aims at expanding the scholarly and normative discussion as, while both academic and policy debates have predominantly focused on the worker end of the employment relationship, the allocation of the role of the employer has instead remained mostly unquestioned. Moreover, the analysis is also characterised by a multidisciplinary approach as, recognising the limited resources of normative and institutional debates in labour law, the search for normative solutions also expands to recent developments in EU competition law.

As the ILO moves towards a standard-setting discussion on ‘decent work in the platform economy’, long-standing regulatory questions at the heart of gig work remain unsettled: how should we define the duty-bearers, i.e. ‘digital labour platforms’? What should count as working time, especially in the context of multi-apping across different platforms?

This paper draws on comparative research and recent legislation and jurisprudence to propose concrete answers to these fundamental questions. It first develops a definition of ‘digital labour platform’ that aims to include more than the ‘usual suspects’—i.e., transportation and delivery platforms—by identifying five types of labour platform: platforms mediating location-based work (e.g., transportation, care, domestic work); microtask platforms (e.g., Amazon Mechanical Turk, Clickworker); freelance platforms (e.g., Upwork); contest platforms (e.g., 99designs); and content marketplaces and streaming platforms (e.g., Twitch, YouTube). At the same time the definition aims to exclude ‘non-labour’ platforms, e.g., for social media (e.g., LinkedIn), capital rental (e.g., Airbnb), job search (e.g., Monster.com), and goods (e.g., Ebay, Etsy)—insofar as they are not operating as labour platforms (consider e.g. Airbnb’s ‘Experiences’ section, which intermediates location-based work). The definition includes platforms that allow ‘providers’ to offer (or offer on providers’ behalf) services/goods to customers, process payment, entail a specific provider contract, and do at least one of: directing provision/production of offered services/goods, setting/bounding prices, managing customer relationships, evaluating work, or marketing services/goods under its own brand; and excludes platforms aiming to facilitate employment contracts between users (i.e., job search platforms).

The paper then examines the question of working time. This is motivated specifically by ‘multi-apping,’ a practice—common in self-employed transportation and delivery platforms—where workers ‘log on’ to multiple platforms simultaneously to wait for work, then, after receiving a task from one platform, ‘log off’ from the others. While traditionally, ‘waiting time’ is remunerated working time, ‘multi-apping’ means a worker could receive multiple wages simultaneously while ‘waiting.’ Employer representatives have understandably protested this. Additionally, the meaning of ‘waiting time’ in online platform work (e.g., microtasking, online freelancing) is unclear. The paper draws on research and case law to establish that while ‘waiting time’ creates value and should be remunerated, platforms for which workers ‘multi-app’ can establish data-sharing procedures to share the cost of paying a single ‘waiting wage.’ Finally, the paper introduces a distinction between ‘waiting time’ and ‘search time’—the latter of which may not always be working time.

A range of new historical studies and overviews have explored the roots of the present in the context of the ILO's centenary in 2019. These studies offer an interdisciplinary, nuanced, and often critical analysis of the ILO’s role in a larger historical context. They have also opened up and encouraged more research.

The ILO’s now more than 100 years of history as part of the League of Nations and the UN provide a unique perspective on central questions of socio-economic and political analysis: on the one hand, the internationalization of labour issues and the resulting interaction between the national, regional, and global dimensions of debate and policy action; and, on the other hand, the dynamics of continuity and change as many issues have been addressed for more than a century, e.g., forced labour and occupational safety and health, while others, such as environmental impacts, informality, the influence of multinational corporations or rapid technological change, emerged after the Second World War.

While previous research concentrated on the inter-war years, this session will focus entirely on the post-WWII era, providing insights into the complexity of labour issues, the ensuing academic and policy debates, and the political efforts to find solutions in a geo-political constellation that was subject to profound changes. We will workshop several papers, most of them part of a proposed special issue of the International Labour Review on historical research on the ILO and labour issues. The various topics provide a historical perspective on key areas of ILO’s current activities and debates, such as human and labour rights, paid and unpaid care work, safety and health at work, the environment, and vocational training. We will better understand the often-conflicting viewpoints of the ILO’s constituents and the Organisation's space for concrete manoeuvring in a given historical constellation or local context. Such historical research, with an ILO perspective, either focussing on general questions or on a specific country, can enrich today’s policy debates about regulating for decent work by pointing toward what happened and why, possible alternatives, and persistence and change in social thought and governmental practice.

The panellists display the disciplinary openness of historical research. Grounded in archives and printed, visual, and oral sources, historical research draws upon techniques and methods from other disciplines, such as sociology, economics, political science, law, linguistics, and psychology. Conversely, labour law experts, labour economists, and labour relations specialists have often integrated a historical perspective into their work.

Dorothea Hoehtker, Senior researcher and historian at the Research Department of the International Labour Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, will chair the session. She will also discuss her own contribution, which analyzes the ILO’s controversial debates on occupational safety, health, and the environment through its reaction to the 1984 Bhopal chemical accident. The accident drew attention to the specific role of multinational enterprises in developing countries and played a role in the negotiation and adoption of two ILO conventions on major industrial accidents and chemical safety.

Jill Jensen, Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Redlands, USA, who has written extensively on the ILO and is finishing a book on US relations to the ILO over the last century, will provide a historical overview of the ILO’s strategies to adapt to the changing geo-political context of the 1960s and the 1970s.

Eileen Boris, University of California, Santa Barbara, historicizes the centrality of care work to the global economy, notable since the COVID-19 pandemic and underscored by the 2024 ILC “Resolution concerning Decent Work and the Care Economy”. She turns to the half-century discussion after WWII in the ILO and the UN on what was first called “women workers with family responsibilities,” then “workers with family responsibilities,” and, by 2000, care work.

Selin Çağatay, affiliated researcher in the international project “ZARAH: Women’s labour activism in Eastern Europe and transnationally” at the Department of Gender Studies and Department of History, Central European University, Vienna, Austria will draw attention to the under-researched area of adult education and vocational training for women and the role of the ILO focusing on the ILO’s vocational training programmes for women in Turkey.

Benjamin Lelis is a PhD student in the General History Department, University of Geneva and also working for the IOM; his project focuses on the international history of maritime labour standards and on the historical dynamics shaping the ILO's Maritime Labour Convention, adopted in 2006, which consolidated and updated the various maritime labour convention adopted since the Interwar period.

The discussant will be Andrej Slivnik from the ILO Social Finance Unit, who is currently preparing for a PhD on the history of social protection in Brazil.

This session draws on papers from an upcoming book* and related projects to consider the prospects for gender equality in the changing world order. This edited volume explores the impact on gender equality of the recent series of cumulative crises, from banking to state finances to health and the cost of living and, more importantly for this discussion, how far positive gender equality trends will survive major but yet to be realised transitions in the organisation of both wage work (digital, green) and social reproduction. This session is being designed just as the world reals from the backlash against gender equality, already evident in political changes within some European countries but dramatically strengthened by United States’ government actions against a wide range of gender equality initiatives. Thus we add reflections on how far the project of progressing gender equality is dependent upon the political climate and support for the notion of promoting goals of diversity and equality.

Although neoliberal capitalism has endorsed gender equality in its rhetoric and to some extent in policy, it has far from fully embedded it into its institutions and market operations. Therefore, not only do huge gender gaps remain but the built-in protections, as hoped for by the call, from the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women onwards, for gender mainstreaming of all policy, have not been established. This leaves even current achievements in gender equality exposed to both ongoing processes of employment restructuring and to the potential for major backlash against efforts to weaken the influence of patriarchy. Against this background, we identify three major in-process transitions that pose major challenges to work, employment and life conditions for both men and women. These are the moves towards an employment system transformed both by AI and digitalisation and by the pursuit of sustainability and net zero, alongside the pressing issue of how to change a social reproduction system that can no longer rely on family-based care to free labour for capital. We interrogate the implications of these transitions for the longer term prospects for gender equality, paying particular attention to the need to mainstream gender perspectives into the policies and practices shaping these transitions. A further theme here is whether one underlying problem for gender equality has been a tendency to focus on progress for women on average and to pay less attention to those not benefitting from the upgrading of employment opportunities and job quality over recent decades. Therefore, bringing forward an intersectional perspective to the foreground remains crucial for understanding the effects of turbulence on existing and emerging gendered patterns of inequality and vulnerability.

We find more evidence that gender is influencing approaches to social reproduction at least at the EU level in its emerging efforts to promote defamalialisation and degendering of care responsibilities in its policy programmes, although the return to strict fiscal rules and the rise of far-right forces cast a shadow of uncertainty in future developments. In turn, approaches to AI and digitalisation and to net zero are more gender blind and may serve to reinforce rather than change essentialist notions of the role of women in employment. This means that gender mainstreaming is insufficiently embedded in the processes of policy decision-making that is shaping the future world order.

The session is organised as follows: the first paper (Piasna) considers the impact of digitalisation, specifically on remote working, for men and women and points to the contradictory impacts for gender equality even of this apparently progressive development; the second paper (Daly et al.) surveys the current debates and policies pursued to meet net zero objectives and points to the dangers of gender essentialism, the focus on protecting displaced male labour rather than on investment in low carbon female-dominated sectors and the neglect of effects of changes in consumption patterns on the scale (and gender division) of non-wage work; the third paper (Karamessini) considers the recent trends from austerity to the social turn in EU policy that have promoted policies of defamilialisation and degendering of care. These changes may, however, again be put into question by the EU’s new fiscal constraints and the right-wing turns in many EU member states. The final paper (Sanchez-Mira et al.) draws on the concluding chapter to the volume to both review the evidence on change and continuity in the gender, family and employment systems across the various crises at household, labour market and societal systems levels and to consider what lies ahead in relation to the continuing impacts of transitions, potentially exacerbated by the political U-turns in support for gender equality as a public good for citizens, firms and economies, as presented in international institutions such as the World Economic Forum, the ILO, the OECD over recent decades.

*Rubery, J., Sánchez-Mira, N. and Insarauto, V. 2026 Women in Turbulent Times: Crises, Transitions and Challenges for Gender Equality Routledge.

Outsourcing has become a defining feature of modern labour markets, driven by the fragmentation of production, flexible labour regulations, and internationalized production processes. Although a substantial body of literature focuses on wage disparities between outsourced and in-house workers (e.g. Goldschmidt and Schmieder, 2017, Fana et al., 2024), other aspects of job quality have received limited attention. This paper addresses the gap by exploring whether outsourced workers experience poorer job conditions compared to their in-house counterparts and whether this disparity affects all types of workers uniformly.

Using data from the European Working Conditions Survey covering 15 European countries, we construct a comprehensive multidimensional set of sixteen job quality indicators grouped into four dimensions: intrinsic job quality, employment quality, health and safety, and working time.

While most of the literature deals exclusively with outsourced workers in elementary/manual occupations, one novelty of our research is that we test the difference of job quality across the whole occupational distribution and across different sectors. This type of analysis makes possible to establish to what extent the job quality penalty varies between different types of outsourced occupations and sectors.

Drawing from these insights, we use econometric techniques to address the following research questions:

• To what extent are outsourced workers subject to a job quality gap compared to their in-house peers?

• Is the job quality difference between outsourced and non-outsourced workers uniformly distributed across sectors and the occupational distribution?

Our findings reveal that outsourced workers generally endure worse working conditions than in-house employees, particularly in terms of intrinsic job quality and employment stability. Outsourced workers are more likely to engage in less cognitively stimulating and socially supportive tasks, experience limited career development opportunities, and face higher work intensity. However, differences in health and safety outcomes appear minor.

Another significant finding is that being outsourced does not equally distributed. Workers in low-knowledge-intensive sectors are more adversely affected than their counterparts in high-knowledge-intensive sectors. Moreover, while top-level outsourced workers face fewer penalties or even enjoy comparable (or even higher) job quality to their in-house peers, lower-tier outsourced workers experience significant disadvantages.

These results contribute to the literature by underscoring the necessity for a nuanced, multidimensional understanding of job quality in outsourced employment contexts. Our analysis provides a more complete view of the implications of outsourcing beyond wages, highlighting the multifaceted disadvantages faced by many outsourced workers.

In cooperation with Praveen Jha, Bruno de Conti, Ernesto Noronha, Premilla d’Cruz, Ben Scully et al.

Countries in the Global South generally have less favorable starting positions in global value chains, less economic policy leeway than countries in the Global North as well as less favorable working conditions and fewer employee representation rights. Nevertheless, on the basis of exemplary case studies, clear differences can be identified between countries such as Brazil, India and South Africa, as well as in sectors such as the automotive and textile industries. Against this background, the question arises as to which national institutional structures can produce crisis reactions that are oriented not only to economic but also to labor policy success criteria.

Empirically, this presentation would compare analyses in Brazil, India, and South Africa in the automotive and garment industry. On this basis, I expect to provide answers to the question how differently the three countries of the Global South have reacted to the multiple crises since the pandemic and what this reveals about the leeway of nation-state policy.

Instructive here is firstly the case of industrial policy involving trade unions in the Brazilian automotive sector but not in South Africa and by no means in India. Secondly, I will discuss exemplarily to what extent the Brazilian and South African garment industries deviate from the dominant global model, which is also represented by India. These empirical cases should contribute to finding out whether historical path dependencies, unique institutional and social configurations at the national level, and specific positions in international hierarchies and networks result in different albeit limited capacities for economic and social upgrading, particularly during periods of crisis.

The contribution would complement existing approaches that concern the interaction between GVC constellations and national policy or national institutional systems by integrating new analytical dimensions, and also by emphasising the value of analysing these dimensions in light of their mutual interactions.

As a result of the comparison of political trajectories, it will be shown that Brazil is most likely to involve trade union representation not only in wage policy, as in South Africa, but also in industrial policy initiatives. India, on the other hand, represents the most unfavorable political constellation in this comparison, as employee representatives are continually excluded from problem solving.

The global garment supply chain is being profoundly impacted by the multi-form crisis troubling the global political economy. This is having consequences for the rights and wellbeing of workers that threaten to undo sustained progress towards achieving standards of Decent Work across the sector globally. In Cambodia, for example, the garment industry employs nearly 1 million people, 80% of whom are women. In part through the achievements of the ILO Better Factories Cambodia programme, which assesses labour compliance in export factories, basic labour standards including compensation, occupational safety and health, and forced and child labour have generally been on a sustained upward trajectory across recent decades. However, rising costs coupled with global trends of aggressively downward pricing have squeezed suppliers leading to the proliferation of a vast subcontracting industry, characterised by informal factories providing illicit forms of irregular and unregulated work. To date, little is known about the scale of subcontracting in Cambodia or conditions of work within it. Responding to this gap, in this paper, we present the first ever mapping, census, and survey of Cambodia’s subcontracting garment sector, conducted in 2023.

Our research identified more than 250 subcontracting factories across two of the garment industry’s most densely populated provinces, accounting for more than 15 percent of the garment industry’s workforce there. In this paper, I present the findings from a randomly sampled survey of 500 workers across this segment of the industry. The survey evidences a series of substantive decent work deficits across the subcontracting segment of the garment industry in Cambodia, including widespread violation of minimum wage and working time regulations; almost unanimous lack of freedom of association and social protection; and returning incidence of child labour. The findings of the research evidence a growing challenge for securing labour rights at the furthest end of global supply chains, undermining work towards attainment of SDG 8 on Decent Work in Cambodia and beyond. They challenge the model credentials of Cambodia’s garment industry, where ‘“ethical production” has been showcased as a comparative advantage of the Cambodian industry’ (Xhafa and Nuon 2018). Instead, whilst current efforts at transnational labour regulation are having some effect on basic labour rights at direct suppliers, they are failing to make an impact further down the supply chain. The research calls for new frameworks to improve standards of work in the face of the persistence of informal work in the global garment supply chain.

How do workers perceive working conditions in jobs differently integrated into global markets? Answering this question provides a novel way to examine the link between trade and labor standards. This paper develops hypotheses about worker perceptions, drawing on contrasting mechanisms underpinning theories of ‘trading up,’ which emphasize either the role of private regulation or economic upgrading. It tests these hypotheses using a survey experiment conducted on a sample of 2,500 garment workers in Morocco. In the absence of institutions that monitor labor compliance, workers expected no difference in working conditions between factories that export to high-standards markets and domestically oriented producers. The presence of private monitoring institutions caused expectations of working conditions in export factories to improve, making them comparable to factories monitored by government regulators. These results contribute to our understanding of how global trade shapes worker welfare by highlighting the role of firm-specific institutions and how workers perceive jobs in firms linked in different ways to global markets.

Labor subcontracting for trilateral relationships involving a principal, a contractor, and the contractor’s employees deployed by the contractor to perform work for the principal, is highly regulated in the Philippines under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Order (DO) 174-A Series of 2017. However, DOLE exempted the construction industry that typically engages in multilayer subcontracting arrangements characterized by a primary contractor, subcontractors, and sub-subcontractors from compliance with DO 174. This paper analyzes the forms of violations of labor standards and employment relations set by the Philippine Labor Code and standards of occupational safety and health (OSH) for different types of occupations in the lower tiers of the construction supply chain by classification of contracting business: (a) general engineering contracting; (b) general building contracting; and (c) specialty contracting. The paper uses qualitative methods including Focus Group Discussion and key informant interviews with contractors and workers in general engineering, general building, and specialty works to show that the gravity of decent work deficits is magnified in low-skilled occupations at the third-level and fourth-level subcontractors. Common violations include misclassifying worker employment status, wage and overtime violations, failure to provide mandatory social security coverage, child labor, violations of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, and occupational safety and health violations. The paper recommends the regulation of subcontracting in the construction industry including (a) prohibiting and penalizing the engagement of contracting businesses with a “person” without a Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board license, where a “person” includes an individual, firm, partnership, corporation, association, or other organization, or any combination of any thereof; (b) strict compliance of the contractor/subcontractor of DO 19 Series of 1993 (Guidelines Governing the Employment of Workers in the Construction Industry) and DO 13 Series of 1998 (Guidelines Governing the Occupational Safety and Health in the Construction Industry), Article 294 of the Philippine Labor Code guaranteeing the right of employees to security to tenure, Articles 297, 298 and 299 on the just and authorized reasons for terminating an employee; (d) rendering the primary contractor as the employer of a subcontractor’s employees across the construction supply chain in case of violation of the above labor and OSH standards; and (e) requiring a written subcontractor agreement (e.g., agreement between a subcontractor and another contractor) stipulating the specific description and duration of the job, the place of work, and other terms and conditions governing the contracting arrangement.

Session Overview

The nexus between trade, investment, and employment is a dynamic and multifaceted relationship. Trade and investment are powerful drivers of economic growth, which in turn can lead to job creation and improved job quality. When countries engage in international trade, they can access larger markets, enhance productivity, and stimulate innovation. Similarly, investment, both domestic and foreign, can provide the capital needed for businesses to expand, adopt new technologies, and increase their competitiveness. However, the impact on employment depends on various factors, including the nature of the trade and investment, the sectors involved, and the policies in place. Effective policies that integrate employment considerations into trade and investment strategies are crucial to ensuring that the benefits of economic growth are broadly shared, leading to more and better jobs for all.

This session aims to explore the critical role of trade and investment in creating more and better jobs, with a particular focus on the ILO’s Mainstreaming Employment into Trade and Investment (METI) project. The METI project, funded by the European Union, has been instrumental in integrating employment considerations into trade and investment policies across the Southern Mediterranean region. By examining the successes and lessons learned from METI, this session will provide valuable insights into how trade and investment can be leveraged to foster inclusive and sustainable employment growth.

Expected Outcomes

By the end of the session, participants will have a deeper understanding of the importance of integrating employment considerations into trade and investment policies. They will gain insights into the successful approaches and best practices from the METI project, which can be applied in their own contexts to promote inclusive and sustainable employment growth. Additionally, the session will foster networking and collaboration among stakeholders, paving the way for future initiatives and partnerships.

Target Audience

The session is designed for a diverse audience, including:

• Policymakers and government officials.

• Representatives from Trade Unions and Employers’ Organizations.

• Academics and researchers interested in the nexus between trade, investment, and employment.

• Development practitioners and technical specialists from national and regional institutions.

Conclusion

This session will provide a comprehensive overview of how trade and investment can be harnessed to create more and better jobs, drawing on the experiences and achievements of the ILO's METI project. By bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders, the session will facilitate knowledge sharing, capacity building, and collaboration, ultimately contributing to the goal of inclusive and sustainable employment growth.

Global climactic changes have contributed to an increase in the intensity and frequency of floods and fires in Australia (Plass & Zinn, 2024). Some regions, such as the Blue Mountains, NSW, have recently been affected by cascading disasters like drought, fires, the pandemic, floods, and storms. Continuing as a viable and sustainable workplace in the face of cascading disasters relies on the collective rather than the individual and involves all components of the workplace (Ingham et al., 2023). Climate change-related disasters are predicted to increasingly impact work health and safety in Australia (Wuersch et al., 2023). The Australian Government (2018) has employed a community-led approach in its Disaster Preparedness Framework, intending to increase the disaster resilience of both workplaces and their local communities.

Our study investigates how a regional NSW workforce can contribute to workplace safety by actively engaging in a decision-making process supported by a Resilience Action Plan framework. We ask the research questions: What role can workers play in disaster-prone workplaces to improve resilience and workplace health and safety? And how can their voice be strengthened in broader climate-related decision-making processes?

Following Yin’s (2018) case study methodology, we collected data relating to childcare centres engaging a predominantly young and female workforce in the Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia, between 2023 and 2024. The data was analysed using thematic template analysis (King & Brooks, 2016) and NVivo software to investigate worker initiatives to increase their own workplace resilience.

Results highlight that workforce-led actions and plans are vital for workplace safety in Australia’s disaster-prone regional and remote areas. Being assisted by either governmental or non-governmental structures can help the workforce, both leaders and employees, engage with workplace health and safety measures. In particular, a trauma-informed approach enhances the creation of trust, which, in turn, strengthens disaster-affected workers in effectively dealing with past trauma and preparing for the future. The research found that a bottom-up approach to worker support can increase workplace resilience and safety.

With climate change-related disasters on the rise, workplace resilience is becoming more important. Consequently, our empirical investigation informed two recommendations. First, organisations should empower their leaders and employees for ‘resilience thinking’. Second, workplaces must support their employees by offering climate-related decision-making approaches or frameworks to work with. This case study highlights the success of implementing the Resilience Action Plan approach in childcare centres across the Blue Mountains, NSW, and suggests further improvements.

Extreme temperatures already claim more lives around the world than any other natural hazard and under climate change this risk is increasing. Nevertheless, whilst the scale of the problem is increasingly recognised, understanding the lived experience of excess heat is a major research challenge.

A key issue facing such efforts is that heat stress is socially as well as geographically determined. The thermal experience of climate change is thus determined both by one’s position in space, and one’s position in society. The jobs we do, the roles we play in society, the conditions we work in, and our freedom within those roles, all shape our exposure to the changing climate.

This paper presents data on heat stress in the workforce from Cambodia, where the number of very hot days – days over 35˚C or a Wet Bulb Global Temperature [WBGT] of 32˚C (UNICEF, 2022) – have increased by 46 days per year since 1990 (World Bank and ADB, 2021), making the country one of the world’s most vulnerable to the impacts of rising temperatures. In climates like Cambodia’s, WBGT is a major threat to health, with a large proportion of the working population of the country centred in high-risk sectors

Our study presents data from an integrated heat stress assessment methodology, combining body worn CORE thermal sensors with survey and qualitative data. It draws on data from 788 workers in three occupational sectors: garment workers, informal sellers and transport workers.

Its results show that the proportion of workers experiencing heat stress depends on time of year, spatial location, occupation and specific roles within each occupation. In addition, the likelihood of workers experiencing heat stress is associated with socio-economic factors such as assets, liabilities and income.

In addition, the findings shed light on the effectiveness of individual and site level heat mitigations. It finds individual mitigations, such as using hand fans or wearing lighter clothing, to make no statistically significant difference to core temperatures. However, collective mitigations such as factory level measures, collective bargaining and union membership, are shown to be effective.

In 2015, the 104th International Labour Conference (ILC) adopted ILO Recommendation 204 Concerning the Transition of the Informal to the Formal Economy (R204), outlining principles for addressing decent work deficits through formalization. Critically, it affirms that workers in the informal economy — including self-employed workers — have a right to bargain collectively. It calls on member states to create an ‘enabling environment’ for workers to exercise this right and to participate in social dialogue on the transition to the formal economy.

Ten years later, formalization is back on the agenda of the ILC. The question of what constitutes an ‘enabling environment’ remains unresolved. This is partly because bargaining in this context looks very different from how it has been conceptualized in labour law. More fundamentally, there are divergent perspectives on which legal institutions constitute an ‘appropriate’ regulatory framework to formalize the informal economy: Should informal activities be incorporated into laws regulating businesses or into laws that regulate employment relations? This question has ideological, as well as legal, dimensions, which are under-explored in policy debates and in the broader literature about formalization.

As a starting point for enabling conversations among stakeholders, the paper develops a typology of approaches to formalization: market-centric, institutional, and rights-based. It contributes to the literature by locating each approach within a theory of development, considering how they are reflected in policy debates, and exploring the implications of each for realizing the right to collective bargaining for informal self-employed workers . Our aim is to advance the debate about the kind of legislation needed to effectively translate aspirations for decent work into reality for informal self-employed workers. We conclude that a rights-based approach to formalization — grounded in a political economy understanding of the law — is best able to achieve this goal.

We then consider the empirical realities of creating social dialogue and collective bargaining institutions, discussing initiatives by organizations of workers in informal employment to: gain recognition as workers; participate in decisions about their working conditions; and realize decent work. Through comparative analysis of these initiatives, we identify factors influencing their effectiveness, grouped along two broad axes: institutional form take and scope covered. Our aim is to explore what, concretely, is possible, what is needed, and what questions remain, in order to strengthen collective bargaining as a central component of a rights-based approach to formalization.

The question of collective bargaining personal scope represents an important question of International and comparative labour law. Within new forms of work (including platform work) access to these rights is often difficult, inter alia, because of the unclear employment status of workers and the narrow attachment of access to collective labour rights (in many legal systems) to the notion of an employee in an employment relationship. Especially from the perspective of competition law barriers (which are also predominantly addressed in legal scholarship) there have been some positive developments on the EU level (the adoption of Guidelines on the application of Union competition law to collective agreements in 2022).

Nonetheless, the purpose of this paper is to highlight and analyse other (beside competition law restrictions) legal barriers for the effective exercise of self-employed workers’ right to collective bargaining. Methodologically, the paper will be based on the analysis of the relevant international, and European legal sources, and selected national legal solutions.

We conclude that comparative law regimes have also responded to the need to ensure access to collective labour rights for certain groups of self-employed workers. As a rule, this is to protect the weaker, economically dependent solo self-employed worker who carries out work personally. For example, Germany allows collective bargaining for persons similar to workers (Arbeitnehmerahnliche Personen). Similarly, Spain regulates the status of economically dependent persons (TRADE) by law. France has also established specific rules that regulate the collective rights (of certain categories) of self-employed platform workers. On the other hand, in some legal orders (e.g. Slovenia) there are no specific rules on the right to collective bargaining for self-employed workers.

Nonehteless, it is worth pointing out that national legal orders need to resolve not only the question of personal scope, but also the question of how to design the legal framework in which the right to collective bargaining (of persons outside the employment relationship) would be effectively exercised. Open issues include, inter alia, the question of determining trade union representativeness, possible erga omnes and normative binding effects of collective agreements (in contrast to limited inter-partes contractual binding effects) etc. In particular regarding these issues, there are important differences between national legal orders. We note that access to the right to collective bargaining (for self-employed workers) does not necessarily mean that they may exercise it (on the national level) in the same legal framework (form) as workers in an employment relationship.

Collective bargaining and social dialogue are fundamental to improving labour conditions, yet millions of workers in India —particularly in informal and precarious employment—remain excluded from these protections(Sen,2012). This paper examines how worker agency and voice (Kabeer 1999, 2020; Anner & Fischer-Daly 2023) can be activated to extend bargaining rights to marginalized workers. By analysing diverse initiatives and showing how they operate at three intersecting levels, recognising that worker agency, even where severely curtailed by the forces of production and accumulation, can shape labour conditions and relations (Silver 2003, Carswell and De Neve 2013).

At the micro level - community and workspace - we will highlight innovative strategies to organize workers outside the traditional union framework. In Gujarat’s seafood processing industry, community-led organizing has evolved into a women-led industry specific union facilitating localized bargaining mechanisms that enable women workers to negotiate improved working conditions. Domestic workers’ collectives have facilitated grassroots mobilization by enhancing workers’ rights awareness and leadership development in the National Capital Region (NCR) in India. Anukatham’s work in informal sectors in Tamil Nadu highlights how new models of worker representation emerge in spaces where formal structures are weak.

At the meso level -cluster and wider administrative locality-initiatives showcase how collective bargaining frameworks can be adapted outside traditional unionized settings. SLD’s Worker Resource Centre (WRC) facilitates community-based dialogue fora bringing together workers, industry leaders, CSOs, unions and state actors to uphold labour rights in the NCR.TTCU-led Dindigul Agreement in Tamil Nadu highlights cross-sector collaborations across unions, labour rights organizations and brands can create enforceable mechanisms for workplace safety and gender-responsive grievance redressal in garment supply chains. Samsung workers' protest in Tamil Nadu, which began in September 2024 exemplifies how localized organizing can challenge corporate labour practices.

At the macro level, national and transnational frameworks illustrate how binding agreements and large-scale worker movements create sustainable bargaining mechanisms. SEWA’s sectoral model successfully expanded protections for informal women workers in India, ensuring access to social security and labour protections. Emerging gig worker mobilization (Singh et al., 2024), through both legal challenges and collective action, signals the evolution of bargaining mechanisms in digital labour markets.

By mapping these case studies within and across this three-tiered framework, this paper argues that effective social dialogue requires fluid, multi-level interventions that respond to local realities and global economic forces. Beyond legal reforms, worker-led strategies—rooted in community organizing, sectoral negotiations, and transnational advocacy—are key to expanding collective bargaining.

In many countries, states are struggling with the rise of diverse and unprotected forms of work. Current regulatory frameworks are failing to promote decent working conditions. Creating new mechanisms or rethinking existing ones is essential. This study addresses the second approach, aiming to analyze whether and how collective bargaining can innovate to ensure labour rights for non-employees. Collective bargaining agreements have traditionally been designed for employees. However, as argued by Estlund and Liebman, Contouris and Stefano, and others, despite their historically restricted scope, collective bargaining is a regulatory strategy based on social dialogue that can go beyond employment. This is exactly what is happening in Brazil: collective agreements establish labour rights for casual workers (who are not covered by labour legislation), known as day laborers ("diaristas”, in Portuguese). This paper seeks to contribute to the literature by unveiling the Brazilian case and identifying lessons that can inspire other jurisdictions. It then analyzes the strengths and shortcomings: are day laborers unionized? How can adequate representativeness be ensured in the social dialogue process? How can a single instrument be negotiated for distinct legal relationships? What are the resistances? Is it possible to cover other workers? How can antitrust objections be overcome? To this end, the research methodology combines three methods: literature review, documentary analysis (agreements registered with the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and judicial decisions), and interviews. Preliminary findings indicate that more than fifty collective bargaining agreements across different economic sectors ensure day laborers a minimum wage and, in some cases, paid vacation, paid rest, and 13th salary. While some day laborers are formally self-employed, others are informal. Generally, agreements expand labour rights for informal workers but do not promote the transition to formal economy. In one case, the agreement encouraged day laborers to formalize their social security status. Interviews with unions revealed substantial challenges: negotiating robust clauses and ensuring their implementation, compounded by the weakening of union movement and the judicial invalidation of agreements. Notwithstanding its limitations, collective bargaining agreements has proven to be an important co-regulatory mechanism. A remarkable example is found in domestic work: Brazilian law classifies domestic workers as employees only if they work more than two days a week for the same employer. Those who work fewer days are casual workers (not employees) and are completely excluded from labour protection. Given the legal exclusion by the state, collective bargaining has become the sole protective provision for them.

In recent decades, work has intensified for many people across high-income countries alongside steady economic growth. Empirical evidence reveals that employees are putting forth greater effort but with less voice in workplace decision-making regarding issues that affect their work and broader life. The proliferation of digital technologies in the workplace has contributed to this phenomenon, in large part because they have created new production opportunities for firms that allow for ‘location independent’ work, otherwise referred to as ‘telework’. On the one hand, these flexible working conditions can boost employees’ wellbeing by granting them more choice over when, where, and how much they work, but on the other hand, they can harm wellbeing by intensifying work demands. Since telework blurs the boundaries between one’s work and personal life, employees with limited voice are more susceptible to working everywhere and all the time to meet unsustainable employer expectations and evolving cultural norms around digital connectivity.

These circumstances have motivated several governments to implement the right-to-disconnect (R2D) legislation to support employee wellbeing by recognizing their right to ignore digital work-related communications outside of working hours. Surprisingly, we know very little about the impact of these laws since empirical evaluations are greatly limited. In theory, they should improve employees’ wellbeing, but in practice, their flexible application makes this outcome highly uncertain. Resolving this debate is timely considering the rise in telework spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic that accelerated digital infrastructure across all sectors, as well as the European Commission's forthcoming directive for this right.

In this article I seek to answer whether the R2D legislation improves employee wellbeing for those in ‘teleworkable’ occupations across Europe. Utilizing data from the European Social Survey from 2010 to 2020, I estimate the total average treatment effect of the R2D legislation on three domains of employee wellbeing – life satisfaction, happiness, and health – using a staggered treatment timing doubly robust difference-in-difference model. This model is superior in this research context because it allows me to explore the variance in employee wellbeing outcomes across treated European countries and over time. I test total working time and flexibility as potential mechanisms since these are argued to be intermediate objectives of the law in policy discourse. Lastly, I explore employee voice as a moderator between the R2D and employee wellbeing since implementation of R2D terms at the firm-level largely hinges on negotiations with trade unions and employee representatives.

Introduction

The rapid advancement of digital technology has significantly reshaped work dynamics, blurring the boundaries between professional and personal life. The increasing reliance on digital communication tools has led to an "always-on" culture, complicating work-life balance and negatively affecting employee well-being. In response, the concept of the "right to disconnect" has emerged globally, advocating for employees’ legal protection from work-related communications outside of working hours. While some countries have codified this right, many jurisdictions lack explicit legal frameworks addressing the issue. This paper examines the necessity of codifying the right to disconnect, exploring its impact on employment relations, worker well-being in an increasingly digitalised work environment.

Research Questions

1. How can the right to disconnect be legally enforced in an increasingly digitalised work environment?

2. What impact does the right to disconnect have on employment relations and workers’ well-being?

Methodology

This study employs a qualitative research approach, using comparative legal analysis, case law reviews, and policy assessments from countries that have implemented right-to-disconnect laws, such as France, Chile, and Italy. Secondary data sources, including legal texts, academic literature, and policy documents, provide insights into the legal frameworks, enforcement mechanisms, and practical implications of this right. The study also analyses existing labour laws and assesses whether they adequately address the challenges posed by digital connectivity in modern work environments.

Contribution to Literature

This paper contributes to the literature by examining the intersection of work-life balance, burnout, mental health, employee productivity, and digital labour rights in the post-pandemic workplace. It explores the role of trade unions, policymakers, and labour organisations in advocating for the right to disconnect and assesses potential legal models for implementation in different jurisdictions. Additionally, it provides a comparative perspective on digital labour protections, highlighting challenges and best practices in different legal systems.

Findings

The findings reveal that legislative recognition of the right to disconnect can promote healthier workplaces, improve job satisfaction, and reduce work-related stress. However, challenges persist, including balancing business efficiency with worker rights, addressing employer concerns about client expectations, and ensuring effective enforcement mechanisms. The study also identifies potential shifts in power dynamics between employers and employees, as well as the broader implications for labour relations in an increasingly digitalised economy.

The paper concludes with recommendations for policymakers, employers, and labour organisations on implementing right-to-disconnect policies that safeguard employee well-being while maintaining organisational effectiveness.

The digitalisation of work has intensified the expectation of constant availability, blurring the boundaries between professional and private life. In response, the right to disconnect has gained increasing recognition as a means to protect workers from excessive working hours and digital burnout. However, the regulation of this right varies across jurisdictions, raising questions about the appropriate balance between legislative intervention and workplace-level policies.

This study addresses the following key questions: (1) What elements of the right to disconnect should be regulated by law, and what should be left to workplace agreements? (2) What challenges arise in implementing and enforcing the right to disconnect across diverse work environments? (3) How can an EU directive effectively ensure protection for different categories of workers, including those in flexible employment?

The research adopts a comparative legal analysis, examining national regulations on the right to disconnect, focusing primarily on European countries such as Spain, France, and Germany. It also evaluates EU-level initiatives and assesses their potential impact. Additionally, the study incorporates insights from case law and collective agreements to identify best practices and challenges in enforcement.

While existing literature has explored the emergence of the right to disconnect, this study contributes by proposing a structured regulatory model that balances minimum legal protections with workplace-level flexibility. It also addresses the specific challenges of extending this right to workers in non-standard employment relationships, an area that remains underexplored.

The analysis suggests that an EU directive should establish core principles, including explicit protection against adverse treatment for exercising the right to disconnect, mandatory employer policies on digital communication, and sector-specific adaptations. However, effective implementation requires workplace-level negotiation, allowing companies to tailor policies to operational needs while ensuring compliance. Moreover, enforcement mechanisms must be strengthened, particularly for vulnerable workers, to prevent the right to disconnect from becoming a purely symbolic measure.

Portugal introduced the right to disconnect into its legal framework for the first time through Law No. 83/2021, published on 6 December 2021. This law modified the telework regime and created the right to disconnect for workers, coming into force on 1 January 2022. This legal framework remains in effect and has had significant media impact. In fact, even comedian Trevor Noah used this new regime for a satirical segment on The Daily Show in November 2021. This humorous segment labelled the Portuguese legislator as a "gangster". In reality, the instituted regime did not implement a right to disconnect, but rather a duty for employers to refrain from contacting employees after working hours.

Thus, what seemed to be one of the most aggressive regimes to ensure the right to disconnect has now been in force for almost four years. The promised "gangster" impact did not achieve the intended effects. Indeed, some deficiencies in legislative technique have led to serious practical and conceptual problems.

In this context, the present work aims to analyse the effectiveness of the measures implemented by the Portuguese legislator and suggest changes that could increase their practical applicability. Through this approach, supported by an empirical methodology, it aims to identify the strengths of the legislative proposal, but above all, to identify its inconsistencies in order to eliminate all errors.

Implementing the right to disconnect in Portugal can foster a healthier and more sustainable work environment, especially in an increasingly digitalized world. The quality of the legislative process is fundamental. Only in this way is it possible to protect workers' rights, improve quality of life, and productivity in the workplace, as the rules must be equally clear and effective for employers.

Introduction: The global rise of remote work and digital communication technologies has intensified debates surrounding the protection of workers’ ‘right to disconnect’ (RtD) – the capacity to disengage from work-related tasks and communications outside of formal working hours. While countries such as France and Australia have developed institutional frameworks for RtD, China’s legislation is lagging behind. It was not until 2024 that the Supreme People’s Court of China highlighted a landmark judgement as one of the ‘Top 10 Cases in Promoting the Rule of Law in 2023’, which recognised ‘invisible overtime’ via WeChat beyond working hours. This paper examines China’s judicial decisions and legislative challenges regarding RtD, and draws inspiration from international models to propose suggestions for improving China’s labour laws.

Research questions: What is the rationale for China’s judicial decisions on RtD? Do China’s existing labour laws address the protection of RtD, and if not, what are the institutional barriers? Whether China can draw inspiration from international RtD institutional frameworks, and if so, what improvements can be made?

Methodology: This paper uses doctrinal analysis to examine China’s legislation relating to RtD and to analyse the rationale behind China’s judicial decisions relating to invisible overtime and RtD. This paper also adopts a comparative approach to compare the legal practice of RtD in China, France, and Australia to explore the possibility of improving the legislation in China.

Contribution to literature and findings: First, this paper systematically reviews the legal status of RtD protection in China and court decisions to fill this research gap in English literature. Second, this paper compares the similarities and differences in RtD legislative practices between China, France, and Australia, which provides experience and inspiration for legislative reforms in China. This paper finds that China’s response to the issue of invisible overtime arising from the digital working pattern is inadequate and fails to effectively protect employees’ RtD. Specifically, the current labour laws are unclear about the boundary between work and non-work hours, resulting in a lack of legal constraints on enterprises when using communication tools to assign non-working hour tasks. Moreover, there are no explicit criteria for determining invisible overtime in China, relying on the judge’s discretion. The paper also finds that China needs to legislate RtD to make it legally binding, which could be done through judicial interpretations.

While the ILO supervisory bodies have reiterated all workers should enjoy the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining irrespective of employment status, workers who fall outside of the standard employment relationship, hardly enjoy such rights mainly due to the existing regulatory framework. Collective agreements for platform workers, for example, are restricted by competition law. Moreover, employers’ group questions the applicability of Con No. 98 to all platform workers, most of whom have been mis/classified as the self-employed. While the ILO has recommended “developing specific collective bargaining mechanisms relevant to self-employed workers”, we have not seen many developments to promote their rights.

Against this, I attempt to tackle the questions like “who should be held accountable for respecting the right to collective bargaining?” and “how does the regulatory framework for collective bargaining need to change for protecting workers in diverse forms of work arrangement?”.

For answering these, I examine how self-employed workers have organised and engaged in collective bargaining in Korea since the late 1990s. At first, they attempted to organise unions, and to get a legal recognition, being confronted with narrow legal interpretation of “worker”. Second, they had to overcome employers’ refusal of collective bargaining or establish counterparties of industrial relations. Moreover, they must win through restrictive institutional framework – bargaining unit and levels, standards to determine the representative status of unions and facilities afforded to workers’ representatives etc. In addition, they have faced to interference of competition authorities and criminal penalty even after concluding collective agreements.

I analyse historical and social context and legal issues above mentioned, with cases of owner-truckers, informal workers in care service sector and freelance workers in the media and culture industry. Many of them increasingly work in platform economy, too. I examine the evolution of issues surrounding collective bargaining for self-employed workers over decades. Also, I review the relevant cases in the Committee on the Freedom of Association, with a view to narrow the gap between the ILO principles and domestic application of collective labour rights. Particularly, I explore in what way the rationale for employer’s responsibility could be revised, and how the purpose and scope of collective bargaining should be rebuilt to promote the right to collective bargaining for all workers.

Digital labour platforms often display a preference for self-employed workers for cost curbing or flexibility purposes (Rubery et al., 2018; Schor et al., 2020; Thelen, 2019). However, we find empirical exceptions from this trend including the food delivery platform Just Eat/Takeaway, which has a global strategy of decent work and working conditions as well as an industrial relations department at global level. Just Eat/Takeaway pledge to work with employed platform workers in 12 out of the 20 countries, where the platform is active, and the company has engaged in collective bargaining in several cases. Instead of reducing protection for workers by replacing the wage-nexus of an employment relationship by a commercial civil law contract, these collective agreements

potentially fix the wage-nexus by re-embedding workers into a traditional employment relationship. Drawing on interviews with platform managers from Just Eat/Takeaway in Denmark, Spain and Italy, interviews with union representatives as well as document analysis (of strategies and agreements), this paper analyses the employer strategy by the same platform in different national contexts. We compare three countries from various industrial relations regimes (Visser 2009), where Just Eat/Takeaway is employing couriers and negotiating with unions: Denmark (Organised Corporatism) and Italy & Spain (Polarised/State-centered). We analyze how national managers implement the

global strategy of decent work by explaining under what conditions, and the extent to which, they employ platform workers as employees and how they initiate negotiations with unions and conclude collective agreements. We found product and labour markets as well as the country-based industrial relation systems explaining the way in which the platform triggers strategies - and respond to counter-strategies of trade unions and

workers collectives - to negotiate collective agreements.

Introduction

The expansion of the platform economy in Europe has significantly transformed traditional employment structures. Many individuals engaged through digital platforms are not formally recognised as employees, limiting their access to guaranteed social benefits and minimum wage standards. This study examines how the recognition and enforcement of minimum wage as a labour right impact platform workers’ employment status and protection.

Research Questions

1. How does the EU Platform Work Directive influence the right of platform workers to receive minimum wage, and to what extent does it ensure their proper employment classification and wage protection across member states?

2. How do minimum wage regulations in the EU member states (Spain, France, Germany, Italy) and the United Kingdom apply to platform workers?

3. What impact do national court rulings have on the classification of platform workers and their entitlement to minimum wage protections?

4. How to shape adequate minimum wage protections for platform workers?

Methodology

This research uses a qualitative analysis of the EU and national legal frameworks, relevant literature and key court decisions:

Spain: Glovo case (Supreme Court, No. 805/2020)

France: Uber case (Court of Cassation, No. 374/2020)

Germany: Bicycle Courier case (Federal Labour Court, No. 9 AZR 102/2020)

Italy: Foodera case (Court of Cassation, No. 1663/2020)

the UK: Uber BV v. Aslam (UKSC 2019/0029, 2021)

Contribution and Findings

The study provides critical insights into the effectiveness of minimum wage regulations and court rulings:

1. The EU Platform Work Directive strengthens platform workers’ right to minimum wage by introducing a presumption of employment, enhancing enforcement mechanisms, and promoting harmonisation across member states. However, its effectiveness depends on national implementation.

2. Spain’s „Riders Law” (2021) and the UK’s proposed Employment Rights Bill (2024) presume an employment relationship between parties.

3. Courts increasingly recognise platform workers as employees, entitling them to minimum wage protections.

4. Employment classification should reflect economic dependence rather than ridig legal categories.

5. Minimum wage protection must be complemented by collective bargaining rights.

6. Stronger enforcement mechanisms are necessary to regulate gig work.

7. Extending wage protections promotes economic justice.

Conclusions:

The combination of legislative initiatives and supportive judicial rulings underscores the importance of a comprehensive approach. Adequate minimum wage protection for platform workers requires a broader regulatory framework, including collective bargaining and stronger enforcement. Policymakers are encouraged to continue refining legal frameworks to ensure that all workers, regardless of employment classification, receive fair wages and adequate labour protections.

The gig economy has emerged as an essential component of Malaysia’s Labour market, providing flexible employment options and substantially enhancing the country’s economic growth. However, its swift growth has exposed various challenges, such as wage disparity, income instability, insufficient social protection, and dominance of foreign platforms. These issues expose fundamental deficiencies in labour market institutions, which are currently unable to provide adequate protections to gig workers. The fragmentation of regulations exacerbates the situation, with overlapping responsibilities among various ministries result in inefficiencies. Most gig workers are deprived of basic protections, leaving them susceptible to financial and occupational hazards. This study addresses the formation of the Malaysian Gig Economy Commission (SEGIM) as a centralised regulatory body to overcome these challenges. SEGIM seeks to standardise policies, establish minimum wage regulations, and enhance labour protection specifically designed for gig workers. By clearly defining employment statuses, SEGIM can eradicate ambiguities that hinder workers from obtaining basic labour rights including paid leave, insurance and retirement funds. Furthermore, SEGIM could significantly contribute to the advancement of local gig platforms, reducing dependency on foreign operator. This study employs mixed-method approach, integrating quantitative analysis of gig economy data with qualitative insights derived from interviews with gig workers, platform operators and policymakers. The result underscore the imperative for strong labour institutions to address domestic labour issues while contributing to global initiatives to establish inclusive and resilient labour markets. SEGIM could also promote tax reforms, enhance skills development via specialized training programs, and foster equitable competition within the gig economy. This research highlights the significance of flexible institution in the digital era, promoting SEGIM as innovative model to protect gig workers and foster sustainable economic growth. SEGIM offers a comprehensive solution to the challenges of Malaysia's gig economy by protecting worker rights, enhancing their representation, and strengthening the principles of decent work. This initiative provides a valuable framework for other nations aiming to address comparable challenges and promote equitable, inclusive, and sustainable labour practices in the changing landscape of employment.

The lack of a legal employment relationship between workers and digital labour platforms, complicates discussions regarding labour rights, responsibilities of platform businesses, and the role of the state. Research on this issue from the Global South is scant, albeit rising. India, the largest supplier of global supplier worldwide and having 8% of all digital platforms globally, presents a strong case for this study. My paper uses data gathered from a field survey of 326 online food delivery workers from three Indian cities. I find that majority (84%) workers were not a part of any informal workers' collective, while only 0.6% were associated with some organization. However, nearly 58% workers wanted to see some change in their working conditions. Discussing instances of gig workers' protests from across India over the years, and examining workers' views on collective action, it fills an important literature gap. It is the first study, to the best of my knowledge, to discuss workers' perceptions of unionizing, their fears or motivations to assert their rights in the gig economy, and ways in which they try to make their voices heard. Thereby, it discusses the roles and responsibilities of platform businesses and the state in ensuring 'decent' working conditions in India's platform economy.

The case law of the European Court of Human Rights on the right to strike has a long and contradictory history. It has ranged from a complete denial of international protection of this right to its full recognition and, back again, to subsequent restrictions.

What reasoning concerning the principle of proportionality has the Court used to justify these contradictory approaches?

Classical studies in this area try to find a certain legal standard that the Court uses or that, according to the authors, should follow, because of the text of the European Convention and the norms of international law. However, critical structuralism allows us to look at this problem from a different angle.

With the help of this approach, we find two contradictory models of argumentation in the practice of the European Court. The value approach, associated with the presence in the text of the Convention of a certain set of subjective rights, that should be covered by the international protection, according to their very nature. And the approach based on economic rationality, which tries to mathematically compare economic costs and benefits for society.

These two approaches are not only simultaneously and quite arbitrarily used by the European Court, but also represent a closed logical structure from which it is impossible to find a way out, relying only on the usual ways of interpreting the text of legal norms, on legal language.

This approach to the analysis of the problem of the right to strike in the European system of human rights protection, on the one hand, allows us to show the full diversity of possible legal arguments, and on the other hand, the absence of a solution within the law to the problem of the admissibility of a strike in each specific case.

Labour law reforms implemented during periods of austerity often have profound implications for economic and social inequalities. International Labour Standards (ILS) and Human Rights instruments provide invaluable guidance on how to protect the most vulnerable as often illustrated in the comments of the respective supervisory and monitoring bodies.

The study will consist in two parts and employ a multidisciplinary approach drawing on secondary sources. The first part will examine the historical effect of austerity-driven labour law reforms on income disparities, job security, and social protections and how these are correlated with exacerbated inequalities in the medium and long term. The assumption is that overall, austerity-driven labour law reforms reinforce inequalities independently of whether their main objective i.e., higher GDP growth and reduced fiscal deficits, is achieved.

In particular, the study will aim to assess the short, medium and long-term effects of selected reforms introduced in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic in the form of deregulation, wage suppression, changes in employment protection legislation and reduced social benefits, vis-à-vis a correlated increase in inequalities as reflected in widening wage differentials, notably by gender, and the development of dual labour markets, with scarcer secure employment and rising precarious, low-paid jobs. The paper will also attempt to illustrate the disruptive effect of labour market flexibilization and social inequalities on social cohesion with emphasis on groups already facing structural disadvantages such as women, youth, persons with disabilities, migrant workers, etc.

The second part will explore policy alternatives suggested by ILO supervisory bodies and UN human rights mechanisms. These draw on ILS and human rights in order to preserve social equity, notably through social dialogue, active labour market policies, fair wage-setting mechanisms and social protection floors. An overall policy suggestion emerging from the paper may be that policymakers should consider equity-focused labour market strategies that support both economic recovery and social justice through adequate social safeguards and tools such as ex ante impact assessments of labour market reforms, introduction of universal social protection, including sustainable financing mechanisms, support for social dialogue and collective bargaining, and ringfencing minimum social rights. Experiences from field projects in these areas will be shared .

The paper aims at addressing a research gap by emphasizing the contribution that international law, in the form of ILS and human rights, can make to the realisation of the 2030 Agenda, social justice and a human rights economy.

This paper introduces the third edition of the Labour Rights Index (LRI), comparing labour legislation in 145 countries against 10 indicators (46 sub-indicators) derived from UN Conventions and ILO instruments and rooted in the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda. It follows an employment life cycle approach and evaluates countries along ten indicators - fair wages, decent work hours, employment security, family responsibilities, maternity at work, safe work, social security, fair treatment, child and forced labour, and trade unions.

The 2024 Labour Rights Index is a testament to the progress in labour legislation worldwide. More and more countries are aligning their laws with international standards with technical assistance from the ILO, a clear march to the top instead of a widely claimed race to the bottom.

The index does not measure the countries against some gold-plated or utopian standards. The indicators represent the minimum working conditions the world has already agreed upon by adopting these ILO instruments and UN conventions/ covenants. The Index analyses all labour legislation, ranging from minimum wage laws and employment protection laws to social security legislation and fundamental principles and rights at work legislation to the laws supporting work-life balance.

The index also aims to actively contribute to the SDGs by providing necessary (complementary) insights into de jure provisions on issues covered, in particular, by SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Jobs), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG 16 (Strong Institutions).

The key takeaways from the last three editions of the Index (2020-24) are:

1. Regulatory frameworks alone are not enough. The newly released B-Ready report by the World Bank clearly shows a considerable gap between the de jure labour law (in the form of regulatory frameworks) and state institutions' provision of public services. However, the critical question is that these frameworks must also be consistent with international labour standards. The Labour Rights Index is the only de-jure index that analyses compliance of a country’s labour laws with international labour standards.

2. The abundance of labour legislation does not mean labour rights are protected. Pakistan has more than 40 pieces of labour legislation, with an overall index score of 53.5, the second lowest in South Asia.

3. A country does not have to be rich to protect workers’ rights. The index identifies many trailblazers with relatively high Index scores from low-income and lower-middle-income countries.

The October 2023 Gaza war has profoundly impacted Palestine's labour market, intensifying pre-existing challenges and creating new barriers to implementing labour law reforms across Gaza and the West Bank. Even prior to the conflict, unemployment rates were alarmingly high, with 25% in the West Bank and 47% in Gaza, while youth unemployment soared to 63% in Gaza and 41% in the West Bank. Post-war, these rates have escalated further as widespread destruction—such as the obliteration of over 80% of housing units in Gaza—and the halting of major economic activities displaced thousands. Informal workers, who make up over 50% of the Palestinian workforce, remain particularly vulnerable due to their lack of job security, social protections, and stable incomes.

In the West Bank, economic stagnation has worsened due to increased political instability, restricted access to resources, and escalated Israeli incursions. The Palestinian Labour Law No. 7 of 2000, already inadequate in addressing the needs of informal workers, women, and youth, is ill-suited to cope with these compounded challenges. Institutional weaknesses, such as outdated enforcement mechanisms and insufficient labour inspection systems, further hinder reform efforts. In Gaza, the collapse of judicial and administrative institutions has rendered labour law enforcement nearly impossible, while political divisions between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas exacerbate inefficiencies. Gender disparities have also deepened, with female labour force participation dropping below 19%, as many women are forced out of the workforce due to caregiving responsibilities and displacement. This research aims to investigate the institutional and political barriers hindering labour law reforms in Palestine's post-war context. By employing a mixed-methods approach, the study integrates quantitative data on unemployment trends, wage impacts, and sector-specific dynamics with qualitative insights from interviews and focus groups involving policymakers, labour unions, employers, and informal workers. The goal is to provide actionable recommendations to create a more equitable and inclusive labour market for all, including informal workers. Policy implications emphasize rebuilding institutional capacity, enhancing enforcement mechanisms, and integrating inclusive labour policies to address vulnerabilities. Measures such as prioritizing social protection for informal workers, fostering public-private partnerships, and promoting gender equity are essential for long-term stability. Addressing these issues holistically will ensure that Palestine's labour market can recover sustainably while supporting its most marginalized populations.

Introduction

As the European Union has been making efforts to address inequalities occurring in temporary labour migration through reforms of its framework on the posting of workers, hypermobile intra-EU truckdrivers constitute a special category. These workers are difficult to pin down as they are regularly crossing the territory of numerous Member States. In the Netherlands, trade unions and media regularly report breaches of national and EU legislation and describe poor working conditions of truckdrivers originating from Eastern Europe.

Research question(s)

This research aims to assess the effectiveness of the (EU) rules regulating labour in the road transportation sector using empirical evidence. To this end, a case study gathering first-hand experiences of truckdrivers passing through the Netherlands was conducted with a special focus on evaluating working standards and access to justice.

Methodology

This is qualitative project which employed the case study methodology focusing on the working conditions of truckdrivers crossing the territory of the Netherlands. Data was collected from multiple sources, including caselaw, media, ethnographic observation, and interviews. The research team accompanied by interpreters accessed participants by using a campervan and stationing at popular parking lots across the Netherlands. 32 qualitative interviews were carried out with truckdrivers (both EU and non-EU nationals), the majority of whom originated from Eastern Europe, including Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Ukraine.

Contribution to Literature

While up-to-date empirical data on temporary labour migration in the EU is overall scarce, truckdrivers are a particularly elusive category of workers due to the hypermobile nature of their work. Thanks to the unique methodology, this research, for the first time in academic literature, gives voice to those employed in the international road transport sector. It sheds light on how these workers perceive their working conditions and to what extent EU labour law reforms regarding road transport impact their well-being.

Findings

Contrary to the Dutch media and trade union reports, the majority of interviewed truckdrivers had positive experiences of working in the international road transport sector. Their main concern were sanitary conditions at parking lots across the Netherlands. However, this research reveals that those interviewees who had experienced breaches of law and/or contract, had virtually no hope of accessing appropriate remedies regardless of whether they were EU citizens or not. We argue that due to the hypermobile nature of their work which causes private international issues with lex fori, in the eyes of justice these workers are stateless.

Claudia Goldin showed that, as part of the structural transformation process, female labour participation rates (FLPRs) tend to peak in low-income countries where agriculture predominates, decline in middle-income countries with a growing industrial sector, and rise again in high-income countries with a service-oriented economy. The main hypothesis to explain the decline of FLPRs in middle-income countries is that this pattern is driven by the expansion of industrial activities in some regions of these countries, since jobs in this sector are typically performed by men. This descriptive paper evaluates that specific hypothesis of the U-shaped feminization theory. The analysis uses microdata from Mexico, the country with the highest share of industrial jobs in Latin America and one of the lowest FLPRs in the region. The empirical strategy relies on probit regressions to estimate women’s likelihood of participating in the workforce depending on the share of jobs in agriculture, industry, and services in the municipality where they reside. The analysis is based on a repeated cross-sectional dataset obtained from household surveys conducted between 2005 and 2019. After controlling for individual, household, and municipal characteristics, the regression results show that women’s likelihood of working increases as the share of jobs in the industrial sector is higher, it increases even more in service-oriented regions, but it declines in municipalities with a high share of agricultural jobs. An exploratory data analysis indicates that one of the main reasons why women living in agricultural regions of Mexico are not working is because there are no jobs in their place of residence. This evidence suggests that one of the drivers behind the low FLPRs in Mexico could be the lack of labour demand for women in the agricultural sector. Hence, this paper finds that in Mexico there is an upward trend between FLPRs and different stages of economic development across regions of the same country. This represents new evidence for the literature, as the only study following a similar methodology found a U-shaped pattern between FLPRs and different levels of economic development across regions of South Africa. To conclude, the study presents the sectoral distribution of the female labour force across countries. This analysis shows that some upper-middle-income countries like South Africa, Peru, Turkey, and Indonesia are showing the U-shaped pattern within the country, while others like Mexico, Malaysia, Colombia, and China, are exhibiting an upward trend.

The persistence of gender inequality, particularly in the labour market, despite considerable global efforts to close gender gaps, underscores the ongoing need to develop adequate metrics to track and address these disparities. Gender equality research is expanding (Belingheri et al., 2021), and gender-relevant or -disaggregated data is being collected more systematically (Bonfert et al., 2023), enabling the development of multiple indices to measure gender equality (e.g., the Gender Development Index and the European Index of Gender Equality). However, these measurements often prioritize broad international comparisons, overlooking local policy contexts and the specific needs of policymakers and organizations seeking actionable knowledge and evidence.

In this context, identifying the appropriate theoretical framework, data, and methodology to construct such a metric is paramount. This paper outlines the steps involved in developing the Australian Gender Equality @ Work Index.

The index was built through an iterative process designed to balance academic rigor with data availability and policy relevance. We adopted a threefold approach to define the scope of the index:

1. A robust theoretical framework was developed by integrating multidisciplinary knowledge from labour economics, sociology of work, political economy, and industrial relations. This framework was further refined through a quasi-systematic review of gender equality indices to better understand the metrics and methods commonly used and to identify existing gaps.

2. A comprehensive data audit was conducted to assess the feasibility of capturing the dimensions outlined in the theoretical framework.

3. Stakeholder and expert consultations were carried out to validate our approach and align it with the needs of policymakers.

As a result, we adopted a nine-dimension index, with each dimension represented by at least two variables that can be tracked over time. The index was compiled using a combination of parity indices and dissimilarity measures, and its robustness was tested using multiple validation techniques (eg. Monte Carlo simulations). Our findings indicate a slow overall change in gender inequality in the Australian labour market over the past decade. The primary drivers of gender inequality are labour market segmentation and disparities in work and care hours. This metric, therefore, provides valuable insights for identifying key policy levers to promote gender equality in the workforce.

Although this index is designed for Australia, this paper discusses how it can be adapted to track gender inequalities in other contexts, particularly in developing economies characterized by high informality.

Existing literature emphasizes the transformative potential of digitalization in reshaping labor markets and advancing gender equity. Studies suggest that digital tools and automation can disrupt traditional gendered divisions of labor, opening new opportunities for women in leadership, entrepreneurship, and technical roles (UNWOMEN, 2020; OECD, 2018). However, evidence also indicates that digitalization can reinforce existing inequalities when structural barriers, such as unequal access to digital skills and technologies, remain unaddressed (Howcroft & Rubery, 2018). In contexts marked by occupational segregation, digital transformation may perpetuate stereotypes that associate women with specific types of work, limiting their integration into high-skill, high-growth sectors (Kohlrausch & Weber, 2020). This dual-edged nature of digitalization calls for sector-specific and gender-sensitive analyses to understand its varied impacts on women's employment and economic empowerment.

Against this backdrop, this study explores the relationship between digitalization and women’s work in two key sectors in Turkey: tourism and manufacturing. How does digitalization influence gender roles in these sectors, and to what extent does it create opportunities for women to engage in skilled and leadership roles? The research is based on field studies conducted in regions with significant SME activity, analyzing both the opportunities and constraints digital transformation presents for women in these industries.

Findings from the tourism sector indicate that digitalization, particularly in functions like social media management and reservations, has made women more visible in customer-facing and managerial roles. Digital tools have also contributed to a modest rise in women entrepreneurs. In manufacturing, digitalization has enabled educated women to access white-collar and managerial positions, though traditional roles tied to physical labor remain largely male-dominated.

This paper highlights the nuanced interplay between digitalization and gender dynamics, emphasizing the need for inclusive digital policies to bridge skill gaps, counter occupational segregation, and enhance women's visibility across sectors. The study aims to inform broader discussions on gender-sensitive digitalization strategies, contributing actionable insights for equitable SME development in emerging economies.

Despite a 27% increase in women's higher education enrolment between 2015-2023 in India, female labour force participation has declined from 26% to 19.7%, creating an urgent need to examine structural, cultural, and technological barriers. This research analyses secondary data from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2023-24, and digital economy metrics, revealing that only 33% of women have meaningful digital access, with rural-urban disparities reaching 45%. The study leverages findings from extensive literature that highlight persistent gender inequities in India’s labour market despite advancements in education. Researchers like Chatterjee et al. and Mahmood et al. emphasize the structural and social factors that hinder women’s economic participation, such as patriarchal norms and inadequate digital infrastructure. By employing time-series analysis, econometric modelling, and machine learning algorithms, the research quantifies how post-pandemic digital transformation has altered employment patterns, particularly affecting 68% of women workers in informal sectors. The newly developed Economic Opportunity Index, calibrated across 640 districts, demonstrates that regions with higher digital penetration (>60%) show a 2.3x higher female workforce participation rate. Preliminary findings indicate that districts with integrated digital payment systems and e-commerce platforms report a 37% higher female entrepreneurship rate. Additionally, the post-pandemic recovery has been asymmetric, with digitally-enabled sectors showing 42% higher female employment retention compared to traditional sectors. However, implementation gaps in digital skilling programs affect 73% of potential women workers, particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where digital infrastructure lags by 52% compared to metropolitan areas. Insights from Bhalla & Kaur and Khanna suggest that addressing socio-cultural barriers and enhancing access to technology are pivotal for overcoming these disparities. This research advances the academic discourse by quantifying the digital divide's impact on female employment, showing that a 10% increase in digital accessibility correlates with a 3.2% rise in formal sector participation. The findings emphasize that achieving the targeted 45% female labour force participation by 2030 requires a threefold increase in digital infrastructure investment, particularly in the 324 districts identified as digital deserts. Policy reforms focusing on women-centric digital entrepreneurship initiatives, shown to have an 89% success rate in pilot programs, are also crucial for bridging the gender employment gap and fostering inclusive economic growth.

There is considerable evidence that global value chains (GVCs) occasionally involve the use of forced labor for production. This project aims to build a more comprehensive dataset on the incidence of forced labor in tradable goods and services sectors than is currently available, allowing researchers to explore the connection between globalized production in GVCs and the prevalence of forced labor. Forced labor is defined by the ILO as "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the threat of a penalty and for which the person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily” (ILO Forced Labour Convention No. 29, 1930). Freedom from forced labor is a core labor standard in the ILO tradition.

A major challenge in researching forced labor is the lack of comparable data across firms, sectors and countries. This project focuses on forced labor in GVCs, building on the ILO’s dataset and linking it to the numerous case studies that have generated original data. The combined dataset will then be integrated with labor market and production data on GVCs available through the WTO’s Trade in Value Added (TiVa) dataset or the World Input-Output dataset maintained by the University of Groningen.

There is extensive empirical research on how GVCs impact employment and wages, gendered labor market outcomes, workplace safety, labor organizing, economic and social upgrading, monopsony power and corporate social responsibility. However, there has not been an adequate dataset to enable informed claims regarding the incidence of forced labor in GVCs across countries and sectors.

INTRODUCTION

On November 9th, 2025, Brazil’s Labour Inspectors investigated labour rights violations at BYD’s factory construction site after reports of serious human rights abuses. The investigation revealed that over 500 Chinese workers had been fraudulently classified as specialists to bypass local labour registration despite performing regular construction tasks. In unsafe conditions, these workers faced excessive working hours ranging from 60 to 70 hours per week. Their accommodations were overcrowded, lacked mattresses, and had poor sanitation, violating essential health and safety standards. They were subjected to degrading conditions, with limited access to proper meals and rest, constituting a clear breach of Brazilian labour laws. Labour Inspectors determined that these workers had been trafficked into Brazil under false pretenses and were subjected to forced labour, meeting international criteria for human trafficking. As a result, 163 Chinese workers were formally rescued from these exploitative conditions. BYD and its subcontractors were notified that such practices constitute crimes under Brazilian law. Authorities ordered them to terminate the illegal contracts, pay the workers’ outstanding wages and labour rights, and ensure their safe return to China. This case highlights the risks faced by migrant workers in multinational projects and underscores the need for more vigorous enforcement of labour protections and decent work standards.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study aims to address the following research questions: (1) How do violations of decent work standards contribute to the exploitation of migrant workers in multinational corporations? (2) What are the legal and regulatory challenges to ensuring corporate accountability in the supply chains of multinational companies operating in Brazil?"

METHODOLOGY

This study adopts a case study methodology concerning the labour inspector's findings of slave labour and human trafficking in BYD’s factory in Brazil, using a qualitative research approach centred on data collection methods aligned with the concept of decent work (as defined by the International Labour Organization - ILO). The study will assess how working conditions in this case violated ILO’s Decent Work Agenda, including fair wages, workplace security, social protection, and workers’ rights.

CONTRIBUTION TO LITERATURE AND FINDINGS

By examining the case of BYD’s factory in Brazil, we can understand how violations of decent work standards—including excessive working hours, degrading conditions, and fraudulent recruitment—facilitate human trafficking and forced labour in multinational supply chains. We can also contribute to the discussion over corporate accountability and legal enforcement and the need for stronger protections for migrant workers in global supply chains.

This paper examines security practices in the lower tiers of global supply chains through a study of cotton production and outsourcing in southeast Turkey, a conflict-affected region bordering Syria and home to the Southeastern Anatolia Project, the most ambitious and longest-running development initiative in the Middle East. Specifically, it asks: How do security and development practices shape and reinforce each other in lower tiers of global supply chains, and with what consequences for the security of workers?

My methods comprise participant observation and over 100 interviews with state representatives, NGOs, employers, and workers, conducted during repeated visits between 2021 and 2023. These allow for a detailed analysis of everyday interactions, norms, relationships, and habits within cotton production networks, particularly focusing on how various security practices are enacted from the ground up.

The paper contributes to political economy analyses of labor by developing a framework that integrates insights from critical and feminist security studies. It shifts attention from the security of states and markets to human security, conceptualizing capitalism not only as a social order but also as a biopolitical formation that shapes how life is protected or undermined under specific conditions of community existence.

The findings are twofold. First, the analysis reveals how security and counterinsurgency practices associated with the Southeastern Anatolia Project shape the region’s integration into global cotton supply chains, activating different gendered and racialized identities that supply chain actors must negotiate in their daily lives. Second, outsourcing and related arrangements shift responsibility for worker protection from employers and the state to labor brokers, workers, and their households, deepening material insecurities. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethical initiatives, designed to protect labor and the environment through ‘brand aid,’ reproduce outsourcing patterns and hierarchies among transnational and local actors. In doing so, these practices promote a neoliberal ideology of self-entrepreneurship, which further erodes human security.

These findings have significant implications for legal frameworks and mechanisms intended to ensure decent work in global supply chains, particularly amid rising security concerns for firms, communities and individuals worldwide. My findings indicate that brand aid often fails to address the violence embedded in supply chains, particularly in conflict-affected regions and among workers at lower tiers. To be effective, legal frameworks must go beyond addressing labor conditions and consider the broader ‘life politics’ of supply chains, taking into account how the security practices of both state and non-state actors can undermine worker protections.

Subcontracting has become a defining feature of the Chilean mining industry's supply chain, with outsourced workers now representing 75% of the total workforce—a stark contrast to approximately one-third in other mining countries. This trend has accelerated over the past two decades, driven by labor market flexibilization and increasing cost-reduction pressures in global extractive industries. In this context, labor standards—often presented by mining companies as a means to improve workers’ conditions—have led to growing disparities between different types of workers. Outsourced workers typically face lower wages, higher job insecurity, and diminished collective bargaining power compared to their directly employed counterparts.

The objective of this article is to analyze how large-scale copper mining companies in Chile employ standardization practices—encompassing rules, routines, and regulations imposed by lead firms on outsourced companies downstream in the supply chain—to control outsourced labor, reduce costs, and mitigate operational disruptions stemming from labor agency.

Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study integrates National Employment Survey analysis, content analysis of companies´ sustainability reports, and two sets of semi-structured interviews. The first set comprises 16 interviews with union leaders and managers from lead and outsourced firms, offering insights into managerial strategies. The second set consists of 35 structured interviews with direct and outsourced mining workers, capturing firsthand experiences of labor conditions and workplace relations.

The findings reveal that standardization functions as an indirect mechanism of labor control through two key strategies. First, lead firms impose stringent performance and compliance standards on subcontractors, utilizing contract-based penalties to reduce unionization and prevent labor disruptions. Second, mining companies symbolically assimilate subcontracted workers with direct employees as “partners” to blur employment distinctions under the umbrella of decent work standards. While these strategies improve certain workplace conditions, such as safety and access to facilities, they have limited the agency of outsourced workers and maintained structural labor inequalities by keeping outsourced workers in precarious and subordinate positions.

This article contributes to the literature on complex supply chains and labor regimes by examining how standardization can serve as a tool for labor control beyond direct employer-employee relationships. It also expands theoretical discussions on labor standards by demonstrating how large firms can finally benefit from regulatory frameworks and decent work standards to navigate tensions between cost reduction, labor conditions, and compliance through managerial strategies that perpetuate employment hierarchies.

This article examines industrial relations and the labour process in Chile’s lithium mining sector, addressing two interrelated levels of analysis to understand labour dynamics in an industry crucial to the global energy transition. At the first level, it explores industrial relations, focusing on how companies, unions, the state, and other actors interact in a context of high demand for labour stability and social control. At the second level, it examines the labour process, emphasizing corporate control mechanisms and how they shape a labour regime adapted to the global demands of lithium, an essential resource for energy storage technologies.

Chile, with its long-standing mining tradition (particularly in copper), has undergone significant transformations in the lithium sector due to the global energy transition as a response to the climate crisis. While this presents a unique economic and developmental opportunity, it has also deepened corporate strategies to prevent labour conflicts through control mechanisms, including the co-optation of union leadership, repression of mobilizations, and union fragmentation. These elements not only affect labour relations but also consolidate a work regime that prioritizes production continuity in an increasingly competitive global market.

At the level of industrial relations, unions in the lithium sector are fragmented and focused on company- or sub-company-specific demands, following a pattern common in Chile that hinders their ability to play a broader national role. Companies efficiently exploit this fragmentation to prevent any conflict that could disrupt production demands. Firms have been particularly effective in keeping so-called “conflictive” unions in check, employing co-optation strategies, such as individualized negotiations with union leaders, and repression mechanisms, including selective dismissals and the judicialization of disputes.

The state plays a limited role. Through the Labour Directorate, it regulates working conditions but faces challenges in monitoring compliance due to geographic, budgetary, and political constraints. Moreover, Chile’s “National Lithium Strategy,” a key policy to position the country as a global leader in lithium production, lacks any focus on labour issues, prioritizing production, commercial, environmental, and indigenous concerns over workers’ rights and conditions.

The lithium labour regime in Chile is characterized by business-driven control mechanisms that ensure production stability, a fragmented union landscape, and a lack of a state-led labour agenda. This configuration results in a highly disciplined work environment where workers’ capacity for resistance is severely constrained, reinforcing the industry’s alignment with the demands of the global lithium economy.

Most young people in the world work in the informal economy. Indeed, the youth informality rate is elevated in comparison to other age groups (ILO, 2022; Quintini and Martin, 2014). Understanding young people’s conditions of work in the informal economy and whether this work leads to better quality formal economy work is of vital policy importance. Understanding this situation requires a gendered approach as we expect significant gender differences as our previous research points to highly gendered participation in domestic work which has substantial material implications, for example on the wages that young men and women can achieve (Carmichael et al., 2023).

This research sets out to understand (i) the differential participation of young men and women in the informal economy (ii) differences in job quality between the formal and informal economy (self-employment and informal work in the informal economy) and (iii) to what extent work in the informal economy leads to participation in the formal economy. The answers to the questions can contribute to our understanding of what types of labour and social protection would protect workers in informal employment, as we discuss in the article.

We address these questions by analysing longitudinal data from Young Lives for Peru, Vietnam, India and Ethiopia, using the fourth and fifth survey rounds conducted when respondents were at ages 19 and 22 respectively. We compare the attributes of self-employed and informal waged work with salaried work in the formal economy, using tests of difference in means between self-employed and formal salaried work and between informal waged work and formal salaried work at age 22. Work in both categories of informality tends to be lower quality, as found across the four study countries, particularly in relation to underemployment but also in conditions of health and safety.

Ways of participating are highly gendered, shaped by women’s long hours of work in care. Employment participation for women is about 15 percentage points below that of men and the gender wage gap is just under 20%. A high proportion of women transition from informal work to not in education or employment and then undertake care work, with significant implications for their position of power within households. Perhaps surprisingly, we find fairly high mobility between all types of employment and non-employment providing much empirical evidence from which to understand the conditions under which the informal economy can lead to formal economy employment.

In the last three decades, Türkiye has developed various policies to effectively combat informal employment and has achieved positive and successful results in stable economic growth. The unregistered employment rate decreased from 52% in 2000 to 26.6% in 2023, and in the non-agricultural sector, from 34% in 2004 to 17% in 2023. The aim of the study is to examine the reforms and practices carried out in the last thirty years and their effects on formal employment to combat informal employment and extend the social security coverage in Türkiye. Türkiye has extended the compulsory social insurance coverage with its reforms in the field of social security. Policies carried out in the fight against informal employment can be examined on two main axes. The first of these is increasing coercive policies and social security inspection regarding formal work. In the last thirty years in Türkiye, the number of Social Security Institution inspectors has increased almost tenfold. With the reforms, all public institutions and organizations, especially the tax office, professional organizations and banks are obliged to share data with the Social Security Institution. Thus, cross-control between public institutions and organizations was ensured. Administrative fines for employing unregistered workers have been increased. In addition, the automation infrastructure, where workers can check their registered work and query their services via phone or web page, was established in the early 2000s. The second policy axis towards registered work is increasing compliance. The practice of cutting off the social assistance of social assistance recipients if they are registered (compulsory insured) are working has been terminated. More than twenty active labour market programs which includes social security contribution incentive programs have been implemented for employers. In the study, the policies and programs implemented in the fight against unregistered employment between 1999 and 2023 were examined using the document analysis method. Then, the relationship between informal employment rates and the factors affecting formal employment, including various policy measures and economic growth, was examined using the correlation method.

Introduction: Cooperatives play a significant role in promoting decent employment, economic resilience, and social inclusion. However, their economic contribution remains underreported due to gaps in statistical frameworks. This study aims to address this issue by operationalizing measurement methodologies that capture the full scope of cooperative economic activity. By aligning with Track I of the RDW Conference, "Decent employment now: Can the standard growth and development models deliver?", this research critically examines the effectiveness of existing economic models and proposes alternative approaches rooted in cooperative enterprises.

Research Questions :

• How can we systematically measure the economic impact of cooperatives?

• What are the challenges and opportunities in integrating cooperative statistics into national accounts?

• How do cooperatives contribute to employment stability, income distribution, and social protection in contrast to traditional growth models?

Methodology: The research employs a mixed-methods approach, including a review of existing statistical frameworks, case studies from various countries, and an assessment of data integration strategies. It incorporates both qualitative and quantitative analyses, utilizing surveys, national statistics, and cooperative financial reports. The study builds on the ILO Guidelines concerning Statistics of Cooperatives and empirical findings from ongoing pilot studies.

Contribution to the Literature: This research contributes to the growing discourse on alternative economic models by providing a robust methodology for measuring the economic footprint of cooperatives. It aligns with broader efforts to enhance labor statistics and employment policies while demonstrating how cooperatives serve as viable solutions for achieving decent employment. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers seeking to adapt labor market institutions to contemporary challenges.

Findings: Preliminary results highlight the need for harmonized classification standards, improved data collection mechanisms, and stronger institutional coordination. Cooperatives are shown to provide stable employment, mitigate economic shocks, and promote equitable income distribution. Integrating cooperative statistics into labor market analysis can provide a more comprehensive picture of employment structures and economic development pathways.

Recognizing and accurately measuring the economic contribution of cooperatives is critical for informed policy-making. This research underscores the importance of incorporating cooperative statistics into national and international labor frameworks to ensure the sustainability of decent employment models. By challenging conventional economic paradigms and emphasizing worker-centric approaches, cooperatives represent a transformative force in the pursuit of inclusive and sustainable development.

Digitalization of the agriculture sector has been argued as the solution to the threat of food insecurity in the Global South. However, its adoption brings serious ramifications to the working conditions of farmers in terms of job creation, worker rights, social protection, and social dialogue. Given the role of the state in ensuring that all forms of employment are organized decently it is however uncertain how digitalization of the agriculture affects the working conditions of farm workers and farmers. The study therefore examined the effects of digital agriculture on the working conditions of smallholder farmers and farmworkers in the Bono East region of Ghana. The study adopted a qualitative approach to enable us to have a deeper understanding of farmers’ experiences of using digital agriculture solutions. The participants who were purposively selected were adopters of digital agricultural technology. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were some of the methods adopted to collect data for the study. The results from the study show that the adoption of digital agriculture has not improved the working conditions in terms of job creation, workers’ rights social protection, and social protection. Digital agriculture was however found to promote the organization of farmers into groups to undertake activities for their benefit. The study therefore recommends the development of a digital agricultural policy that incorporates decent working conditions for farmers.

The dynamic interplay between legal and policy frameworks and the efficacy of social enterprises (SEs) is critical in promoting decent employment globally. This study examines how legal and policy mechanisms influence SE governance, sustainability, and their role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a specific focus on South Africa and comparative insights from other regions. The central research question probes how legal and policy frameworks can be designed to optimise the impact of SEs on socio-economic challenges, particularly poverty and unemployment.

Methodologically, this research adopts a comparative case study approach, analysing policies across diverse socio-economic contexts, including South Korea, Europe, and South Africa. It integrates policy analysis with stakeholder interviews and secondary data review to elucidate the intersections of policy innovation and SE scalability. The study also leverages theoretical insights into hybridity and entrepreneurial dynamics to evaluate the adaptability of SEs within varying legislative environments.

The findings highlight the pivotal role of flexible and inclusive policies in fostering SE growth. For instance, the study underscores how tailored legal frameworks in Europe have catalysed SE operations, enabling them to address welfare and environmental issues effectively. Conversely, South Africa's absence of a dedicated SE legal structure has constrained SEs' potential, despite their significant contributions to socio-economic development. The analysis reveals that integrating SDGs into SE policies enhances their effectiveness, particularly in addressing localised socio-economic needs.

This research contributes to the literature by bridging the gap between SE governance and global policy objectives, emphasising the necessity of a supportive policy ecosystem for SEs to thrive. It calls for a paradigm shift in policy design to recognise SEs as hybrid entities capable of driving sustainable and inclusive economic growth. By advocating for adaptive legal frameworks, this study aligns with the theme of strengthening labour institutions and worker voice, underscoring the potential of SEs to deliver decent employment while addressing pressing societal challenges.

The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies is transforming the world of work, presenting both opportunities and challenges for labour rights and access to justice. This paper examines the necessary legal and regulatory frameworks to address these challenges and opportunities, with a focus on emerging regulatory trends and the application and enforcement of labour rights.

The paper argues that the current regulatory framework is inadequate to address the complexities of AI and emerging technologies in the workplace. It highlights the need for a comprehensive and nuanced approach that balances the benefits of technological innovation with the protection of labour rights and access to justice.

The paper draws on international labour standards, comparative labour law, and literature on AI and emerging technologies to propose a framework for regulating the future of work. It emphasizes the importance of:

1. Human-centred approach: Prioritizing human well-being, dignity, and rights in the design and deployment of AI and emerging technologies.

2. Regulatory agility: Encouraging regulatory frameworks that are adaptable, flexible, and responsive to the rapid evolution of AI and emerging technologies.

3. Social dialogue: Fostering collaboration and dialogue among governments, employers, workers, and civil society to ensure that labour rights and access to justice are protected

Literature Review:

- Bostrom, N., & Yudkowsky, E. (2014). The ethics of artificial intelligence. In The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence (pp. 316-334). Cambridge University Press.

- Deakin, S., & Wilkinson, F. (2005). The law of the labour market: Industrialization, employment, and legal evolution. Oxford University Press.

Recommendations:

1. Governments, employers, and workers should engage in social dialogue to develop and implement policies that protect labour rights and access to justice in the face of AI and emerging technologies.

2. Regulatory frameworks should prioritize a human-centred approach, ensuring that AI and emerging technologies are designed and deployed in ways that promote human well-being, dignity, and rights.

Conclusion:

The future of work is being shaped by AI and emerging technologies, presenting both opportunities and challenges for labour rights and access to justice. A comprehensive and nuanced regulatory framework is necessary to address these challenges and opportunities. By prioritizing a human-centred approach, regulatory agility, social dialogue, and education and training, we can ensure cool mitigation and coping strategem

This paper focuses on bringing the norms of decent work to the growing “data work” profession by looking to labor for much needed direction.

The latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have presented the world with both possibilities and risks. Though governments, civil society, and the technology sector attempt to mitigate AI’s worst effects, one aspect remains painfully neglected- the plight of data workers. A substantial, often invisible workforce, operating under precarious conditions, serves as the unrecognized engine fueling the AI dataset production, tirelessly creating high-quality datasets to meet tech companies' data needs. Such labor helps train and hone AI technologies, making data workers critical to AI value chains.

Much of AI’s data requirements are met by people in the Global South. Here, workers endure painful challenges like low pay and substantial, unpaid “waiting periods.” Despite evidence of the exploitation inherent in data work, safeguards remain scarce, and avenues for workers to confront capital are limited. Existing work has shown that corporations can benefit from perspectives of their workers, underscoring the necessity of worker-led frameworks to secure their dignity and welfare within larger AI production apparatus.

Through this study in partnership with a data firm, Karya, we met data workers, businesses, and researchers to understand workers’ conditions and challenges, and the relationships between companies and their workforces. This work helped form a code of conduct for data work, consolidating key considerations for governing firm-level practices and policies essential to workers’ safety and well-being.

We used in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and quantitative surveys to understand working conditions, problems in company processes, and pathways to improvement from data workers across diverse locations in India. Expert interviews with researchers and businesses helped explore the dominant logics driving firms’ governance, as well as the state of the market for datasets. These discussions were augmented by the review of secondary sources like prior scholarly research, company publications on business practices, and various existing charters and standards on business conduct and working conditions.

This paper presents two tools for pursuing decent work within data labor ecosystems. First, through direct engagement with workers, it foregrounds the precarities and promises inherent to data work, culminating in governance standards that speak to considerations like fair pay, working arrangements, and welfare. Second, and most crucially, it makes a case for a novel methodological framework for co-governing data work, building feedback loops for a sustainable and dignified data production economy.

The EU’s regulation regarding AI systems and algorithms for automated decision-making is based on the notion of transparency.

To ensure fair and transparent processing of personal data, the GDPR grants individuals the right to obtain meaningful information about the logic, the significance and the consequences of fully automated decisions.

The AI Act and the Platform Directive have overcome some of the regulatory deficiencies identified by the literature, by extending this information right to all forms of automated decisions, including those with human intervention. Furthermore, it specifically recognizes the right to obtain an explanation and information rights to workers representatives. The AI Act ensures workers can obtain meaningful explanations of AI’s role in decision-making and requires employers to inform workers’ representatives before deploying AI in the workplace. Furthermore, it mandates employers to ensure workers achieve sufficient AI literacy.

Spain introduced similar obligations in 2019, requiring employers to inform workers’ representatives about the “parameters, rules, and instructions” of AI systems used to make decisions affecting employment conditions, access, and maintenance of employment.

In this context, the paper examines the effectiveness of algorithmic information rights in current regulations. Using Spain as a case study, it draws on desk research and in-depth interviews with workers’ representatives and union leaders to assess company compliance, including digital platforms, with their obligation to disclose AI-driven decision-making processes.

The paper intends to contribute to the literature on algorithmic management and transparency, by identifying elements that enhance compliance with AI information obligations in the workplace. The paper highlights that transparency requires not only algorithmic explainability but also access to personal data used for training AI systems and for algorithmic management.

The main finding of the paper is that broader information rights in the AI Act and Platform Directive, which cover all AI-driven workplace decisions, can improve compliance by also including automated decisions with human intervention and clarifying the scope of the obligation. However, the AI Act’s definition of AI may hinder compliance due to uncertainty about which systems are included. Similarly, the lack of clarity on the required information that employers must disclose weakens effectiveness. The Platform Directive addresses this limitation by specifying the categories of data used, the actions that are monitored or evaluated, the key decision parameters, and their relative importance in the decision process. Nevertheless, it is a partial regulation, as it applies solely to platform work and does not cover all forms of algorithmic management.

Human Resource Management emerged in the 1950s as a distinct field of study and practice concerned with the management of people in organizations. At its inception, human resource management posited that the effective management of workers was essential for business success. Conceptually, human resources were re-envisioned as an organizational asset rather than an expense. Administrative functions like recruitment, job evaluation, and compensation had been formerly viewed as second-order business considerations; however, with this shift, these tasks took on new strategic importance.

But along with this shift, came a recognition that there needed to be a more rigorous analysis of HR processes to improve decision quality. To overcome these pitfalls, digitally enabled workplace and work-related tools that capture, collect and analyze worker behavior and performance – commonly known as “people analytics” – have been seen as a newfound source of evidence for Human Resource practitioners. With more and higher-quality data and increases in computing power, people analytics is being propelled into the world of prediction, and Human Resource professionals, once responsible for executing a wide range of functions, are relinquishing these responsibilities to algorithms and AI.

This paper analyses the growing use of AI in performing HR functions throughout the work lifecycle, beginning with recruitment, but then covering different functions once a worker is on the job, including the setting of compensation, the organization of work and schedules, performance management, health and safety and training.

Drawing on case studies, each of the purpose-built systems for the discrete HR functions is assessed in terms of the three inter-related parameters of AI systems: (1) the system objective, (2) the data it is built on and relies on, and (3) how it is programmed.

This study contributes to the growing literature on algorithmic management but adds value by providing an analytic framework that can systematically assess the potential benefits but also pitfalls of relying on such systems. As such it provides a useful framework that can help managers, HR professionals, workers and workers’ organizations, better engage and negotiate on the design (or abandonment) of such systems, with a view to improving both job quality and performance.

In the Philippines, the specific level of minimum wage increase is a subject of intense controversy and fierce debates between worker and employer groups. The National Wages and Productivity Commission and the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) are authorized to issue regional wage orders under the 1989 Wage Rationalization Act. In adjusting the regional minimum wage, the RTWPBs seeks to balance the competing criteria set by the law for the workers’ “demand for living wages” and providing employers with a “fair return of capital investment”. Although the right to a living wage is an entitlement guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution to every Filipino worker, a lack of a clear definition and formulation of living wage led to a wide range of regional minimum wage rates with the lowest minimum wage rate of about half the highest wage rate, despite similar purchasing power parity (PPP) across the regions. The absence of specific practical guidelines on wage determination and adjustment engendered a lack of confidence in the wage fixing mechanism through the RTWPBs among workers who assert that minimum wages are set too low and increasingly worsening in real terms. In 2024, labor groups called for a legislated across-the-board increase in the daily minimum wage, essentially reverting to the mechanism of adjusting wages by congressional legislation before the Wage Rationalization Act that delegated Congress’ power of minimum wage fixing to the RTWPBs. With the upcoming elections, members of the Philippine Congress drafted bills proposing daily minimum wage increases from 100 to 750 pesos, reflecting the arbitrariness in the method for adjusting wages. This paper estimates the 2023 regional living wages applying the regional PPPs and CPIs weighted by the consumption expenditures of the bottom-30%-income households on a 2022 living wage computed by Anker methodology for a Philippine region. The estimated regional family living incomes and worker living wages are more than twice that of the regional national poverty income threshold and the legislated minimum wage, respectively. The second part of the paper reviews wage order exemption rulings for micro-enterprises and small retail establishments that jointly comprise a majority of enterprises. Drawing from focus group discussions and key informal interviews with informal sector associations, the paper recommends reforms to expand wage order coverage to vulnerable informal workers needing the most protection against undue low wages.

The Indian labour market has undergone steady informalization, with a growing reliance on contract and casual labour. The share of contract workers in organized manufacturing surged from 12% in 1990-91 to 33.6% in 2013-14, while their wage share rose from 58.7% in 1999-00 to 81.5% in 2013-14. Informal sector workers now constitute over 90% of the total workforce.

The primary driver behind this shift is cost-cutting—contract and casual workers receive significantly lower wages than regular employees. This wage disparity fosters labour market informality. Although the Equal Remuneration Act of 1976 and the Code on Wages aim to prevent wage discrimination, they do not explicitly mandate equal pay for equal work across employment statuses. If they did, employers would have little incentive to hire contract workers for permanent roles at lower wages.

The point here is that explicit mention of equal wages be paid for equal work irrespective of status of employment would have made a very significant impact on the working of Indian labour market. In that case, for similar kind of work, wages would be same for all kind of workers, be it regular or contractual or casual. In that kind of scenario, there would be little incentive for employers to engage contract/casual workers in similar activities which is being also done by regular workers since wages that needs to be paid would be statutorily same.

This issue is central to the ongoing Maruti Suzuki workers' agitation, where former and current employees protest the company's persistent use of contract workers for core production roles, violating labour laws and the principle of equal pay for equal work. Despite legal prohibitions, such practices remain widespread.

This paper examines ‘equal pay for equal work’ within India’s labour law framework, using the Maruti Suzuki protests as a case study. It will analyze relevant Supreme Court judgments, labour laws, and primary data from Maruti plants in Haryana. Although the principle is not explicitly stated in the Code on Wages 2019, judicial pronouncements have upheld it. The Maruti contract workers’ demands are legally sound and could have significant long-term implications for India’s labour market.

The living wage is the wage level that is necessary to afford a decent standard of living for workers and their families, taking into account the country circumstances and calculated for the work performed during normal hours of work. The ILO states that living wages should be calculated and operationalised according to a series of principles, including the promotion of gender equality and non-discrimination. When wages are set to ensure both men and women can afford a decent life, women—who typically bear a larger share of unpaid care work—are more likely to participate in the workforce and take on leadership roles without facing unrealistic demands between work and care responsibilities. However, current living wage calculations often overlook care service costs and other gender-specific needs. By including a gender perspective in these methodologies, the outcomes can inform more equitable wage policies.

This paper develops a methodology integrating a gender perspective into living wage estimation, using the ILO’s approach as a baseline. It examines the cost of essential goods and services and evaluates assumptions about household size and working adults. The paper suggests adjustments to better account for gender dynamics, such as considering women’s housing safety and the undervalued opportunity cost of their time. It also introduces a method for calculating the cost of care services, which are often overlooked in current wage estimations. Additionally, the paper introduces a normative method for calculating the cost of care services, which are frequently neglected in wage estimations.

The methodology is calibrated using data from Costa Rica’s National Household Income and Expenditure Survey, comparing living wage estimates from the ILO’s baseline approach with those that include gender considerations. The paper evaluates these against reference wage levels in Costa Rica, such as the statutory minimum wage and the average full-time equivalent monthly wages.

Preliminary findings indicate that existing living wage methods may underestimate women’s living costs, and incorporating gender considerations leads to more equitable wage outcomes. For instance, the gender composition of families does not significantly impact caloric needs, especially in lower-income groups. This questions the need for living wage methodologies to differentiate by sex for the purposes of determining caloric consumption. More gender sensitive analyses are underway on other areas of living wage methodology, such as education, health, transport, and care work. These findings offer important insights for policymakers aiming to develop inclusive wage policies that foster gender equality in the world of work.

International comparisons show that the extent of gender inequality in the labour market varies greatly between European countries. It tends to be lower in countries with high collec-tive bargaining coverage and a higher minimum wage. Evidence from evaluation studies in single countries shows that minimum wages reduce the gender pay gap within these coun-tries. To our knowledge, there are no comparative studies across all EU member states yet. We examine the effects of changes in minimum wages and collective bargaining coverage on gender inequality across EU member states over the time period from 2000 to 2020. We also analyze how these effects are mediated by other social policy settings across countries, e. g. the economic policy orientation of governments, and consider several measures of gender inequality in the labour market, such as gaps in earnings, working hours, overall employ-ment and low-wage employment.

We combine data on measures of gender inequality from Eurostat with information on min-imum wage levels, collective bargaining coverage, macroeconomic parameters, elections and the economic policy orientation of governments across EU member states from the OECD, the AMECO macroeconomic database of the European Commission, the Database of Politi-cal Institutions (DPI) and Eurofound’s EurWORK database. We apply multivariate regres-sions to data from 2000 to 2020 (cross-sectional time-series data). Our research contributes to the literatures on gender inequality, comparative political economy and labour market institutions.

Our preliminary results confirm a reduction of gender inequality due to increases in mini-mum wages in the EU. Minimum wages primarily reduce the Gender Pay Gap and have only small effects on gender gaps in employment and hours. However, minimum wages increase the gender employment gap in some countries. The respective minimum wage effects are stronger in new EU member states. The minimum wage effect on gender inequality does not differ between countries with high/low collective bargaining coverage and it is greater in countries where women are only moderately overrepresented in low-wage work.

In Germany, the control of non-compliance with minimum wages is concentrated in one authority, the Financial Control of Undeclared Labour (Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit FKS), which is part of the customs authorities. The FKS only controls the non-payment of social security contributions and wage taxes, i.e. state claims. Employees must assert claims for non-payment of net wages themselves. Since the introduction of the statutory minimum wage in 2015, the number of staff at the FKS has increased considerably and will double by 2029 compared to 2015.

In two projects (2016/17 and 2023/24), we examined the reorganisation of the FKS and the changes to its strategy. Our investigations are based on interviews with the management of the authority, labour inspectors, representatives of the trade unions in the FKS and organisations that cooperate with the FKS, as well as on evaluations of statistics and documents. The FKS has been significantly reorganised in recent years. It has set up separate departments for complex cases with special competences (e.g. digital forensics) in its 41 locations. The previous reactive controls have largely been replaced by risk-oriented controls based on a combination of external information, the company's own control experience and the evaluation of large files from the tax offices and social security data. 70% of the checks are carried out in high-risk sectors. Employees in these sectors are required by law to carry identification cards and companies must document working hours in a timely manner. Risk profiles are largely drawn up locally.

The next wave of reform is planned. According to a new draft law, the Directorate General is to be given operational tasks and centrally create risk analyses with big data, as this is the only way to identify offender profiles across locations. Furthermore, cooperation with the customs investigation service, which investigates cross-border smuggling (e.g. drug smuggling), is to be expanded. This cooperation makes sense as the offender structures are increasingly overlapping and resources (e.g. telephone surveillance) can be shared.

The FKS is interesting for international comparison. Firstly, by consolidating control powers in one authority, controls are less fragmented than in the UK, for example. Secondly, the number of staff has been increased in contrast to considerable cuts in other countries. Thirdly, internal structures have been significantly professionalised. Fourthly, the transition to proactive control structures favoured by international research has been completed.

The right to disconnect is an emblem of orthodoxy (with some progressive tropes). This contention is explored by analysing current and proposed laws on the right to disconnect in several jurisdictions, ranging from Continental Europe to Australia, to determine what (if any) legal entitlement workers have to a sui generis employment claim for the right to disconnect.

The right to disconnect has gained momentum in Europe with recent initiatives (European Law Institute’s guiding principles (2023); EU Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights’ commitment (12 December 2023) to legislate on the matter). The right’s construction in law, however, has been narrow. EU Member States with this right have placed restrictions on its scope (such as a threshold of number of workers before the right may apply). The restricted European examples exceed what is found in several common law jurisdictions. The US does not have a right. Only the Canadian province of Ontario has a requirement for employers to have a policy, without a legal entitlement to disconnect. The UK Government has proposed to create a "right to switch off". Ireland only has a code of conduct, which is not legally enforceable. Australia stands out as a jurisdiction establishing an enforceable right to disconnect.

Drawing from current and proposed laws, the right inserts the hierarchy of the work relationship (framework of subordination) into the digital tools of work. The right does not disconnect the individual employee from the employment relationship. The right only protects employees from punishment when they do not respond to persistent contact outside of normal work hours. It does not guarantee time free from the intrusion of work. As set out, the right falls short of facilitating the freedom from an always on culture suggested by the concept. Instead, the right to disconnect admits the gaps in the enforcement of the protective dimensions of work time in employment contracts and working time regulations. A stricter approach to working time laws (see Austria and its working time laws) may be one approach to the right. Discussing the right to disconnect as only a working time matter, though, is a narrow construction which insufficiently responds to the broader impact of digitalisation on work. Instead, the right to disconnect should be viewed as an element of privacy as freedom. Privacy as freedom is about the entitlement to control private time that each person possesses.

The world of work is undergoing rapid and profound transformations due to shifts and developments in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), global supply chains, and the expansion of platform work. These developments pose significant regulatory and governance challenges, requiring innovative mechanisms to assess and adapt labor standards. This paper examines whether the Standards Review Mechanism Tripartite Working Group (SRM) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) can serve as a model for addressing these challenges in the future. The SRM was established in 2015, partially in response to the escalation of the right to strike dispute in 2012, which underscored the need for systematic labor standard reviews. This body, reporting to the ILO Governing Body, was created to systematically review and assess the relevance and coherence of international labor standards (ILS). Its objective is to ensure that existing conventions and recommendations remain ‘up to date’ in a rapidly changing world of work. By categorizing standards based on their current applicability, the mechanism facilitates updates, consolidations, or possible revisions of outdated instruments. In doing so, the SRM plays a distinct role in maintaining the relevance of ILS amid challenges such as technological advancements, evolving employment relationships, and globalization. Its structured and transparent review process offers a potential model for addressing emerging labor governance challenges in the future. The primary research question guiding this paper is thus whether this model and the consolidating idea behind it can be effectively adapted to address contemporary challenges in the world of work, or mitigate arising conflicts. Methodologically, this study employs a qualitative analysis of ILO and SRM reports and other discursive documents to assess the structure and progress of the SRM. Comparable review mechanisms in the international system are spotlighted with regard to how they rate vis-a-vis the SRM. Findings suggest that the SRM’s tripartite and consensus-driven process can enhance effectiveness and legitimacy. Its model could be expanded, abstracted and transferred to address emerging issues through the incorporation of more flexible, change- and technology-responsive frameworks. To maintain regulatory effectiveness and uphold the goal of decent work, it is essential that ILS remain adaptable to ongoing disruptions in the world of work. This research thereby contributes to the literature on the institutional future of global labor governance by highlighting the adaptability and relevance of innovative organizational structures in addressing emerging labor market challenges.

Introduction:

The global labour market faces profound challenges to worker health and decent employment due to emerging risks, such as mental health stressors, organizational dysfunctions, and the erosion of job protections. Innovations like artificial intelligence and digital transformation amplify these risks, underscoring the need for proactive governance. This paper introduces Sociovigilance, an innovative framework based on fundamental human rights at work. It institutionalizes vigilance, monitoring, reporting, management, treatment, and prevention to protect health in occupational settings while addressing systemic gaps in labour governance.

Research Question(s):

How can Sociovigilance strengthen labour institutions to ensure inclusive protection for all workers, regardless of status, while addressing emerging risks to decent work?

Methodology:

The concept of Sociovigilance was developed through:

- Comparative Analysis: Identifying gaps in occupational health frameworks in France, Europe, the United States, and Canada.

- Interdisciplinary Research: Integrating insights from public health, labour law, and governance studies.

- Case Studies: Learning from governance failures like the asbestos crisis to design proactive solutions.

- Stakeholder Mapping: Highlighting the role of governments, unions, and international organizations in implementation.

Contribution to Literature:

Sociovigilance innovates labour market governance by emphasizing prevention, early risk detection, and centralized coordination. Its scalable model adapts to diverse contexts, offering global applicability while addressing gaps in institutional responses to emerging workplace risks.

Findings:

1. Systemic Deficiencies: Current fragmented systems inadequately manage risks, leaving workers vulnerable.

2. Sociovigilance Model: An independent authority is proposed with two key pillars:

- A scientific hub for data aggregation, early warning, and research.

- An intervention hub for worker support, employer accountability, and organizational transformation.

3. Global Adaptability: Sociovigilance promotes inclusivity and draws lessons from successful examples of institutional modernization.

Policy Relevance:

Sociovigilance aligns with the conference’s focus on reinventing labour institutions to tackle global challenges. By fostering coalitions among states, unions, and emerging actors, it provides a robust mechanism to ensure decent work. Its adaptability enables implementation across national contexts, informed by international best practices.

Conclusion:

Sociovigilance reimagines occupational health governance as a cornerstone of labour reform. This paper invites dialogue on its adoption to create inclusive, proactive, and effective systems that address the complexities of the modern world of work.

In an era marked by rapid technological advancements and shifting political economy landscapes, gig and platform workers in India are redefining the dynamics of labour market regulation. This paper explores the various ways in which these workers harness their agency and collective voice to influence policy reform, shaping ‘new’ models of social protection amidst growing digital precarity and neoliberal retrenchment. The study is framed around two central research questions: How have gig and platform workers in India mobilised and articulated their demands for enhanced labour rights and protections? And what strategies have they employed to counter the unpredictability and erosion in the quality of work and employment?

Drawing on a multi-method approach, the research combines primary data from 55 telephonic interviews with ride-hailing and delivery workers in two Indian cities - Ranchi and Kolkata, and multiple interviews with key labour organisers from three newly established ‘indie’ (or interdependent) unions in Telangana and Rajasthan, India. These qualitative insights are further supported by secondary analysis of gig and platform workers’ social media activism, their interventions in electoral contests, and in legal and legislative processes. This methodological triangulation allows for a nuanced understanding of individual worker practice, broader collective action, and non-traditional forms of organising.

Findings of the paper reveal that while a major share of workers leverage informal networks to seek solidarity and support (Ray, 2024), in some states they have started aligning strategically with new ‘indie’ unions to directly impact law-making. In states like Telangana, Rajasthan, and Karnataka, these unions have employed broader tactics that combine social media mobilisation, public protests, spontaneous strikes, and targeted lobbying, to pressure local unions and (opposing party) politicians to introduce and enact sector-specific welfare legislations. The major contribution of the paper to literature, thus, lies in extending our understanding of contemporary labour’s legal empowerment in India, reconciling the concept of ‘political society’ (Chatterjee, 2004) with recent surges in mobilisation of gig and platform workers by independent unions. By positioning gig and platform workers’ strategies as a continuum of the ‘third wave of informal workers’ empowerment’ through the politics of welfare boards (Agarwala, 2008, 2019), the paper provides a fresh perspective on how gig and platform labour disrupt state-corporate relations and potentially drive welfare state expansion, though not without compromises.

Issues of platform workers’ precariousness and limited access to labor and social protection are well documented. A less documented issue is gig workers’ limited ability to have a voice at work and in policy debates around the future of the world of work. A key challenge in this respect is the capacity of gig workers’ grass-roots initiatives to connect and join forces with outside actors, i.e. conventional social partners and policy-makers at local, national and international level. With regard to social dialogue in the gig economy, available evidence suggests that two situations seem to prevail where worker voice is either impeded or limited in its expression: first, a situation of absent social dialogue where platform managers successfully implement silencing strategies in order to impose a view of gig work as creating opportunities rather than generating precariousness – as a consequence workers’ collective voice is not heard and gig workers have to negotiate individual arrangements and are unable to contest the platforms’ business model; second, a situation of fragmented social dialogue where the mobilization of gig workers stands in contrast with existing trade unions defending their members’ interests, leading to cases where social dialogue can even take place against gig workers mobilizing for better working conditions, e.g. when a union secretly negotiates a collective agreement during an industrial dispute. In both situations, worker organising, the development of agency, voice and representation and its expression through collective bargaining are faced with multiple barriers, resulting from legal, spatial, organizational and social fragmentation.

The objective of our paper is to suggest pathways to move beyond such fragmentation and strengthen workers’ voices in the gig economy. To this purpose we explore two contrasted case studies in the Swiss context: one where space could be found for the emergence of a unified social dialogue, where all workers, be they members of conventional trade unions or gig workers, could join forces to reach a platform-level collective agreement; another one, where fragmentation and competition between workers’ representatives along the insider-outsider dilemma prevailed, with grass-roots initiatives by gig workers (playing the part of the outsiders) and trade union strategies for insiders moving on separate and even opposite tracks. Confronting both case studies in the light of the available literature allows identifying the conditions for a successful unified social dialogue and drawing recommendations about how worker voice and solidarity can be enhanced in the digital economy and beyond

This article examines how workers leverage data access rights to amplify their collective voice in the platform economy, through a case study of the social dialogue process in Geneva following the Swiss Federal Supreme Court's reclassification of Uber drivers' employment status. Drawing on five interviews with key stakeholders and ethnographic observations, we analyse an innovative form of collective action where drivers collaborated with data activists to mobilise personal data protection regulation in pursuit of labour rights. The findings reveal how technical expertise in making geolocation data readable and actionable enabled meaningful accountability over algorithmic management practices, strengthening drivers' negotiating position and enhancing union bargaining power vis-à-vis dominating platforms in the gig economy. However, several challenges emerged: the structural constraints of the social dialogue process, misaligned goals between stakeholders, fragmented collective identity among drivers, and heterogeneous worker interests complicated sustained collective action. This research contributes with concrete practices on how to raise worker voice and rebalance the asymmetry of information and power between platforms, states and workers. It demonstrates both the potential and limitations of data rights as tools for collective action in the light of the regulation of platforms in local labour markets. The findings offer critical insights for developing new mechanisms to strengthen worker agency in platform work within complex and multilevel regulatory systems like in Switzerland, whilst highlighting the need for institutional frameworks that better support collective mobilisation in algorithmic-mediated work environments.

Uber operates in over 70 countries; each has their own laws surrounding citizens' digital footprints and protections over individual data, including worker data. This paper examines how rideshare drivers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ghana use their legal right to access their data – the data collected by rideshare companies on workers – to fight for better worker protection and rights. Organizations like Gig Workers Rising in the United States and the Executive Female App-Based Transportation Union in Ghana have brought rideshare drivers together for strikes and even large protests outside Uber CEO Tony Xu’s house. Recently, their efforts have expanded, and their new target isn’t just platform application companies' CEOs but the worker data they control. This, however, has proven to be challenging as the legal pathway for holding platform application companies accountable for drivers' data varies from country to country. This paper examines how platform workers use the legal system to access their data and how this data can be used in organizing tactics geared toward fighting for better worker protection and rights.

Research Question: How does the legal context surrounding workers' data rights differ between countries, and what impact does this have on the methods platform workers use when employing the law to enforce their rights and gain better protections?

Methodology: In this study, I rely on interview data from 44 rideshare drivers, news reports, court hearings, and legal briefings to understand the scope of the legal battle platform workers are in regarding enforcing their rights to access their data.

Findings:

All workers are constantly threatened by retaliation when fighting to enforce their right to access data collected by platform applications. While historical cases in the legal arena have appeared, what has not manifested is a governing body that enforces the rights won in such cases. In some cases, drivers have the right to request their data; everything related to the data, from the timeline with which it is received to the quality and quantity of the data, is subject to the whims of the platform application companies. The legal parameters become even more sparse when considering Ghana's legal context. Thus, at the end of this paper, I share my recommendations for three new policies that enforce platform workers' data rights.

This Special Session brings together research on the ongoing transformations of work in Latin America, with a particular focus on platform labour, employment relations, and the evolving role of the state. It examines regulatory responses, emerging conflicts over digital labour governance, and the institutional dynamics shaping employment conditions. Addressing calls for greater attention to the role of the state in labour relations (Hodder & Martínez Lucio, 2021; Howell, 2021; Hyman, 2008) and the need for perspectives from the Global South in discussions on digitalisation and work transformation (Graham et al., 2017; Rani et al., 2023), this session provides a platform to examine the implications of these changes for labour rights, social protections, and decent work in increasingly fragmented labour markets.

The rise of platform work in Latin America offers a unique lens for analysing the reconfiguration of worker-employer-state relations. From ride-hailing and food delivery to digital freelancing and care work, digital platforms have proliferated from Mexico’s northern borders to Ushuaia’s southern shores, intensifying debates on informality, labour protections, and employment regulation. While some governments see platform work as a source of flexible, low-barrier entry employment, concerns persist over its precarious nature and its potential to exacerbate existing labour market challenges and inequalities (ILO, 2023).

Latin America, with its distinct historical trajectories and diverse institutional configurations, provides a compelling case study for understanding how the state and the labour market institutions are responding to these changes. Research from the region reveals divergent approaches and important gaps. Some countries—Chile, Uruguay, and Mexico—have implemented national regulatory measures, while sub-national jurisdictions have also introduced rules. Yet challenges persist, highlighting the present concerns about the effectiveness and enforcement capability of labour institutions to protect workers, including ‘non-traditional’ workers and enforcing compliance.

Drawing on de Souza (2006), contributions explore state actions along with how trade unions, social movements, and self-organised groups employ both top-down and bottom-up strategies to engage with, resist, or negotiate autonomy from the state, analysing how institutions shape and are shaped by worker mobilisation, legal frameworks, and market governance.

The liberalisation of markets at the turn of the century prompted varied responses across Latin America, resulting in a significant leftward shift, further reinforced by the global ‘commodity boom.’ A common trend was the increasing role of institutional and legal changes in labour politics, considered a pathway to revitalising unions and safeguarding against state interference and repression (Aleman, 2014). However, economic instability in the late 1990s and early 2000s, exacerbated by global competitive pressures and market reforms imposed by financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank, led some national governments to roll back some pro-labour policies and social welfare provisions (Madrid, 2003).

In contemporary times, persistently high informality, sluggish economic growth, and a slow post-pandemic recovery have strained employment relations and social protection (Anner, 2024). Yet political polarisation has led to divergent national trajectories. Some countries, such as Mexico (2017, 2019 reforms and 2024 regulatory measures), Chile (2016 reforms, new labour regulations), and Colombia (ongoing Labour Reform debate), have pursued re-regulation and reorganisation of labour relations (Anner et al., 2024; Bensusan, 2020; Martin-Caballero et al., 2023; Perez Ahumada, 2021; Leyton García et al., 2022; OECD, 2024). In contrast, right-wing leaders like Bolsonaro, Bukele, and Milei advocate pro-market reforms, welfare cuts, and anti-union policies. These shifts demand new strategies from labour unions and workers' organisations (Atzeni et al., 2018; Senén González & Aravena Carrasco, 2023) and highlight the need for renewed analysis of Work, Employment, and the State in Latin America within global debates within and beyond labour platform novelty.

In conclusion, this proposal for a Special Session aims to enhance the critical scholarship on work, employment, and the state by sharing recent research on the complex and dynamic labour relations of Latin America. Building on Track IV core themes, the session will examine Latin America as a regional case study for the reconfiguration of labour institutions in response to digitalisation, precarity, and shifting employment relations. By focusing on platform work, it contributes to discussions on:

- The institutional challenges of regulating digital labour markets in the Global South.

- The extent to which state intervention can address platform work precarisation.

- The evolving role of collective bargaining and alternative worker organising strategies.

- The effectiveness of emerging regulatory frameworks and enforcement mechanisms.

Ultimately, this session bridges regional and global debates on employment regulation, the role of the state and the future of work, offering insights that extend beyond Latin America to broader discussions on labour institutions and worker rights.

Care systems all over the European Union are in crisis. There are multiple reasons for these crises; overall, they go back to the history of care work as women’s work to be provided in the family, the undervaluation of care work on labour markets, and the fact that, due to demographic factors, the demand for care work is rather rising than diminishing – labour shortage is now at the heart of care crises in most EU member states.

The working conditions of care workers are one of the determining factors in the crisis; labour force shortages, workloads, and working conditions are closely interrelated. High-quality jobs with secure and safe working conditions are a necessary requirement if affordable and accessible high-quality care services for everyone who needs them are to be provided effectively. In general, care sectors in most European countries are facing similar structural problems, such as low wages, and informal work, resulting in high stress levels and job insecurity. Understaffing due to labour force shortages is, in view of the growing demand for care work, one of the most important drivers of the crises.

In this session, we look at the role of labour market institutions in developing solutions for the crises. In this endeavour we consider that labour market institutions in so-called productive industries differ considerably from labour market institutions in the care economy, where funding systems, the state and social security systems heavily influence not only the labour market, but also working conditions.

The session will present findings from the CARE4CARE research project, funded by the European Commission under Horizon Europe, which focuses on improving working conditions and combatting discrimination faced by care workers, especially women and migrants. We look at working conditions for professional (paid) care workers who have at most a Bachelor’s degree and provide personal assistance and/or health assistance to elderly persons, sick persons, and persons with disabilities, in hospitals and residential care as well as in home care. The project’s approach is comparative and focusses on the care systems in six EU countries: France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden. These countries represent a broad institutional diversity and variety in terms of labour law and industrial relations systems as well as welfare state and social security systems.

Our comparative research has shown that, in view of the institutional diversity of care sectors in the different EU Member States and between the EU Member States, the task of achieving decent employment in European care sectors is complex. Care sectors have been structured by diverse institutions and systems that have developed quite differently in each country. However, we do observe that care sectors tend to display similar structural problems that contribute to labour law shortages: long-standing histories of low wages, minimal social recognition, inadequate collective organisation, dependence on public funding and on the development of social security systems, lack of recognition of competences and professionalisation, high workloads and high health and safety risks.

In this session, we discuss finding from the Care4Care project, by presenting case studies from different countries on important institutional issues:

Firstly, we discuss the influence different systems of social protection have on the labour markets, building on the Spanish experience with different social protection for domestic workers, residential care workers, and nurses. Secondly, we look at the role of working time regulations, health and safety institutions, and collective bargaining, in shaping the working conditions and employment relationships of live-in workers in different EU countries, as many families resort to hiring live-in migrant workers under often informal conditions. Thirdly, we are interested in questions of collective organisation of care workers and collective bargaining. Workers’ voice, the recognition of social partners from both sides as well as social dialogue are of utmost importance for facilitating effective solutions for the care economy. With the Polish example, we discuss some of the reasons for the weakness of trade union representation in the care sector. Lastly, we explore the issue of recognition of competences. This is a major factor for professional development, which will be important for making professional care work more attractive. It is also when it comes to recruiting migrant workers to effectively participate on an equal level in European care sectors.

The paper examines how voice-building in favour of decent work has evolved in the specific context of Mauritius. While the small island nation was deemed doomed prior to embarking onto its formal independence in 1968, Mauritius has defied these predictions and demonstrated economic resilience over the past six decades. However, through longitudinal research conducted between 2012 and 2024, the paper examines the extent to which collective voice has developed in this specific context, in the aftermath of a colonial past and in a contemporary context where economic resilience is dependent upon the country’s willingness to cater for the business activities of the global north and the west.

Some scholars focusing on workers’ struggles in African countries have adopted a historical lens capable of showing how colonialism, its demise and aftermath have constituted the main institutional configuration surrounding these struggles (Hayter & Pons-Vignon, 2018; Croucher et al., 2022; Muasya & Walumbwa, 2023). In the sub-Saharan region, it has been noted how organised labour, for instance in South Africa, was not an outcome but a key agent in the struggle for liberation (Horwitz, 2006). Considering such examples and how national contexts including those of emerging economies have the power to shape worker voice or leaving it unheard, the study of African Industrial Relations (IR) systems may require a better understanding of African countries’ more extensive fight for freedom of the colonised oppressed. In this light, this paper aims to address the following question: how have unions and activists operating in Mauritius engaged in voice-building?

The case-based analysis draws from three data collection periods in which semi-structured or structured interviews were conducted with young workers from an emerging business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, unionists, activists as well as policy makers. Findings contextualise strategies deployed by social actors who tap from specific forms of solidarities to build collective voice and highlight the challenges they face in this continuous exercise, including other actors’ exit in the employment relationship (Doellgast, 2022). I suggest three sets of observation pertaining namely to the extent to which the Decent Work agenda requires solid underpinning by a larger voice-building project in the specific context of Mauritius, the importance of considering how exit is reinforced by history; and acknowledging social actors’ heterogenous design of strategies that cannot always be copied in the global south, from northern counterparts.

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The literature on labor governance mechanisms in global supply chains has increasingly emphasized the importance of worker voice in the operations of such mechanisms (LeBaron 2020; Reinecke and Donaghey 2023; Vanpeperstraete 2021). Rather than corporate-controlled social responsibility programs or management-controlled participation committees, a more empowering approach is enforceable brand agreements that include workers and their representatives on their oversight committees, such as in the case of the Bangladesh Accord (Anner, Bair, Blasi 2013).

This paper contributes to the literature on worker voice and agency in global supply chains (Barrientos 2019; Bartley 2018, Fischer-Daly and Anner 2023; Locke 2013, Reinecke and Donaghey 2021, Rossi 2015, ). It explores the research question: How do worker voice and agency impact outcomes when workers can leverage labor governance mechanisms and shape mechanism formation? The paper argues that when workers influence the formation of governance mechanisms, they subsequently can leverage those mechanisms more effectively. This is especially true when labor has shaped and leveraged multiple interacting mechanisms. Labor's influence on shaping mechanisms varies depending on the ability of employers and state actors to resist. The outcome of that contentious process provides insights into the potential effectiveness of the mechanisms. This is true for private governance mechanisms, such as EBAs, and for public governance mechanisms, such as labor laws and labor chapters in interstate trade agreements.

This paper focuses on the case of Mexico using a process tracing and qualitative case study analysis approach (Fairfield and Charman 2022). The first section of the paper explores labor’s influence in shaping the Mexico labor reform process of 2017-2019 and the establishment of the Rapid Response Labor Mechanisms of the USMCA from 2017-2020. The second part of the paper examines 12 cases in which labor leveraged state institutions via the reformed labor regime and petitioned the RRLM. It finds that the resulting impact on employment terms and conditions is significant. However, the most impactful cases involved large, final assembly production facilities where workers also have structural power. The paper draws on field research, interviews with major stakeholders, reviews of RRLM petitions, and a study of collective bargaining agreements.

This paper investigates possible effects of national and EU Global Value Chain Due Diligence legislation (DD) on labour rights for (informal) workers in producing countries. Human rights and environmental due diligence laws (HREDD laws) as the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, 2021 (GSCDDA), resp. EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), 2024 are currently supplemented by EU laws restricting access to the EU market, if importers cannot show due diligence in the production process, e.g. the EU Forced Labour Regulation, 2024.

Some analyses of HREDD laws exist, based on the design of the laws (Smit et al. 2020). This paper compares possible effects of HREDD and import restricting DD laws. Also, it connects these findings to GVC and trade regulation analysis as contextual factors influencing the effective application of DD laws for workers in producing countries. For the example of the apparel industry in India younger GVC literature (Teipen et al. 2022) shows little economic and social upgrading in a „market despotic“ system of industrial relations with weak trade unions. Trade regulation literature suggests that the effective implementation of extraterritorial DD laws depends strongly on the trade volume between countries (Bradford 2020). This paper examines how the GVC and trade settings influence the implementation of the new DD laws for workers in the apparel industry in India, and whether the laws in turn can reinforce worker strategies pushing for labour governance mechanisms with gains for workers (Anner 2021).

Research questions:

- What effects on workers in the apparel industry in India can be expected from GSCDDA/CSDDD in comparison with the EU Forced Labour Regulation?

- Which labour governance setting for the application of DD laws in India do GVC and trade regulation analysis describe?

- Can DD laws reinforce labour governance mechanisms with gains for workers in the apparal industry in India?

The paper is embedded in a research project on growth regimes, economic and social resilience of GVCs at Berlin School of Economics and Law, with research partner from JNU (Praveen Jha), University of the Witwatersrand (Ben Scully) and University of Campinas. Methodologically the paper uses qualitative and quantitative data in a mixed-method approach combining (i) (primary) document analysis, (ii) trade data, and (iii) semi-structured interviews to assess which responses to DD obligations are likely by supplier businesses, trade unions, NGOs and state actors.

Civil society campaigns drove the rise of ’voluntary’ social codes (VSCs) applied to suppliers by multinational companies (MNCs) to address poor conditions for workers in their global supply chains (GSCs) from the 1990s. Alongside this a large social compliance industry grew to audit and monitor private codes. Yet, research has indicated: (i) power imbalances between buyers and suppliers reflected in tensions between MNC purchasing practices and their social compliance requirements placed on suppliers; (ii) social compliance has failed to address many abuses of precarious workers at the base of supply chains, including gender-based violence (GBV). The failure of VSCs has contributed to movement towards regulatory approaches, building on human rights due diligence (HRDD) advocated under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This is encapsulated in the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and related legislation being rolled out in Europe.

This paper critically examines the shift from VSCs towards regulatory HRDD, and asks what are the implications for precarious workers at the base of global supply chains? It focuses on three dimensions: First, a critical comparison of VSC and HRDD approaches, and the extent to which these reach (let alone affect) precarious workers. Second, the analytical implications for governance of decent work in GSCs, given a shift between the governance domains from private/social towards greater public governance. Third, whether the roll out of regulatory HRDD is likely to replicate many of the mistakes of VSCs, with limited benefits for precarious workers?

The paper draws on 25 years of research on VSCs in agri-food and garments value chains, with a focus on gender and precarious workers in the global South. This is complemented by research conducted between 2023-25 focused on HRDD funded by a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship. This involved over 40 key informant interviews with stakeholders (including companies, trade unions, NGOs, trade associations, multistakeholder initiatives, government and international bodies) conducted in person or virtually in the UK, Europe, Africa and Asia.

The paper concludes HRDD regulation has better potential than multiple disparate VSCs to enhance the rights of precarious workers by identifying HR risks at the base of GSCs, and enhancing their voice and bargaining power. But improvements will only occur if regulation also addresses the purchasing practices of MNCs that drive precarity. The paper comprises part of a planned book on ‘Fairer Trade in Global Supply Chains: Whither Voluntary Standards?’ planned for open access publication in 2026.

There is increasing awareness of the need to incorporate the perspectives of people with lived experiences of labour exploitation into the planning, development, and evaluation of research, policy and interventions. The incorporation of worker voice is crucial for the advancement of decent work worldwide. However, both worker and survivor participation are often missing elements in current decent work and forced labour efforts, and research is no exception. Building on the authors’ own experience engaging survivors as active project consultants to evaluate the effectiveness of the ‘Employer Pays Principle’ in preventing forced labour in the Malaysian glove sector, this paper describes some of the benefits and challenges of survivor engagement throughout the life of a project, and proposes challenge-mitigating strategies that can help advance both survivor engagement and workers’ lives.The presentation of this paper will include the contribution of an anonymous survivor consultant, which cannot be named at this point for security reasons

Bringing together contributions from over 74 leading labour scholars, a volume, The Elgar Companion to Decent Work and the Sustainable Development Goals, edited by Madelaine Moore, Christoph Scherrer and Marcel van der Linden, critically investigates the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda and how it relates to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. While the mainstreaming of labour concerns into the United Nations agenda can be attributed to the ILO’s strategic focus on decent work, the world is no closer to achieving the Decent Work Agenda. The Agenda cannot be blamed for this setback. However, the persistent decent work deficits expose tremendous obstacles encountered on the way to the stated goal of achieving ‘full and productive employment and decent work for all’. Some critics argue that the concept itself needs to be re-evaluated, some see full employment as a utopian goal and look for alternatives to social inclusion, and others see the whole concept of decent work as too closely associated with the experience of rich countries where formal employment has traditionally been the norm.

While not all of these criticisms are valid, the issues raised and the reasons for the implementation deficits of the Decent Work Agenda deserve further examination. Given the unacceptably high decent work deficit and informal employment, further discussions are needed concerning the adequacy of the Decent Work Agenda as well as policies for its implementation. The contributors address these issues by interrogating the key historical, current and future challenges to the implementation of the Decent Work Agenda in our global economy.

• They critically examine the ILO's Decent Work Agenda, its historical context, its inclusion in global development goals, and the challenges in achieving decent work globally.

• Analyse the difficulties in implementing and enforcing labour standards, the limitations of corporate social responsibility, and the efficacy of trade union strategies.

• Provide diverse perspectives on the Decent Work Agenda including from a range of disciplines (political science, sociology, economics, law) alongside feminist and ecological interventions and voices from the global south.

• Look ahead to future trends in labour, including automation, the gig economy, and the impact of COVID-19, and discusses the approach to work in the next iteration of the Sustainable Development Goals post-2030.

After a brief introduction by the session chair, Christoph Scherrer (University of Kassel), five themes from the book will be presented seven minutes each, leading over to brief comments by the discussant, Nicolas Pons-Vignon (University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland) and a moderated discussion on the future of the Decent Work Agenda in an era of rising geopolitical tensions.

Themes and presenters:

1. Declining wage shares, wealth inequality and ‘living wages’

Maarten van Klaveren, WageIndicator Foundation, the Netherlands

2. The challenge of measuring underemployment

Gerhard Bosch, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

3. Digital labour platforms and their contribution to development outcomes

Uma Rani, International Labour Office

4. Decent Workplace: Evolution of the Concept and Relevance

Nausheen Nizami, Pandit Deendayal Energy University, India

5. Universal versus employment-based social protection?

Gabriele Koehler, UN Research Institute for Social Development

Discussant: Nicolas Pons-Vignon, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland

Discussion: Implications for the future of the Decent Work Agenda

Thinking through the challenges, what does the future of the Decent Work Agenda look like? In many ways, we face the same obstacles as those back in 1919 in the early days of the ILO, namely how to build workers’ power in the face of a global economic system that is structurally resistant to it. While Decent Work asserted that the world of work must include the democratic participation of workers, it is starkly clear that for this participation to be substantive, workers must have power. Tripartite agreements and institutions may provide a forum to voice workers' concerns, but there is no protection for workers' rights if states become increasingly authoritarian and explicitly aligned with the interests of capital. Must workers' demands go beyond the vague call for decent work and a seat at a table structurally designed to limit workers' power? Does the decent work agenda need concrete and far-reaching policy demands to remain relevant in the decades to come?

Trade union organizations have faced challenges due to transformations in the world of work, leading to an increase in informal, precarious, and non-waged workers, as well as a feminization of labor markets. This has resulted in representation gaps as more workers are outside traditional mechanisms of representation, and the persistence of gender gaps due to horizontal and vertical segmentation processes.

As a result, trade unionism is facing practical, theoretical, and political challenges that require addressing new demands for recognition and redistribution. In Argentina, the Popular Economy Workers´ Union (CTEP-UTEP) was born in 2011 to address these issues by bringing together various social and community organizations. The union represents "popular economy workers", understood as those who work outside of formal employment relations, have low capitalization and productivity, and earn low incomes. The popular economy comprises nearly 4 million people, mostly women and young people. These workers “invent their own work” and develop multiple activities: informal waste pickers, street vendors, textile workers, urban infrastructure cooperative workers, family agriculture producers, among others. Most of these occupations do not have access to labor and social rights and protections and some of them are not even recognized as work, as in the case of community care work, carried out mostly by women.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the practices and strategies deployed by the CTEP-UTEP to build a union representation of non-salaried workers, taking into account the type of demands made, the forms taken by collective bargaining and the actors involved, the resources mobilized and the strategies of organization, struggle and institutionalization of the agreements reached. The presentation highlights the need to reevaluate current labor laws and recognize the rights of workers who are not part of the capital-labor relationship. It also recovers the voices of the actors involved and their proposals to change the situation of injustice that affects them.

The analysis is based on various case studies conducted between 2011 and 2024, focusing on different groups of popular economy workers such as street vendors, informal waste pickers, family brick producers, and socio-community workers. The research incorporates multiple data collection techniques including interviews, observation, questionnaires, focus groups, and a thorough review of primary and secondary sources. By examining these aspects, the study provides insights into the efforts made by the CTEP-UTEP to establish union representation for non-salaried workers in various sectors of the economy.

Asha is a Hindi word that means ‘hope’. But the lives and working conditions of ASHA workers in India are hopeless. There are about 983,000 Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers, as of 2020-21. They have been recognized as Global Health Leaders by the WHO in 2022. They are crucial to India's welfare and healthcare systems, providing essential child nutrition, maternal health, and community care services. Despite their critical roles, these workers remain largely informal, underpaid, and excluded from social security frameworks. Lack of institutional recognition and regulatory support has further deepened their marginalization, thus raising significant concerns about decent work (SDG Goal 8). In some states, ASHA workers have achieved basic rights by striking and collective bargaining through unionization, like Rs. 10000 per month honorarium and incentives in Karnataka in January, 2025. But the pan India situation is still precarious. The intersection of labour institutions, worker agency, and policy frameworks has been analysed in order to address such challenges.

This paper seeks to answer:

1. How do existing labour institutions in India address the issues of informality and precarity for ASHA workers?

2. What are the key barriers preventing these workers from achieving decent work?

3. How can institutional and grassroots interventions enhance their labour rights and working conditions?

To answer the above, this research employs a mixed methods approach, combining doctrinal analysis of labour laws and policies with empirical insights from semi-structured interviews conducted with ASHA workers in the state of Punjab. Content analysis is used to evaluate legislative documents and global labour standards.

This study contributes to the growing literature on informal labour, gendered dimensions of work, and the role of care work in developing economies. It bridges the gap between policy prescriptions and on-ground realities. There are structural and institutional barriers that ASHA workers face. The findings also extend discussions on labour agency and unions' role in amplifying informal workers' voices.

Preliminary findings suggest that there are huge gaps in the implementation of existing labour policies, leading to low wages and lack of social security. The study highlights the role of grassroots mobilization and unionization in achieving formal recognition and improved working conditions for ASHA workers.

Introduction:

Almost 90% of the sub-Saharan African workforce make their living in the informal economy. Therefore, any progress toward “decent work for all” (SDG 8) must consider the peculiarities of informal work. Yet, informal wage workers in particular are often under-represented, if not invisible, in policy discourses, unions, official statistics, and research on the matter. As a result, we know surprisingly little about the working conditions of informal workers. Drawing on a case study in Accra’s informal food service sector, characterised by small women-run traditional eateries, this study explores local labour regimes and understandings of collective action.

Research questions:

We offer evidence on the following under-researched questions: first, how is labour mobilized and organized in Accra’s informal food economy? Second, how is collective action articulated in this context? For this, we identify reasons for the low unionisation rates as well as the main demands of wage workers and food operators and their perceptions of the role of collective action.

Methodology:

We conducted a participatory photovoice process and individual interviews with two groups of workers and one group of employers, totaling 20 participants. Photovoice is an action research methodology in which participants take their own pictures which are then used as a basis for discussion. Through changing the gaze, it empowers participants to visualise their perspectives in ways that may be inaccessible to the researchers, revealing locally grounded meanings, lived experiences and issues that matter to them. Data were analysed through a combination of participatory group analysis and researcher-led reflexive thematic analysis.

Contribution to literature:

Our contribution is threefold: first, this is one of the few studies focusing directly on informal wage employment in the food service sector. Second, it investigates the under-researched role of unions and collective action in the informal economy from the perspectives of members and non-members. Third, it is, to our knowledge, the first photovoice study including both employers and employees in the same sector.

Findings:

We find strong power imbalances between workers and employers and document widespread workplace harassment and health hazards. We show the participants’ main demands for union representatives and policymakers. The article concludes that the precarious nature of informal work requires broad rights-based social protection schemes and renewed investments in basic infrastructure. Sustained efforts to support collective action are crucial to tailor these interventions to the needs of informal economy workers and employers and to establish minimum standards for informal work.

A decade-long participation of Syrian refugees in Türkiye’s informal market economy has reshaped labour market dynamics, yet their ability to assert their voice remains severely constrained, reflecting the limited involvement and bargaining power of both trade unions and workers. While extensive research has explored refugees’ economic vulnerability and legal status, less attention has been given to the role of trade unions in facilitating refugee labour market integration and shaping labour market governance. This issue has become increasingly urgent with the rise of anti-refugee rhetoric and the emerging return discourse following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2025.

Drawing on semi-structured expert interviews with representatives from trade unions, NGOs, international organizations, and public institutions in Adana, Gaziantep, and Istanbul—three key cities with significant refugee populations and persistent labour market integration challenges—this study examines the role of trade unions in advocating for or neglecting refugee workers’ labour rights in an evolving political landscape. It analyzes trade union strategies, local coordination mechanisms, and policy influence in ensuring refugees’ access to labour rights. The study explores how trade unions mediate refugee labour market integration, the strategies they employ in negotiating informality, and their engagement (or lack thereof) with the repatriation debate. This approach is complemented by analyzing local-level organizational structures of trade unions and their cooperation and coordination with other local actors, including municipalities as key service providers, civil society organizations (including chambers of commerce and industry), and provincial directorates of key ministries.

Historically, trade unions have played a pivotal role in shaping migration and integration policies; however, their responses to refugee workers have often been shaped by broader labour market concerns. In Türkiye, unions have largely focused on preventing wage suppression rather than advocating for refugee worker protections, leading to fragmented or absent strategies for integrating Syrian workers into formal structures. Aiming to offer alternative approaches to these shortcomings, this study will inform policy recommendations on strengthening worker representation and embedding refugee voices in both host-country and home-country labour governance frameworks. In addition, it explores whether trade unions can act as agents of change and serve as transnational actors, ensuring that returning workers are not forced into another cycle of precarious employment.

As the world grapples with uneven employment recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent inflationary pressures, the concept of living wage has (re)emerged as a critical tool for establishing decent wages. Contextualised research, such as from the UK, has shown that living wage payments can have a significant effect on worker well-being, reduced health issues and enhanced social status (Seubert, Hopfgartner & Glaser, 2021). Other studies point to how living wages could serve as an economic stimulus by increasing consumer spending, reducing poverty, and enhancing workforce stability (Barford et al., 2022).

Even though the concept of living wages is not new for scholars nor practitioners, there is a lack of scientific and policy agreement on defining living wage levels, as well as a lack of research on what the effects of the implementation of living wages can be on a country’s wage distribution and poverty levels. The papers in this session aim to make a start in addressing these gaps.

With the International Labour Organisation (ILO) tabling the topic in February 2024 during a meeting of experts, with principles adopted by the Governing Body in March (ILO, 2024), living wage is an important concept to take into account in regulating for decent work. The ILO’s conceptualisation touches upon the need for estimates that reflect local or regional differences within countries. Locally specific living wage estimates ensure accuracy and legitimacy from the point of view of local stakeholders such as workers and bargaining partners. With this, there is a need for more research on both the local applicability of the living wage concept as well as addressing a global way of measuring income adequacy and coming up with robust and comparable living wage estimates across the world consistently, as such that living wages can be used as a policy tool.

In conceptualising living wages, the ILO, scholars and practitioners have looked at how workers can earn a wage sufficient to afford a decent standard of living, including basic needs such as food, housing, healthcare, and education (ILO, 2024; Guzi et al. 2024). A living wage is aimed to reduce poverty and inequality by providing a wage floor that reflects local economic conditions and cost of living. Importantly, the conceptualisation of a living wage also emphasizes the importance of collective bargaining and social dialogue and role of social partners in setting wages that are fair (ILO, 2024).

This session includes five diverse papers that explore the conceptual tension between the local and global in defining, operationalizing, measuring and implementing living wages. We also broaden the discussion to: ‘a living wage for whom?’.

The first paper, by Guzi, Kahanec, Holičková and Amanquarnor introduces a novel, harmonized measure of income adequacy - the living wage - as calculated by WageIndicator Foundation, calculated for over 170 countries and 2700 regions. The authors demonstrate that the living wage is a superior indicator of income adequacy compared to existing measures such as minimum and adequate wages by identifying the critical “material deprivation point” through threshold regression. In the second paper, Meyer presents the South African National Living Wage study, which uses a unique, people-centred methodology to determine living wage levels. This approach maps working people's own assessments of their quality of life against their income, and highlights its cultural appropriateness in South Africa. The third paper, by Ooft, Sobhie and Grift, explores the standard of living and household poverty in Suriname by combining a literature review and cost-of-living data from the WageIndicator Foundation. The study identifies significant geographic disparities in household welfare and indicates that households spend a substantial proportion of their income on housing, food, and transportation. The fourth paper by Güler, examines the relationship between Türkiye's minimum wage levels and cost of living, analyzing whether minimum wage policies ensure a decent standard of living for workers. The study emphasises the need for social dialogue and economic justice in setting minimum wages. The fifth and final paper by Kahancová and Arets introduces the concept of a Living Tariff, inspired by the Living Wage, that addresses the unique challenges faced by gig workers and self employed workers. The Living Tariff addresses social security, pension, insurances, and gives additional space for more insight in occupational related expenses and waiting time.

This session, moderated by Paulien Osse, co-founder and global lead Living Wages at WageIndicator, with Prof. Dr. Damian Grimshaw of King’s College in London as discussant, aims to provide a comprehensive exploration of the living wage concept, its theoretical underpinnings, and its practical applications in various contexts. It demonstrates how living wages can be used to foster inclusive economic growth, strengthen collective bargaining, improve minimum wages and discusses the need for inclusive wage floors beyond traditional employment to include gig workers and freelancers.

The effectiveness of labour regulation in achieving decent work remains a contested issue, particularly in highly feminised sectors where structural inequalities persist globally. In Australia, IR reforms have historically failed to deliver broad-based improvements in job quality in these sectors. This paper examines the impact of recent amendments to national industrial relations legislation, Fair Work Act 2009 on gender equity and job quality in the Australian labour market.

This study addresses the following research questions: To what extent do recent legislative changes improve gender equity in pay and conditions? Do these reforms boost job quality in feminised sectors? What design features or institutional constraints may limit their effectiveness in achieving decent work outcomes?

Method: The analysis draws on a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative content analysis of pre- and post- 2022 legislative provisions, Fair Work Commission determinations with insights from (union, government, employer) stakeholder submissions and advocacy, policy documents, and labour market data. This enables an assessment of both the intended and emerging effects of these reforms on gender equity in the workplace.

Findings and Contribution: Two key legislative changes are examined in the paper. First the addition of ‘gender equality’ as an Objective of the Fair Work Act, which has the potential to embed gender considerations more explicitly in the work of the Fair Work Commission an institution which, among other things, sets national- and industry-based minimum standards. Second, the introduction of a new Supported Bargaining Stream is considered. This expands multi-employer bargaining access for workers in low-paid, feminised industries, with government funding bodies potentially playing a greater role in negotiations (Charlesworth and McDonald 2023). The paper highlights the forces and events that have shaped these changes including policy failure, the agency of policy actors, national political change, and structural shifts in the economy (see Ellem et al 2025). It argues that while these reforms hold promise, their actual impact remains uncertain. By applying a gender lens, the study interrogates whether these policy interventions have or may translate into substantive improvements in job quality in feminised sectors of the labour market or whether institutional and other constraints continue to limit their effectiveness. This analysis contributes to the "Good Ideas, No Impact?" track by critically assessing the effectiveness of recent gender equity-driven reforms and offering insights into the broader global debate on labour regulation and the pursuit of decent work, especially in feminised industries (eg Rubery 2011; Rubery and Grimshaw 2011).

Introduction

Globally, 44% of the workforce is engaged in farming, exposing approximately 860 million agricultural workers to pesticides annually. Unintended pesticide poisonings result in 11,000 deaths per year, with India accounting for nearly 60% of these fatalities. Despite existing regulations, farm workers remain highly vulnerable due to unsafe pesticide practices, lack of awareness, and regulatory loopholes.

Research Questions

This study seeks to understand the primary safety risks faced by farm workers using pesticides, the effectiveness of current regulations in protecting agricultural workers, and the necessary policy changes to enhance worker safety and reduce pesticide-related fatalities.

Methodology

This research is based on an analysis of 100 pesticide exposure cases among chili farmers in India (2023-24) using a mixed-method approach. The study utilizes secondary data from the Farmers’ Situation Assessment and NCRB records. Additionally, primary data collection was conducted through snowball sampling to gather firsthand accounts from affected farmers and workers. A qualitative analysis was carried out to identify policy gaps and enforcement challenges within the existing regulatory framework.

Contribution to Literature

This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on workers safety and policy by highlighting the discrepancies between legal provisions and real-world enforcement. It provides empirical data on worker safety gaps and pesticide exposure levels while advocating for stronger liability measures for pesticide manufacturers and suppliers. Furthermore, it proposes a comprehensive regulatory framework to ensure better implementation and monitoring of pesticide regulations to reduce pesticides exposures and reduce health hazards to farmers.

Findings

The study reveals significant gaps in worker safety, with 67% of farmers lacking awareness of pesticide hazards. Additionally, 41% report the sale of banned and unauthorised pesticides in local markets, and 75% do not have access to proper protective equipment. A concerning 63% of farmers state that dealers do not provide safety guidance, while 32% use excessive doses and mixtures of pesticides. Moreover, 35% experience unintended exposure during application, and 21% face exposure due to pesticide storage at home.

These findings underscore the urgent need for regulatory reform, including accountability at local level in implementation of regulations, stricter liability measures, and continuous monitoring under the proposed Pesticide Management Bill, 2020. Strengthening enforcement and accountability will be crucial in reducing pesticide-related poisonings and fatalities in India.

Labour exploitation is rampant in the global garment and textile industries. Further, indicators of forced labour, such as bonded labour, restriction of movement, withholding wages and excessive overtime, and work compelled under threat of physical violence are present in global supply chains for cotton, textile, and garment industries. Growing awareness of these issues and of the perceived failure of national labour laws and company-based corporate social responsibility initiatives to address forced labour have led to the introduction of modern slavery disclosure laws. Canada has recently joined other jurisdictions in doing so. Canada’s Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act builds on similar legislation in place in California, the UK and Australia. Companies must publish annual reports that outline what steps, if any, they have taken to address and prevent forced labour in their supply chains. Underpinning these laws is an assumption that reporting requirements increase transparency, which in turn will increase pressure on companies to address forced labour. A further assumption is that legislation will encourage businesses to accelerate environmental, social, and governance strategies, particularly labour codes in their supply chains.

Do these assumptions have merit? Are modern slavery laws an appropriate and effective way to tackle forced labour and other forms of extreme labour exploitation in global supply chains? Put simply, do these laws make any difference, and if so, what difference do they make? We begin to answer these questions through a case study of one leading Canadian retailer and apparel company with global reach – lululemon athletica. This paper reports on recently completed research. We engage with academic and policy-oriented debates and draw on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, including interviews, publicly available company documents, lululemon’s media statements and reports by social auditors. We reviewed these documents along with the company’s modern slavery statements to trace the steps the company has taken over time in response to the introduction of the modern slavery laws it is subject to. Our research suggests that the new laws do make some difference, but largely only in terms of transparency. We call for the adoption of measures that focus on preventing and remedying harm, not just on disclosure, and for tighter regulations that would compel companies to release additional information – data that will better map and report on the company’s supply chain, and data that measures the outcome of policies on workers.

In 1995, the Mobile Inspection Special Group (GEFM) was established to combat contemporary slave labor in Brazil. However, thirty years later, this practice remains a harsh reality in the country, despite legislative advancements and institutional actions. In 2023 alone, more than 3,240 workers were rescued from such conditions. This crime directly violates human dignity and requires a more robust and effective state response.

In this context, inspections conducted primarily by the Ministry of Labor and Employment and the Labor Prosecutor's Office play a crucial role in repressing these practices. Nevertheless, the challenge remains to ensure that, during and after inspections, existing legal norms translate into effective protection for workers. This research aims to address two key questions: What factors determine the effectiveness of actions to combat slave labor and human trafficking in Brazil today? What institutional and operational gaps hinder the effectiveness of labor regulation in these contexts?

The research adopts a mixed-methods approach (quantitative and qualitative), involving a review of the relevant literature and an analysis of reports from members of the Labor Prosecutor's Office and, potentially, other institutional partners participating in task forces conducted in the post-pandemic period (2022-2024). Data collection will include document analysis of the mobile group’s action outcomes, followed by the application of standardized questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with those involved in the operations. The study will also consider the application of new artificial intelligence tools, where applicable, in the planning and execution of inspections.

Currently in the documentary review phase, this study expands the debate on the effectiveness of labor regulation in contexts of severe rights violations by analyzing how institutional factors, such as the coordination between different agencies and the quality of inspection instruments, influence the outcomes of enforcement actions. Thus, it contributes to public policy by proposing evidence-based recommendations for improving inspections.

The study aims to identify factors that influence the effectiveness of inspection actions, such as documentation standards, criteria for recognizing slave labor, and the causes of inspection failures. Practical recommendations will be provided to enhance the effectiveness of institutional actions, including proposals for improving regulations and leveraging technology for monitoring and planning actions. These insights will contribute to more efficient inspections and inspire the development of more robust regulatory models that are sensitive to social and economic vulnerability contexts.

The emergence of technology-based platform economy in the Indian cities is seen as one of the potential sectors for generating employment for a large number of youths and is also a process of formalization of informal employment on a large scale; however, whether such a type of formalization is actually benefiting the workers or not requires a detailed empirical examination. This brings our aim for the study to examine the quality of employment generated in the Indian ridesharing platforms by comparing the quality of employment between traditional and digital cab services in two Indian megacities with different political and economic setups, Kolkata and Bengaluru. We have collected information from 650 cab drivers, out of which 400 samples are app-based cab drivers associated with the OLA/Uber platform and 250 in conventional taxi models. Out of 650 samples, 350 drivers are interviewed from Bengaluru and 300 from Kolkata.

We have adopted ILO measures of the quality of the employment index based on three dimensions: earnings, the nature of working conditions, and security and social dialogue. Subsequently, using regression analysis, we have identified the underlying factors influencing the overall quality of employment and also each dimension. The results show higher employment quality associated with OLA/Uber drivers in both cities compared to the drivers associated with conventional taxi models. Our model shows the quality of employment is higher for Kolkata than Bengaluru. This is possible due to the higher traffic density in Bengaluru, which makes drivers have fewer rides but end up spending more hours of work for an earning. Secondly, the Security and Social Dialogue index has a higher magnitude in Kolkata than in Bengaluru, indicating that Kolkata being a worker-supportive state with higher union representation helps drivers to have more access to negotiated benefits and legal representation. However, the magnitude of these dimensions is found to be less, and any provision of fair work and remuneration through benefit programs can enhance the quality of employment for drivers in the digital sphere. One major recommendation is the review of work conditions on the platform, where several schemes must be ensured for the social protection of workers. Workers are found to be deprived of social-security benefits, insurance, and other basic privileges in a standard work arrangement, where a policy response is to reform the existing legal framework that covers the term independent contractors inside the legal purview.

Over the past decade, gig platforms have evolved into a key constituting element of the gig economy, enabling clients to hire workers for one-time, occasional or recurring services (Koutsimpogiorgos et al., 2020). These platforms rely on algorithmic management (AM) systems to automate staffing, performance evaluation, and workflow coordination (Duggan et al., 2020; Meijerink & Bondarouk, 2023). While algorithmic-enabled Human Resource Management (HRM) features promise efficiency, they also introduce opaque ranking mechanisms, automated decision-making, and digital surveillance, intensifying control while limiting worker agency. This creates a fundamental “autonomy paradox”: gig work is marketed as flexible and independent, yet AM limits workers’ ability to make meaningful decisions (Möhlmann et al., 2021).

With an estimated 154–435 million workers worldwide engaged in online gig work (World Bank, 2023), online gig platforms have become de facto labour market institutions. Yet, the lack of transparency and worker participation in AM processes raises concerns about fairness, bias and the erosion of worker voice (Rahman, 2021). Unlike on-site gig platforms where worker interactions occur in physical spaces, online gig workers increasingly rely on third-party review platforms (e.g. Trustpilot) to navigate these algorithmic systems, share experiences and challenge unfair practices.

Despite growing academic interest in AM’s implications for worker autonomy, the literature remains fragmented with persistent challenges in measurement, generalisability beyond single-platform case studies within the onsite gig economy (Meins & Seiner, 2015) and its influence on platform outcomes (Kadolkar, 2024). Addressing this gap, we ask: How do algorithmic-enabled HRM features and their effects on worker autonomy explain platform satisfaction ratings on online gig platforms?

We analyse over 56,000 satisfaction ratings across 89 online gig platforms from Trustpilot, Glassdoor, Sitejabber, and G2 - providing a rare avenue for worker voice in a system lacking collective bargaining mechanisms. Building on AM literature and adopting netnographic approaches, we examine two key constructs influencing platform satisfaction: 1) algorithmic-enabled HRM platform features; and 2) platform-enabled worker autonomy measuring choice and control. Their interplay is assessed through regression analysis at the platform level, controlling for platform characteristics (revenue model, sectoral focus, and country of headquarters), while also investigating the moderating role of algorithmic transparency.

Theoretically, our findings evaluate the applicability of organisational behavioural theories in algorithmically-managed work. On a policy level, by identifying which AM features enhance or undermine worker agency across different platform interaction stages, we offer actionable recommendations for policymakers navigating to strengthen worker voice in the age of algorithmic control.

This study examines the growing disparity between customer expectations and the operational realities faced by gig workers in the Philippines, specifically within the ride-hailing and delivery sectors. As the gig economy has expanded rapidly, workers often find themselves struggling to meet customer demands that exceed the support or resources provided by the platforms they work for. This research investigates the key factors contributing to this expectation-reality gap, explores its effects on worker well-being and performance, and proposes strategies to better align customer expectations with the realities of gig work.

Innovatively, the study focuses on the emotional and operational challenges that gig workers face when dealing with unrealistic customer demands. It extends the existing body of literature by providing a comprehensive understanding of how this gap negatively impacts workers’ mental health, job satisfaction, retention, and overall platform performance. The research also introduces new perspectives on the role of customer expectations and platform accountability in maintaining a sustainable gig economy. This contribution is critical as it addresses a previously underexplored dimension of gig work—the interaction between customers, platforms, and workers in shaping the dynamics of the gig economy.

The methodology is both rigorous and comprehensive, utilizing a mixed-methods approach to gain insights into the worker experience and the operational realities of the gig economy. Surveys were administered to gig workers to gather quantitative data on their experiences with customer expectations, mental health, and job satisfaction. In-depth interviews with platform representatives and industry experts provided qualitative insights into the operational challenges and customer management strategies. This methodological combination strengthens the study’s analytical rigor, ensuring a holistic understanding of the issue.

Findings from the research reveal that the expectation-reality gap is primarily driven by factors such as unrealistic customer demands, inadequate support from platforms, and a lack of alignment between platform promises and actual working conditions. The study highlights the mental and emotional strain placed on gig workers due to the pressure of meeting customer expectations without adequate compensation or resources. It calls for policy and platform reforms, including better support systems for workers, clearer communication regarding customer demands, and fairer compensation structures. The research emphasizes the importance of educating customers about the realities of gig work and recommends strategies for creating a more balanced and sustainable gig economy.

The research provides actionable insights for policymakers, platform developers, and industry stakeholders to improve worker conditions, promote sustainability, and foster better customer-worker relationships in the Philippine gig economy.

As digitalisation accelerates globally, the gig economy has emerged as both a key driver of flexible employment and a complex challenge for decarbonisation and environmental sustainability. In India, this dynamic is evident in the rapid growth of e-cab and food delivery services, which has provided essential jobs, especially for young and semi-skilled individuals, but also intensified urban congestion, air pollution, and emissions. As the world confronts urgent environmental challenges, there is a growing recognition of the need to align economic activities with sustainable practices to reduce carbon emissions. The green transition represents a comprehensive shift toward sustainable economic models, aimed at minimising environmental impact by reducing carbon emissions, promoting renewable energy, and fostering sustainable development.

This research examines the environmental and occupational impacts of India’s gig economy expansion, particularly regarding the trade-offs between job creation, digitalisation, and the need for decarbonisation. Thus, the aim is to explore the extent to which gig workers—especially those engaged in e-cab services and online food delivery—are impacted by these environmental factors, and to assess the adequacy of government policy in addressing the dual objectives of employment generation and environmental stewardship. The study utilises a qualitative research design, with primary data collected through semi-structured interviews with 60 e-cab drivers and 60 food delivery workers across Guwahati and Mumbai in India. Additional insights were gathered from key informants, including state and non-state actors, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the policy landscape and its impact on gig workers.

The findings reveal that while gig work provides economic flexibility, it also exposes workers to considerable environmental health risks, including respiratory issues, traffic-induced stress, and prolonged exposure to air pollution. Interviews with state, especially officials from the labour commission and environment ministry, and non-state actors further underscore the limited regulatory focus on the environmental dimensions of gig work and the marginal attention to worker well-being within the policy discourse. Certain recommendations include incentives for electric vehicle adoption in gig services, improved urban traffic management, and measures to reduce workers’ environmental exposure, particularly as India faces rising temperatures above 40°C in summer. This research, situated at the intersection of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 8 and 13, aims to contribute to the discourse on sustainable employment by highlighting the environment-jobs paradox within India’s gig economy. Ultimately, it questions whether digitalisation supports decarbonisation or exacerbates environmental and occupational vulnerabilities, challenging the assumption that digitalisation and sustainability can progress together.

The platform economy has emerged as a transformative mode of work globally, revolutionizing services from transportation, food delivery and accommodation. While extensive research has documented how this new mode of working creates worker precarity through algorithmic exploitation and limited social security, a critical gap exists in understanding how climate change compounds these challenges, particularly in climate-vulnerable regions like Southeast Asia.

This study examines how platform workers in Vietnam's urban areas, specifically those in ride-hailing and food delivery services, navigate the dual challenges of technological precarity and climate change impacts. Specifically, the research addresses the following questions: (i) how have workers perceive climate impacts in urban areas? and (ii) how have they exercised their agency in the face of climate and technology challenges? Methodologically, the paper uses qualitative design and grounds the analysis on Katz's (2004) theoretical framework of everyday strategies including resilience, reworking and resistance to examine workers’ responses to these challenges. Through semi-structured interviews, responses of 50 workers were collected. The analysis was then triangulated with document analysis of existing studies about platform workers in Vietnam. Firstly, workers identify heat-related health hazards and associated financial risks as their primary concerns. Secondly, despite operating within a regulatory void and lacking formal organising mechanisms such as grievance channels and collective bargaining workers demonstrate both individual and collective agency in responding to these challenges. At the individual level, workers actively prepare for and adapt to both climatic and technological challenges rather than remaining passive recipients of platform policies. Collectively, they establish self-help online and face-to-face networks for information sharing and mutual support. These strategies allow workers to reconfigure platform constraints to their advantage while avoiding direct confrontation with platform management, illustrating how they employ resilience and reworking within the platform economy. Despite such efforts, it should be noted that competitive dynamics and moral distance among workers continue to impede stronger collective action.

This research makes two significant contributions. First, it addresses the intersection of climate change impacts and platform work, particularly in a climate-vulnerable area. Second, it reveals how workers leverage digital technologies to build resilience and resistance strategies, despite structural constraints. These findings have important implications for understanding worker agency in the platform economy and for developing climate-responsive labour policies.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) by employers in employment relations to simplify and automate certain processes (e.g., candidate selection, employee performance monitoring) is not new. Given the tendency of certain AI systems to perpetuate discriminatory or prejudiced practices, it has proven necessary to regulate a higher level of protection, by introducing complex obligations for entities that develop or use AI systems in their activity.

Regulation 2024/1689, establishing harmonised rules on artificial intelligence, adopts a risk-based approach, classifying AI systems into four risk categories: unacceptable, high, limited and minimal.

Given the significant impact they can have on careers, livelihoods and workers' rights, some AI systems in the field of employment and workforce management are considered to present a high level of risk: those designed to recruit or select individuals, in particular to place specifically targeted job advertisements, to analyse and filter job applications and to assess candidates, as well as those designed to take decisions affecting the terms of employment relationships, to promote and terminate employment-related contractual relationships, to allocate tasks based on individual behaviour or personal traits or characteristics, or to monitor and evaluate the performance and behaviour of individuals in such relationships.

By way of exception, these systems will not be considered to present a high risk if they do not present a significant risk of harm to the health, safety or fundamental rights of natural persons (e.g. a system that performs a limited procedural task, such as detecting duplicates in a large number of applications). Even in the exempted situations, these systems will always be considered to present a high risk if they create profiles of natural persons.

The use of the comparative method will allow an analysis of AI systems to be carried out to determine the risk categories in which they fall, and the sociological method can be used to analyse the appropriate training of employees and the effects of designating persons responsible for human supervision of the systems.

Since the regulations are very recent, there is no adequate specialized literature, and the number of published studies and articles is small (e.g. Jacek Woźniak, Workplace Monitoring and Technology, Ed. Routledge, 2023; R. Pettinelli, Diritto del lavoro e intelligenza artificiale. Giuffrè, Milan, 2024; Ana Garcia, Impactos de la gestión laboral algorítmica en las relaciones colectivas de trabajo, in Revista Internacional y Comparada de Relaciones laborales y derecho del empleo, no. 1/ 2024).

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into workplace management, particularly through algorithmic management systems, presents significant challenges concerning workers' rights. These systems, which oversee task allocation, performance evaluation, and disciplinary actions, often operate with little to no human intervention, leading to concerns over transparency, fairness, accountability, and data privacy. As AI-driven management becomes more pervasive, there is an increasing need to explore the role of criminal law in addressing potential violations of labour rights.

This paper investigates whether criminal sanctions can serve as effective, proportionate, and dissuasive measures against breaches of workers' rights within AI-managed workplaces. The research is interdisciplinary, combining labour law, organization theory, and criminal law to examine the legal implications of algorithmic management. The central research questions are: (1) How do AI-driven management systems impact workers' rights, particularly in relation to privacy, fairness, and accountability? (2) Can criminal law be effectively applied to address violations resulting from AI-driven decision-making? (3) Who should bear criminal liability when AI systems make decisions that infringe on labour rights?

Methodologically, this study employs legal doctrinal analysis to assess relevant European Union (EU) labour directives and case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Comparative legal analysis is also used to examine variations in criminal liability frameworks across different Member States. Additionally, the study incorporates insights from organization theory to explore the broader implications of AI-driven decision-making in workplaces.

This paper contributes to the literature by highlighting the regulatory gaps in existing labour laws concerning AI-driven management systems and by critically assessing the feasibility of applying criminal sanctions to labour law violations. It examines different models of liability, including holding AI developers, corporate entities, or individual managers accountable for harmful outcomes. Furthermore, the study explores the controversial notion of "electronic personhood" as a potential legal framework for assigning liability to autonomous AI systems.

Findings indicate that while criminal sanctions can play a role in deterring labour law violations, significant legal and ethical challenges remain. The diversity of criminal liability doctrines across EU Member States complicates the establishment of a unified enforcement mechanism. Additionally, the evolving nature of AI poses difficulties in attributing responsibility, particularly when AI operates autonomously. While criminal law may serve as a deterrent, future legal developments must reconcile the demands of technological innovation with the fundamental principles of justice and accountability in labour relations.

Introduction and contribution

Algorithmic management (AM) has implications for working conditions, worker rights and co-determination. Despite much research on worker agency and voice related to AM in platform work, and the incremental spread of AM to non-platform work, there is a lack of literature focusing on worker voice in response to AM in non-platform work. The aim of this study is to explore how digital technologies and AM affect working conditions and the prospects for workplace co-determination and democracy in non-platform work.

Drawing on interview and document data, we asked the following questions:

• What is workers' response to AM-related issues in Sweden?

• What are the implications of for trade unions, solidarity and policy in Sweden?

Methodology

We interviewed 16 employees in various companies from three sectors where AM is known to be relatively prevalent (transport, warehousing, retail) and five full-time trade union employees from the Swedish Trade Union Federation (LO), Swedish Commercial Employees' Union (CEU) and Swedish Transport Workers’ Workers' Union (TWU). All but one of the interviewed workers were also active as trade union representatives for CEU or TWU.

Findings

We found notable differences between the three sectors. The weakest response was in warehousing despite unsustainable workloads, arbitrary structures of discipline, and conflicts on the floor. The transport sector displayed comparatively more agency but also resignation due to subcontracting blurring responsibilities. Workers in the retail sector were more positive to AM and if issues arose, union and/or OSH representatives got involved by advocating employers to take more active measures. However, workers with insecure employment contracts were more reluctant to act, fearing they would not be granted well-needed extra shifts or other benefits.

Despite strong institutions and a legacy of union technology optimism, AM posed challenges to the unions related to fragmentation, individualization, deskilling and decline in professional identity – all of which are problematic for a unified worker voice. Especially when affiliation rates are in decline. Swedish unions respond by defending workers’ right to co-determination and health & safety but struggle due to the complicated context of opaque and complex technology (the “black box”). Action includes e.g. participating in EU discussions and fact-finding exercises to learn about AM practices and effects among their members, with the development of guidance materials to support local unions and members in the process.

The growth of digital platforms and the new types of jobs they create have attracted considerable academic interest in recent years. Even though the case of Uber has become paradigmatic, constituting a flagship of the digital world of work, the universe of digital labour platforms is vast and diverse and comprises a wide array of activities and sectors. This panel proposal is concerned with digital labour intermediaries that provide services to households, which have been gaining ground in recent years, especially those that offer cleaning and care services.

Unlike the more widely studied platforms of passengers transportation or delivery services which tend to reproduce a single scheme worldwide –one that has been associated with job extreme precariousness and disguised labour relationships– digital intermediaries in the domestic and care sector present a much broader range of business models (and therefore, of impacts on workers). These indeed can include “uberised” models with very similar features and outcomes to those of traditional platforms. But they also involve different types of digital intermediation, where companies’ intervention is focused on the phase of connecting workers with households/clients (and, eventually, in setting initial wages and labour conditions). Other variants of digital intermediaries in the sector may comprise platforms that hire domestic workers as their own employees and even cooperatives of workers which deploy some of all of the digital tools proposed by labour platforms.

Although in the last years a growing body of literature on the topic has contributed to generate information on this diversity, there is still a need to understand the expansion of this phenomenon in more detail, for example by mapping where and how these new digital intermediaries operate. Additionally, comparative studies are still scarce and scattered. Indeed, analysing the contrasts of different business models in the sector and taking into account their national contexts (including their diverse regulatory, social, demographic and economic environments) would greatly contribute to understand why and how these dissimilar designs of digital intermediation in the domestic and care sector develop and what their effects are.

As a first step to contribute in such direction, this panel includes three papers that aim to map and explain the development of digital intermediaries in domestic and care work in three different regions. One of the papers gives an overall picture of these intermediaries in Europe, looking at six countries (Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain). Another paper focuses on three countries in south-eastern Europe (Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia) and the last on Latin American countries. These studies reveal differences as well as similarities within and between countries and regions.

In 2022, the United Nations General Assembly declared a healthy environment, and access to clean air, a human right (CCAC secretariat, 2022). However, such rights remain unrealised in the global garment industry, wherein workers are routinely exposed to air pollution. In Cambodia, factory boilers are fuelled by wood and garment off-cuts (Geres, 2022; Parsons et al., 2021), the burning of which releases particulate matter, nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide into the air (Chandath et al., 2023). Boundless in nature, this polluted air affects the quality of outdoor and indoor environments for workers at assembly lines, where they work up to 8 or 10 hours a day (Parsons et al., 2022:28). The environmental effects of this model are grave, with recent research noting the high levels of particulate matter and toxins detected at factory sites, exceeding World Health Organisation guidelines for the protection of human health (Chandath et al., 2023). Although there is little awareness of air pollution and its effects on workers, research evidences the high prevalence of exposure symptoms amongst garment workers at such factories using biomass boilers (Chandath et al., 2023). Crucially, the health impacts of air pollution are uneven, given young migrant women's over-representation in such roles (Lawreniuk et al., 2022). This paper examines the health effects of exposure to air pollution on garment workers’ respiratory health, to address a dearth of gendered data on women's health in the garment industry. Using arts-based methods, this paper employs a participatory, worker-led approach, that foregrounds embodied experiences of ill–health. In doing so, it highlights how exposure to air pollutants constitutes a form of invisible, ‘slow violence’ (Nixon, 2011), undermining the right to a safe work environment – a pillar of the ‘Decent Work’ agenda. Accretive in nature, the latency of chronic respiratory conditions, can result in years of ill-health without diagnosis, as witnessed with cases of Brown and Black Lung in the past (Blanc, 2012; Smith, 1981). The findings of this research suggest that increased awareness and capacity to communicate such experiences are crucial to initiate social dialogue and policy implications around air pollution; a necessary step for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals 3, 5, & 8 on ‘Health and Wellbeing’, ‘Gender Equality’ and ‘Decent Work’. Enhancing understanding on air pollution and its effect on women workers’ health will therefore prove fruitful in ensuring garment workers’ right to dignified employment, and more critically, their right to clean air.

The problem of decent work among workers in global supply chains, such as the garment sector, is well-documented. The debate revolves around what mechanisms can respond to decent work deficits. The disruptions in global supply chains created by the pandemic and its impact on working conditions reaffirmed the relevance of resolving the question of effective regulation. The research examined the COVID-related discrimination suffered by low-waged, mostly women, garment workers in three factories at the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) in Cebu, Philippines that manufacture for global brands. Utilizing focus group discussions and key informant interviews and using the lens of equality and non-discrimination, the research revealed that workers suffered from thirteen types of COVID-related discrimination. Among these are pregnancy, health status, freedom of association, harassment by state authorities, harassment by company management and theft of workers’ benefits. The number and kinds of discrimination that were uncovered suggests that abuses were widespread and severe during the pandemic. This highlights the disconnect between law and practice in the Philippines regarding labour standards and anti-discrimination rules. Likewise, this spotlights the deficits in voluntary regulation of global supply chains based on brand codes of conduct. The pandemic experiences of garment workers in the MEPZ bare the limits of self-regulation by global brands and local suppliers but also state regulation and reforms to ensure labor compliance. The study proposes a stylized typology of regulation of global supply chains: private regulation or corporate social responsibility (CSR); public regulation or business and human rights (BHR); and social regulation or worker-driven social responsibility (WSR). The paper argues that unions and their allies exercising leverage to compel brands to forge binding agreements or WSR is a more promising means of regulating global supply chains. Finally, the study recommends a set of specific steps to remediate the discrimination endured by garment workers in MEPZ.

Global supply chains underpin a multitude of labor violations, environmental disasters, and human rights abuses. The pursuit of justice is not just difficult—it is essential. The complexity of these chains, coupled with the discrepancies in legal systems, makes accountability a pressing issue that must be addressed. Access to remedies is critical but often challenging in developing countries like sub-Saharan Africa, where judicial systems are costly and slow, coupled with a highly informal workforce. Informal workers, essential to global supply chains in agriculture and mining, lack the legal protections necessary for decent working conditions. This puts them at risk of human rights violations, including unsafe environments and limited grievances. Human rights protections in global supply chains are severely compromised and require urgent attention.

Non-judicial grievance mechanisms (NJGMs), established by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (2011), offer a beacon of hope by enabling victims of human rights violations resulting from business activities, including informal workers, to address grievances and enhance their rights and working conditions within supply chains. Additionally, emerging due diligence laws, such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the German Due Diligence Act, provide further opportunities to improve the rights of informal workers in global supply chains. These frameworks can tackle issues like inadequate wages and unsafe working conditions by enforcing due diligence and ensuring access to remedies.

NJGMs can support informal workers in addressing rights violations and holding corporations accountable for labor abuses in their supply chains. By fostering dialogue and collaboration among worker organizations, trade unions, and businesses, they build trust and create sustainable solutions, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where legal systems can be costly.

The success of the NJGMS relies on effective implementation, enforcement, and stakeholder collaboration. This article explores NJGMs' potential to address challenges informal workers face, such as limited literacy, fear of retaliation, and gender disparities while emphasizing accessibility, transparency, and worker participation. Human rights violations will only persist because of exclusions of the most vulnerable from protection. For example, informal workers are often excluded from human rights policies and agendas, further perpetuating their vulnerability. This exclusion can only be stopped by inclusive justice systems and offer remedies to violations, especially in regions where informal arrangements are the norm.

Research Question: What role can non-judicial grievance mechanisms play in promoting the rights of informal workers in Sub-Saharan Africa’s global supply chains?

Methodology

Qualitative approach.

Introduction

The right to a living wage is an internationally recognized human right (Article 23 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 7 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights). The ILO does not (yet) recognize this right as a fundamental right at work, but the ILO plays a leading role in defining and calculating living wages. Whereas most international instruments have focused on the obligations of states to enforce a living wage, more recent ones, like the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the recent EU Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) at the EU level are increasingly placing responsibilities and legal obligations on multinational enterprises to respect the right to a living wage in their supply chains. This piece aims at explaining how large businesses must conduct due diligence with respect to a living wage and a living income in their value chains. It analyses the potential and shortcomings of the living wage provisions of the CSDDD for low income countries in particular.

Research Question

What are the new legal obligations of large enterprises to respect the right to a living wage in their global value chains in mandatory due diligence legislation? How will these obligations be enforced in theory and in practice? Particularly, how to ensure respect for a right to a living income of informal workers in supply chains?

Methodology

Methodologically, this contribution explains the scope and enforcement mechanisms of emerging legal due diligence obligations regarding the right to a living wage. If focuses on the German due diligence supply chain law and the EU CSDDD in particular. Based on best practices by companies already guaranteeing a living wage in their supply chains, it anticipates potential and practical shortcomings of this new legislation and proposes avenue to ensure a proper transposition by European member states.

Contribution to literature and finding

This piece contributes to the literature on transnational labour law and business and human rights. So far, this literature has discussed due diligence mechanisms in generally, sometimes on labour rights more particularly, but not yet specifically on the right to a living wage. This piece also aims to contribute to the elaboration of a Guide on Living Wage and Living Income Due Diligence.

In her final speech at the ILC session adopting the 2022 amendment to the 1998 Declaration, the Workers’ Group chairperson expressed her hope that the right to a living wage ‘should receive the high priority it deserves, and – who knows – we may see a sixth fundamental right appearing on the horizon’ (Passchier 2022:9). Since then, the issue of living wage has garnered increased attention in the ILO’s system ( ILO 2024).

In our previous research on the 2022 amendment to the 1998 Declaration, we found that the 2022 amendment signals a lowering of the inclusion bar for future amendments of the Declaration beyond ‘procedural’ rights and opened the path for further updating of the list of FPRW (Katsaroumpas and Kotsoni, 2025). Building on our previous findings, with this article we will make the case for the inclusion of a right to a living wage in the 1998 Declaration.

Toward this end, the article advances the following arguments. Firstly, the 2022 amendment showed that not only ‘procedural’ or ‘autonomy rights’ belong to the 1998 Declaration, as previously thought (see Langille 2005 and Maupain 2005). In fact, the inclusion of health and safety as the fifth fundamental right renders these accounts obsolete and inadequate to capture the current evolution of the Declaration. Secondly, like the other FPRW, the right to a living wage has constitutional grounding that justifies its inclusion in the FPRW. In this article, we make the case for the inclusion of a right to a living wage in the 1998 Declaration. We locate this right within ILO’s constitutional framework and other significant legal sources, that demonstrate its constitutional grounding and distributive function, aligning with the Philadelphia Declaration's call for a just share of progress (see Ewing and Hendy, 2023). Thirdly, we argue that the inclusion of a right to a living wage in the Declaration is also supported by normative, rights-based, reasons, as well as the right’s links and enabling outcomes for other constitutional goals of the ILO.

Overall, recent developments regarding health and safety at work, suggest that ILO is equipped with experience and institutional capacity to expand the 1998 Declaration in that direction. The article will contribute to the debate on the possible inclusion of a living wage right in the 1998 Declaration by offering a constitutional normative narrative that views it as a normative and logical extension enabled and facilitated by the 2022 amendment.

Introduction

Rwanda aims to become a digital economy leader in Africa, leveraging digitalization to "leapfrog" from an agrarian to a service-driven economy. While digitalization has the potential to accelerate economic transformation and close employment gaps, its impact on job quality and inclusivity remains unclear. Despite Rwanda’s strong policy ambitions, structural barriers—including a large informal sector, persistent skills mismatches, and uneven digital adoption—limit the extent to which digitalization is generating decent and equitable employment opportunities.

Research questions

This study examines the extent to which Rwanda’s service-led digital transformation is being realized. It investigates:

1. How digitalization affects the intensity and composition of tasks and skills across occupations and sectors.

2. Whether digital job creation reduces inequalities or reinforces existing labour market disparities.

3. How employment policies can better align with digital skill development and workforce needs.

Methodology

The study introduces a novel task-based approach to measuring digitalization in employment, applying the Occupational Information Network’s (O*NET) digital intensity classification to Rwanda’s Labour Force Survey over a five-year period. Unlike conventional sector-based classifications, this method provides a granular assessment of digital task penetration across all sectors. Additionally, time-trend analysis evaluates mobility patterns among workers in digital-intensive jobs. Qualitative insights from ICT employers and job-seekers in six “high-potential” districts (Kamonyi, Musanze, Kirehe, Rwamagana, Huye, and Gasabo) complement the quantitative findings.

Findings

Initial findings reveal that digitalization is reshaping job composition as workers in digital-intensive jobs experience greater mobility across sectors and occupations. However, low skilled, rural based and informal workers are experiencing more limited transformations due to limited internet adoption, inadequate digital training and gender disparities. While Rwanda has achieved widespread mobile network coverage, only a small proportion of workers actively engage in the digital economy, signalling a gap between digital access and actual usage.

Contribution to literature

This study challenges the common assumption that digitalization is inherently equalizing, highlighting how its impacts vary across different economic and social contexts. Current research on digitalization mainly examines employment impacts in advanced economies, overlooking its effects in developing countries like Rwanda. Moreover, existing studies often rely on sector-based classifications, neglecting the task-based dimensions of digital work. This study offers a more granular approach to measuring digitalization in employment. It provides new insights into job transitions, evolving skill requirements, and persistent structural barriers in digitally transforming economies. It bridges political economy and labour studies by examining how digital transformation interacts with employment policies.

Introduction

The launch of AI tools, especially ChatGPT, represents a major turning point, fostering widespread adoption across diverse fields. While AI offers enhanced efficiency, it also poses risks to cognitive development, particularly through overreliance among youth. Relying on AI for basic tasks such as remembering, understanding, and applying knowledge hinders higher-level cognitive functions like analyzing, evaluating, and creating (expertise paradox). Excessive dependence on AI also limits Gen Z's ability to think creatively (innovation paradox). Additionally, AI disproportionately benefits experts, leaving novices at a disadvantage (equity paradox). The meta-cognitive illusion, created by AI's use, leads youth to believe they possess more skills than they truly do. Collectively, these AI paradoxes are contributing to the deskilling of youth, with potential negative impacts on the global economy, including a widening gap between high and low-skilled workers, wage inequality, economic instability, and rising crime rates. There is a lack of studies on youth deskilling due to AI overexposure, globally and particularly in India. In this context, the study aims to answer research questions: “Are AI paradoxes deskilling the youth?” and “Can AI paradox awareness reduce AI overdependence triggered deskilling?”

Methodology:

312 post-graduate university students from West Bengal, India were surveyed for this study using a structured questionnaire. The ‘Overreliance on AI’ indicator was constructed to evaluate the extent of deskilling. Simple statistical tools and regression analysis were for the analysis. In the second phase, an experimental study with 85 students, divided into treatment (made aware of the AI paradoxes and associated deskilling) and control groups, examined the impact of awareness intervention on reducing AI overdependence.

Findings:

The study signals a rising overreliance on AI, contributing to deskilling in key areas like writing, idea generation, critical thinking, research, and problem-solving which underscores the AI overdependence-induced deskilling (prevalence of innovation and expertise paradox). Many students fall into the meta-cognitive illusion, misattributing AI content as their own. Factors such as socio-economic and demographic background, tech familiarity, perceived AI effectiveness, and academic pressure, peer effect, easy accessibility etc. affect the AI overdependence. However, the study finds that raising awareness of the AI paradox can help reduce overdependence and safeguard essential skills.

Contribution:

This article advocates for the requirement and the ways of integration of specific policies (such as AI paradox awareness) to deal with AI paradoxes-induced de-skilling in the AI governance policies of different countries to address the potential wage inequality in the future and ensure social justice.

Understanding the significance of skills development and its impact on people’s lives is essential for designing effective policies that enhance labour market outcomes. While existing literature has extensively examined how changing skill demands affect workers’ vulnerabilities in high-income economies—particularly in the U.S. (e.g., Autor 2022; Atalay et al. 2020)—there remains limited knowledge about how skill supply and demand have evolved in other regions. This gap is particularly evident in emerging economies, where there is scarce evidence on which skills, or skill bundles, are most strongly associated with better employment and firm outcomes.

This paper seeks to bridge this gap by developing a comparative analysis of skill endowments and their evolution over time. A major challenge in studying skills is the availability of appropriate data. To address this, we leverage a newly constructed framework for measuring skills, enabling a systematic assessment of skill supply and demand across multiple countries. We focus on selected emerging economies with available big data from online job vacancies and applicant profiles.

First, we provide a descriptive overview of skill endowments, separately analysing the demand and supply sides. We categorize skills into 15 subcategories and assess how they are described in job postings and applicant profiles using textual analysis techniques (NLP), including word clouds that visualize the key expressions defining each skill. Second, we conduct a dynamic analysis of the evolution of skill requirements and observed skill supplies over time, utilizing time-series data to track trends across different countries.

To further understand the composition of occupational skill profiles, we construct detailed skills profiles based on applicant data from job boards, exploring whether different groups of workers systematically exhibit distinct skill offerings. We then assess skills gaps across countries where data on both supply and demand is available. Importantly, we examine whether possessing a particular skill mix (supply side) or requiring certain skill combinations (demand side) predicts future skills trends.

Finally, we investigate the relationship between various skills and labour market outcomes, including both wages and non-wage amenities, using big data methods for causal inference. By analysing cognitive, socio-emotional, and manual skills, and their 15 subcategories, we uncover significant variations in returns to skills across different economies. Our findings highlight the importance of tailored skills development policies that address country-specific challenges and opportunities, shedding light on the bundles of skills that enhance workers’ labour market transitions and improve job quality throughout the life cycle.

The world of work is undergoing profound transformations driven by rapid advancements in digital technology. Over the past decades, breakthroughs in digital tools and automation have redefined industries, reshaping labour markets worldwide. In this context, workers' ability to adapt and remain resilient has become increasingly dependent on their skills. However, while prior research has examined the employment effects of digital technologies, most studies focus on developed economies, leaving a critical gap in our understanding of these dynamics in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, the role of skills in shaping labour market outcomes amid digital transformations remains underexplored.

This paper addresses these gaps by providing new empirical evidence on two key dimensions: (i) the impact of exposure to digital technologies on employment across countries at different income levels, and (ii) the role of specific skills in mediating these effects. Our analysis relies on the TechXposure measure developed by Prytkova et al. (2024), which quantifies global exposure to 40 emerging digital technologies. To estimate the causal impact of digital exposure on employment, we employ an instrumental variable shift-share approach, combining industry exposure scores from the TechXposure database with baseline employment shares at the first subnational level. The analysis covers 50 countries, drawing on labour force and household surveys from the ILO microdata repository.

To examine the mediating role of skills, we integrate big data from online job vacancies sourced from a job board in Uruguay. Using a skills taxonomy and empirical approach from Escudero et al. (2024), we construct subregional measures of occupational skills composition. These measures are then interacted with our subregional exposure indicators to assess how specific skills mitigate adverse employment effects or enhance positive outcomes associated with digital transformation.

Our findings provide crucial insights into the heterogeneous labour market impacts of digital exposure across different economic contexts. We find that the effects of digital transformation on employment vary significantly by country income level and pre-existing workforce composition. Moreover, certain skills—such as digital literacy, problem-solving, and adaptability—play a crucial role in buffering against job displacement while enhancing access to emerging job opportunities.

These insights contribute to policy discussions on lifelong learning and workforce development, emphasizing the need for targeted skill-building initiatives. By identifying the skill sets that enable workers to navigate digital disruptions, this research informs strategies for fostering inclusive, adaptive labour markets in an era of rapid technological change.

This research examines differences between women and men in terms of training opportunities and wages over the Covid-19 Pandemic in the UK, using lagged event analysis of longitudinal data (UKHLS). Within this approach, training and wages are viewed through an occupation and gender segregation lens, constraining the notion of individual preference, career commitment or self-selection. Building on research from Luchinskaya & Dickinson, 2019, this theory delineates between non-skills and skills-related functions of training, as well as considering the quality and participation of training to capture more multifaceted and detailed aspects of in-work skills development opportunities (Green et al., 2016). Covid-19 disruptions are grouped into two major forms: (1) employment-status related (furloughed, laid-off and reduced hours workers), and (2) the remote versus key, frontline or essential workers divide. This theory hypothesises that workers in the employment-status group suffered a ‘stagnation’ of skills, and lower wages in the long-term as a result of reduced training opportunities compared to those in regular employment able to work from home. While the second group did not see long-term wages suffer, they received less skills-related training as a result of Pandemic-related pressures. Instead, we test the hypothesis that these key workers undertook more perfunctory or non-skills-related training, mainly due to new health and safety regimes. Finally, compounding effects from existing labour market discrimination, segregation, and Pandemic home-schooling/child-care pressures, accumulate resulting in reduced skills-related training opportunities for women.

The data is treated as repeated cross-sectional individual-level data, from 2017 to 2022. The methodological approach is a quasi-experimental design, in which treatment groups (key workers and furloughed workers), are compared to control groups (those in regular employment and not in the other treatment groups), overtime, comparing pre- and post-Covid. We use firstly linear probability models to assess inequalities in terms of access in to training, and lagged linear models to estimate the long-term effect of training (or lack thereof) on wages.

Our preliminary findings are that there a key differences between key worker men and women in terms of accessing training during the Pandemic, and the long-term impact of skills and non-skills-related training on subsequent wages (scarring effects). Secondly, we also observe that these findings intersect with childcare responsibilities, in which women are more negatively affected than men.

The study adds to research on the 'zone of acceptance' (Marsden,2013) and technological changes (Doellgast&Wagner, 2022) by examining how labour leverage power through conflict to influence the relationship between Industry 4.0 and QWL. We theorize how unions challenge the ‘zone of acceptance’ and redefine its boundaries through the development of the ‘zone of contestation’. Unions voice the workers’ discontent over the impact of technology on the QWL to negotiate on the social effects of the technology decisions. Insights reveal how collective voice arrangements, managerial practices, and product-market configurations shape labour's power to influence the relationship between I4.0 and QWL.

Two research questions guide our research:

1) How do product-driven managerial regimes, institutional settings, and labour's strategic power leveraging influence the development of a 'zone of contestation'?

2) To what extent does the 'zone of contestation' influence the relationships between I4.0 and QWL?

We compare two qualitative cases of truck and two of car-components in Belgium and the Netherlands and conducted 77 semi-structured interviews with unions, businesses, workers in different units and four focus groups.

In truck plants, management depends on flexible manual labour. Unions leverage workers’ discontent with QWL to create a ‘zone of contestation’. How this zone laid the foundation for negotiation differs, depending on union power leverage. Based on the strength of the union-led works council, unions in Bel-truck renegotiated the relationship between I4.0 and QWL by shifting from conflict to negotiation. Conversely, in Dutch-truck, the union renegotiated this relationship by mobilizing against the (non-union) works council for their support of managerial strategy in deploying new technologies.

In car plants, the production of standard car parts enabled high automation, reducing management's reliance on flexible manual labour. Unions leverage workers’ discontent with QWL by creating a ‘zone of contestation.’ At Bel-car, discontent evolved into negotiation enabling labour to influence the relationship between Industry 4.0 and QWL. Similarly, at Dutch-car, unions leveraged worker discontent due to rising flexibility demands. However, works councils withheld their consent to the technology use until unions negotiated a social restructuring plan for EV.

References

Doellgast, V., and Wagner, I. (2022). Collective regulation and the future of work in the digital economy: Insights from comparative employment relations. Industrial Relations Journal, 53(3), 264–280.

Marsden, D. (2013) Individual voice in employment relationships: a comparison under different forms of workplace representation. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society. 52(1), 221-258.

As new technologies are increasingly introduced in occupational environments, transition processes often overlook workers' participation, experience, and working conditions, as well as the short and long-term impact on their lives and careers. This highlights the urgency of implementing actions that regulate these transitions, supporting decision-makers in adopting human-centered processes with the engagement of the voice of workers.

Research is being developed to address this issue as part of a technological transition project in I4.0 implemented in a large international metalworking company. In the project, we aim to understand how workers can be actively involved in technological transitions to ensure that the specificities of their work are recognized and their voice is acknowledged.

Over a year and a half, the research primarily focused on fieldwork, monitoring three technological use cases at different stages of implementation in the company's warehouse and production site. A mixed-methods approach was employed (e.g., on-site observations, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, discussions with the design team), grounded in participatory and co-construction principles, involving the company's digitalization team, leaders, and workers whose tasks or functions were going to be impacted by the technological changes. Through content analysis, materials were produced to reveal workers' technological acceptance and the company's technological journey. Quantitative data is still being collected to assess workers' current working conditions (including health, training, and skills) and the potential conditions needed to support these transitions.

The results reveal that the transition goals primarily focus on systems improvement and resource optimization impacting workers' leeway, overall sense of work, learning, collaboration, and work recognition. However, individual, collective and organizational resources were identified as opportunities to reflect, with potential for action in the transition processes, and to recognize workers’ contributions to a transition that promotes decent and sustainable work.

The research developed an evidence-based and participatory framework with guidelines and instruments that promote reflection on one's work activity, understanding working conditions and potential impacts on health and development. It is expected that this approach can inform stakeholders in making human-centered decisions to incorporate the voice of workers in transition processes. Furthermore, the innovative nature of this research is also related to identifying different resources as contributions to literature development.

This contribution holds significant policy relevance, offering a practical approach towards what should be the first level of strengthening workers’ voice in digital transition processes that contribute to transforming their work activity and career paths.

This study examines how institutional arrangements and political economic structures shape disabled workers' decisions to pursue competitive rather than sheltered employment in South Korea, despite heightened risks of discrimination and occupational injuries. Drawing on life history interviews with 30 disabled workers, this research investigates the complex interplay between structural constraints and worker agency in employment sector choices.

The analysis reveals that disabled workers' participation in competitive employment reflects both systematic institutional pressures and strategic resistance. Sheltered workshops, while ostensibly protective, often perpetuate exploitation through subminimum wages, limited career advancement, and disciplinary practices that reinforce notions of disabled workers as inherently less ‘productive.’ These conditions, combined with welfare policies that create poverty traps, effectively compel workers toward competitive employment sectors. Simultaneously, workers actively pursue normative labor participation as a means of demonstrating ‘productive’ capacity and challenging disability-based labor market segregation. This strategic engagement presents significant challenges: workers must navigate intensive productivity demands while managing impairments, confront systematic discrimination without adequate accommodations, and balance individual economic survival with possibilities for collective action.

The research documents sophisticated resistance strategies developed by disabled workers. These range from individual tactics like strategic disability disclosure and selective accommodation requests to collective actions including labor union participation and disability rights advocacy. Workers demonstrate remarkable agency in negotiating workplace conditions, though these actions necessarily occur within constraints imposed by capitalist labor relations and ableist institutional structures.

This study makes three primary contributions to literature on labor market institutions and worker agency. First, it provides empirical evidence that employment sector choices reflect broader political economic structures rather than individual preferences or capacities. Second, it reveals how current institutional arrangements simultaneously enable and constrain possibilities for worker resistance and collective mobilization. Third, it demonstrates how simplified binary classifications of protected versus competitive employment fail to capture the complex strategies disabled workers employ to navigate labor markets.

These findings suggest the need for fundamental restructuring of labor market institutions. Policy recommendations include: reforming wage structures in sheltered workshops, strengthening enforcement of workplace accommodation requirements, developing institutional mechanisms for collective worker voice, and creating hybrid employment models that combine adequate protections with opportunities for meaningful agency. Such reforms could help reconcile worker protections with possibilities for strategic resistance to ableist labor market structures.

Our special session proposal is dedicated to the presentation of the book project “Social Law 4.0: Update: Innovative Approaches to Ensuring and Financing of Social Protection for Platform Workers in Europe” which is expected to be published by Nomos Publishing House (Germany) in the coming months. This book is a continuation of the book project, that was published in 2021 (Becker, Ulrich/Chesalina, Olga (eds.), Social Law 4.0: New Approaches for Ensuring and Financing Social Security in the Digital Age, Nomos: Baden-Baden 2021).

Social law responses to labour market transformation driven by digitalization and the platform economy remain highly relevant. On the one hand, the specific nature of platform work, which can be characterized by its atypical self-employment status (which is often difficult to determine correctly), low pay, marginal engagements and a high proportion of unpaid work, creates barriers to accessing social security systems for them. On the other hand, new forms of self-employment and platform work in particular, pose different challenges for the financing of social security.

In this context, the overall goal of the update book is to provide insights into changes and new developments since autumn 2020 in the light of how access to social protection is actually achieved and how social protection is, or can be, financed. The book provides a legal comparison of innovations, developments and approaches at national and European level. The three-sectioned book includes six “country reports”, covering Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden and France. The other three chapters shed the light on European social law perspective and recent developments addressing the challenges of platform workers, the challenges for coordinating national social security systems in the EU and the challenges of taxing the digital economy in the EU. The final chapter provides a systematic legal comparison of developments concerning access to social protection and the financing of social protection. It analyses, inter alia, the responsibility of private actors for social protection, i.e. undertakings or platform companies. The chapter concludes with some proposals for future regulation and social policy.

In the proposed special session, we would present the main findings of our book project and discuss this very topical issue.

Introduction: Ensuring decent work for vulnerable workers in remote, low-tier supply chain roles remains a significant regulatory challenge. Although labour laws and corporate policies set standards for protecting disabled workers, their implementation in isolated workplaces often depends on local-level enforcement. This study examines how decent work policies for disabled workers are translated into practice in Indonesia’s remote plantation sector, where enforcement mechanisms are weak, and supervisors become the primary regulators of workplace rights.

Research Questions and Methods: This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of 18 plantation workers with acquired disabilities across seven remote sites operated by a state-owned corporation in Indonesia. The company’s Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) forbids terminating workers due to disability, aligning with Indonesia’s Disability Act and the mandate from The Ministry of State-Owned Enterprise. However, policy effectiveness depends on supervisors, who function as gatekeepers of workplace accommodations and rights enforcement in remote plantations far from the Head Office. This study investigates the extent to which supervisors facilitate or hinder the implementation of decent work policies for disabled workers.

Findings and Discussion: Plantation sites in this study are located in severely isolated areas of Sumatra, where transportation, communication, and oversight are highly limited. The role of supervisors is amplified in these conditions, as they act as first responders during workplace injuries, determine workplace accommodations, and mediate worker reintegration when they return to work.

Supervisors’ roles in enforcing decent work policies vary widely:

• Supportive supervisors: Some supervisors facilitated job modifications, provided career guidance, and motivated workers to cope with their disabilities.

• Obstructive supervisors: Others merely assigned workers to the only available jobs without considering their reduced income and career stagnation. In some cases, supervisors failed to provide accommodations, leaving workers struggling to perform their tasks.

These findings highlight a critical regulatory gap: without structured training and accountability mechanisms, supervisors arbitrarily determine the application of decent work principles in remote worksites. For labour regulations to be effective, policies ensuring disability inclusion and workplace accommodations must be integrated into supervisor training and monitored for compliance in isolated workplaces where corporate oversight is weak.

Child labour is widely studied; however, children working within household enterprises or worksheds at employers' homes remain outside the purview of laws and regulations. These children escape census records and are unaccounted for, given the informal and family-based structure of such work. This research focuses on child labour in India’s handloom sector, particularly in West Bengal, to uncover legal, institutional, and socio-economic barriers to effective labour law enforcement. Despite existing legislations like the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, enforcement gaps and socio-cultural norms perpetuate the use of child labour in allied handloom activities such as spinning, dyeing, and weaving.

The study draws on empirical fieldwork from five districts in West Bengal, revealing that children are often compelled to work due to poverty, lack of quality education, and inadequate financial credit. Regression analysis highlights the significant negative impact of household income and parental education on child labour, while larger family sizes and limited access to social safety nets increase vulnerability. The Child Labour Amendment Bill, 2016, which allows children to work in family enterprises after school hours, has further legitimised this practice, creating enforcement loopholes.

The research identifies declining cooperative societies and ineffective community-based organisations as additional barriers, limiting workers' access to fair wages and social protections. Recommendations include revitalising cooperatives, enhancing education systems, and introducing conditional cash transfers to reduce reliance on child labour. Strengthening collective bargaining and enforcing minimum wage laws are essential to improving work conditions for informal workers in the handloom sector.

Finally, the study emphasises integrating climate justice and labour rights to protect workers in resource-dependent industries. By addressing socio-economic inequalities, enforcing robust legal frameworks, and fostering participatory policymaking, this research proposes a comprehensive roadmap to combat child labour and promote equitable labour standards. The findings offer critical insights for policymakers and stakeholders aiming to ensure decent work in the informal economy.

On September 21, 2022, the Philippine Supreme Court rendered a landmark decision in Ditiangkin et.al. versus Lazada E-Services Philippines Inc. et. Al (G.R. No. 246892). In this case, the complainants filed a case for illegal dismissal when they were no longer given work assignments by Lazada. Lazada argued that it is not liable for illegal dismissal since the complainants were allegedly not employees, but only independent contractors. The Philippine Supreme Court ruled in favor of the and declared that they are regular employees of Lazada.

This paper will examine the impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling on digital workers, focusing on the responses of the digital platforms’ representatives and the riders themselves. It is possible that these digital platforms may have begun to revise their labor practices to align with the Supreme Court ruling.

Through qualitative interviews with riders and digital platform representatives, this study will highlight their observations and lived experiences after the Supreme Court ruling was rendered in 2022.

Research Methodology

The researcher will conduct semi-structured qualitative interviews with a sample of digital workers (riders) from various platforms (e.g., Grab, Foodpanda, etc.) and the representatives from these platforms. This will allow the researcher to understand the personal experiences, perceptions of the riders on the Supreme Court ruling, and any changes they have observed in their working conditions. A set of open-ended questions will be prepared to address the research questions and allow for in-depth discussion. The interviews will be recorded with consent of the interviewees for detailed analysis. Their responses will be analyzed using thematic analysis to identify common themes, patterns, and insights that may emerge from the narratives of the participants. The researcher will also review relevant legal documents, company policy changes, and government regulations that have been enacted after the Supreme Court ruling to help triangulate the findings from the interviews by comparing the riders' experiences with official policies and practices. The researcher will also conduct focus group discussions with groups of riders to facilitate conversation and gather diverse perspectives. This will encourage participants to interact and share insights based on each other's experiences, potentially revealing issues that may not surface in individual interviews.

This study examines occupational safety and health (OSH) risks linked to dynamic pricing models and algorithmic management (AM) in platform work, with a focus on food delivery platforms. It contributes to International Labour Organization (ILO) discussions on safe working environments (ILO, 1981, 2006, 2023) by highlighting how algorithm-driven wage structures and performance incentives impact worker safety, well-being, and risk-taking behaviours.

Drawing on labour economics, OSH frameworks, and regulatory theory, this study positions earnings volatility as an occupational hazard—a dimension largely overlooked in research on AM, compensation structures, and platform work safety (Gregory, 2021; Christie & Ward, 2023; Bérastégui, 2021; Rosenblat & Stark, 2016). While the EU Platform Work Directive focuses on algorithmic transparency and worker classification, it fails to address the OSH risks associated with dynamic pricing (European Commission, 2023). To bridge this gap, the study introduces the “algorithmic risk cycle”, demonstrating how pricing fluctuations incentivise unsafe behaviours, such as speeding, excessive working hours, and skipping rest breaks. This approach broadens the discussion beyond wage fairness and algorithmic surveillance to include direct safety risks.

Informed by Heiland (2022), the study differentiates between shift-based and flexible scheduling models. Research indicates that shift-based workers experience high-intensity workloads during peak hours, exacerbating stress and accident risks (Boniardi et al., 2024; Piasna & Drahokoupil, 2021). Conversely, flexible workers face economic uncertainty, leading them to extend work hours to compensate for earnings instability—resulting in fatigue and increased health risks (Arlinghaus et al., 2019; Pulignano et al., 2021).

The study addresses three critical questions:

1. How do shift-based and flexible scheduling models impact worker OSH?

2. What are the regulatory limitations in addressing OSH risks linked to dynamic pricing and AM?

3. How can labour and OSH policy frameworks be adapted to better protect platform workers?

Using a qualitative approach, the study draws on 30 in-depth interviews with food delivery workers in Serbia, employed by Glovo (shift-based) and Wolt (flexible scheduling). It also includes an analysis of platform policies on wage incentives, risk exposure, and the use of AM in work governance, investigating how algorithmic decision-making structures regulate labour supply and shape OSH risks. Findings indicate that earnings uncertainty sustains high labour supply elasticity, pressuring workers into risky behaviours with minimal insurance protections (Bérastégui, 2021).

To address these risks, the study proposes a regulatory model integrating real-time wage stabilisation, risk-based algorithmic audits, and expanded OSH regulations that recognise earnings volatility as an occupational hazard.

Introduction

Advancements in digital technologies have introduced both opportunities and challenges for the labor market, particularly in shaping work environments. In the same period, the Japanese government initiated labor market reforms under Hatarakikata Kaikaku in 2018, emphasizing the acceptance of flexible work styles and the promotion of side jobs. While these reforms provide greater autonomy, they have also led to an increase in freelance and non-standard employment arrangements. Historically, Japan's occupational health and safety protections have primarily covered employed workers, leaving independent workers with fewer safeguards. This gap raises concerns about whether existing labor policies and social security measures adequately protect all workers, ensuring that no one is left behind.

Research Question

This study explores the relationship between gig work experience and mental health, as well as its implications for social security. Specifically, it investigates whether engaging in gig work is associated with higher psychological distress and reduced access to social protection. This research aligns with Track II (2), examining how digitalization has led to precarious work, invisible labor controls, and the challenges in ensuring adequate worker protections.

Methodology

This study employs an epidemiological approach based on an online survey conducted in March 2023. The survey targeted 3,185 Japanese men and women aged 18–65, collecting data on demographics, employment status, socioeconomic conditions, health, and social security access. Psychological distress was measured using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale-6 (K6).

Employment status was categorized into seven groups: (1) standard workers, (2) non-standard workers, (3) self-employed individuals, (4) standard workers engaged in gig work, (5) non-standard workers engaged in gig work, (6) self-employed individuals engaged in gig work, and (7) full-time gig workers. Participants were also asked about their experience in gig work. Logistic regression analysis was performed using high psychological distress (K6 score >10) as the dependent variable, with propensity score matching applied in the final analysis. Further analysis of social security implications will be reported.

Findings

The results indicate that standard workers with gig work experience exhibited higher psychological distress. Across employment categories, those with gig work experience consistently reported greater distress levels compared to their counterparts without gig work experience. While digitalization has expanded work flexibility and access to multiple jobs, it also introduces new occupational health risks, particularly in roles with invisible work environments with longer working hours. These findings highlight the need for updated occupational health policies and stronger social security measures to protect gig workers.

In recent years, informal workers engaged in platform-based gig work have leveraged social media as part of their labour processes, including for the promotion and negotiation of their services, as well as for organisation and mobilisation purposes. This paper combines insights generated by two qualitative studies to create a thorough understanding of how informal workers are using digital technologies to meet their employment goals. The main research question that the paper aims to answer is: How do informal workers use social media in different parts of their labour processes?

The first study is the author’s doctoral thesis, which used a grounded theory methodology to develop three case studies of protests by platform-based motorcycle taxi drivers in Indonesia between 2018 and 2020. Drawing from evidence from semi-structured interviews, online observations on Facebook and WhatsApp, and document analysis, the research finds that the networked relationships on social media (NRSM) that drivers formed and institutionalised were a formidable reservoir of support for collective action when combined with alliance building.

The second study was conducted by the author during the COVID-19 pandemic, examining how platform-based motorcycle taxi drivers and domestic workers in Indonesia accessed work through social media when platforms were not allowed to operate. Data from semi-structured interviews and online observations on Twitter (now X) and a digital public directory were analysed using a coding procedure that was largely based on grounded theory. The research finds that workers were dependent on networked relationships to promote their services and establish their reputations, with reviews, referrals, and engagement on platforms facilitating these trust-based interactions.

The two studies contribute to the dearth of literature on how informal workers are using the internet for their labour processes. They also introduce the lens of informality to the study of platform workers in developing countries. Theoretically, each research contributes by 1) theorising NRSM of informal workers as an institutional arrangement centred around the idea of social ties for the purposes of organisation and mobilisation and 2) extending NRSM to understand how informal workers use social media to establish trust and credibility for their economic activities.

The paper aims to challenge the platform-centric perspective of gig work by demonstrating that informal workers have the capacity to create alternative institutions and exercise their agency. However, while social media allowed for short-term successes, these networks were transient and lacked the structural power to transform precarity into sustained work opportunities and long-term mobilisation.

The landscape of employment is experiencing significant transformations due to digitalization, globalization, and the emergence of new job formats. In India, a substantial 93% of the workforce is engaged in the informal economy, with transport workers making up a notable portion of this demographic. Estimates indicate that over 20 million transport workers in India operate within the informal sector, including those in conventional transport roles (such as auto rickshaw and taxi drivers) and gig economy workers (such as drivers for Ola, Uber, and Rapido). These workers encounter numerous challenges, including low wages, job instability, and inadequate social protections. Although the 2020 Code on Social Security aims to extend protections to gig workers, the current institutional framework is insufficient to address their needs.

This paper examines whether India requires a holistic "mobility package," similar to the European Union's approach, to safeguard transport workers and other informal sector employees. It delves into how labor and social protections can be extended to informal workers, especially considering the proliferation of platform work and other new forms of informal employment. The study also assesses the role of multi-stakeholder negotiations, the effectiveness of the 2020 Code on Social Security, and the institutional reforms necessary to aid the transition of informal workers, including transport workers, into the formal economy.

Utilizing a qualitative methodology, the research incorporates case studies and interviews with key stakeholders, such as transport workers, union leaders (e.g., All India Gig Workers Union), policymakers, and platform representatives. The study evaluates the obstacles in implementing the 2020 Code, its potential to benefit gig workers, and how collective bargaining can enhance the position of informal workers in the transport sector.

The findings indicate that while the 2020 Code signifies progress, its implementation is hindered by bureaucratic delays and weak enforcement mechanisms. However, instances like the Kolkata Taxi Association's successful negotiations for improved fares and working conditions demonstrate the potential of multi-stakeholder bargaining to enhance the working conditions of transport workers. These findings emphasize that labor market institutions must adapt to effectively protect informal workers amid digitalization and the rise of platform work. This paper contributes to the discussion on labor market institutions by advocating for a mobility package tailored to India’s informal transport workers. It argues that inclusive, adaptable labor institutions, backed by robust enforcement mechanisms, are crucial for ensuring decent work and facilitating the transition of informal workers, particularly transport workers, into the formal economy.

Business Ready (B-READY) (2024-) marks the World Bank’s return to the quantification and comparison of labour laws in the wake of its discredited Doing Business project (World Bank 2024). Grounded in a set of indicators that purport to measure and compare the business environments of countries across the world, B-READY is a new and significant driver of the international and domestic debates on labour regulation. The project has restored Labor as a fully-integrated component and the Bank intends to use the index to advocate for domestic reforms – “showing how and by how much each economy lags in international good practice” (World Bank 2024a, p xxii) – while simultaneously discouraging “a ‘race to the bottom’ or simplistic solutions that were the unintended by-product of Doing Business” (ibid, Foreword, p xi)).

The RDW Network emerged from research efforts to respond to Doing Business. Network members had forcefully criticised the conceptual and methodological foundations of the Doing Business project (Berg and Cazes 2008, Lee and McCann 2008, Lee, McCann and Torm 2008, Deakin 2011) and RDW was founded on the conviction that interdisciplinary and international research is vital to properly understand the impacts of labour law regimes (Lee and McCann 2011).

This Special Session, then, is an opportunity for RDW2025 to host the first interdisciplinary research/policy dialogue on Business Ready. The panellists are key policy-makers –from the ILO’s Employment Policy and Conditions of Work and Equality Departments and Bureau for Workers’ Activities - and leading labour law scholars whose work has tracked the World Bank’s engagement with labour regulation and both evaluated and designed labour law indices. The Session responds to the Call for Abstracts’ observation that Business Ready “is sparking renewed concerns about the risks of quantification and comparison of labour law”. The Session also advances the Conference’s broader focus on the effectiveness of labour rights and on political barriers to labour law reform in developing countries. The Session will reflect upon the significance, limitations and future of the Business Ready project, including its likely effects on the ILO, the domestic implementation of ILSs, and policy discourses on effective labour regulation.

Contrary to the more widely studied transportation or delivery platforms that seem to reproduce the same organization logic around the world (together with job insecurity and precariousness), digital labour platforms of domestic and care work can adopt very different business models. Studies on the subject are beginning to clearly outline this heterogeneity as it implies very different labour conditions for workers. In a sector which is still struggling worldwide to overcome significant deficits in terms of decent work and where informality prevails, the appearance of new intermediaries with potential for expansion should be carefully assessed.

Some of the more frequently described cases described by literature include:

a) “Uberised” platforms, which contribute to maintaining precarisation and/or may represent an obstacle to policies which seek to improve workers’ situation. They offer short-hours, and very often, occasional services from workers who, despite being subject to intensive algorithmic control, are treated as independent (and are usually informal).;

b) Platforms that exhibit a strong control of workers through algorithmic management but which hire them directly as their own employees;

c) Digital intermediaries that limit their task to connecting the needs of those who require services with those who are willing to provide it (which may or may not provide services to employers in order to facilitate the formalisation of workers);

d) Cooperatives of workers which incorporate algorithmic management or other digital tools to conduct their activities.

This variety has profound implications in terms of the types of labour relationships established with workers and, therefore, in the labour conditions attached. To add more complexity to the picture, it is not infrequent to find different business and employment models, and thus dissimilar labour contracts and working conditions coexisting within the same platform. Undoubtedly, this diversity implies very different experiences, perceptions and demands among the workers involved, as well as important challenges when it comes to the design of regulatory policies aimed at these new forms of digital intermediation in the sector.

This panel, based on case studies which analyse different business models in Europe and Latin America, focuses on how domestic and care workers’ labour situation varies significantly depending on the way in which these intermediaries operate.

Unlawful underpayment of employees is a persistent and urgent problem both in Australia and internationally. It harms underpaid workers, undermines compliant employers, depletes payroll revenue and threatens the integrity of labour laws. Nation states seeking to curb underpayment face an enormous challenge given limited resources of labour inspectorates and increasing complexity of labour markets. Traditional top-down state enforcement has had limited success, with government agencies struggling to increase compliance motivations and reshape institutional efficacy.

Australia’s labour inspectorate, the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) recently initiated an innovative approach to tackling the enforcement challenge by collaborating with business and worker representatives via a tripartite model.

Tripartism is supported by theories of regulatory best practice, such as by Elinor Ostrom, which suggest that harnessing the unique resources of influential non-state actors in public-private partnerships is superior to markets or state regulation alone. Enrolling the distinctive resources of industrial actors, and other third parties, can supplant and/or supplement state efforts to motivate and maintain compliance with laws.

However, to realise these benefits, collaborative compliance and enforcement activities must overcome a set of risks and challenges, particularly in tripartite initiatives, when the state is seeking consensus among multiple actors. These challenges include: conflicting interests, adversarial histories, low trust, power asymmetries, and regulatory capture. In this context, the state’s convening and facilitative role is key to parties achieving sufficient alignment for collective action at three levels – the enterprise, the sector, and the system as a whole.

Introducing and advancing tripartite forums is a form of ‘institutional work’ in which parties shape the institutions within which they reside. Viewed through this lens, parties have agency to shape the ‘rules of the game.’ Our research builds on the tripartism literature and offers empirical analysis of the FWO’s initiative, focusing on the extent and conditions in which tripartism can effectively foster a culture of increased compliance with labour laws.

In addressing this topic, we present data from over 45 interviews, field observation of tripartite meetings, and results from a national stakeholder mapping survey of parties directly involved in the tripartite initiative.

The Philippines ratified ILO Convention 81 (C81) or the Convention Concerning Labour Inspection in Industry and Commerce in 2024 and is designing a national labor inspection law that aligns and is consistent with the international regulatory standards stipulated in ILO C81. This paper seeks to contribute to the formulation of legislative content and coverage of the national labor inspection law by examining the deficiencies of the current labor inspectorate system and recommending policy reforms. The study conducts Focus Group Discussions and key informant interviews with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) directors and labor inspectors, the labor and employer groups, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and informal sector associations to draw insights on the challenges in enforcing labor, social security and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) standards. Initial results show that the current Philippine labor inspection system is beset with the following challenges: (a) weak enforcement capacity with only 8.4% of total establishments in 2021 inspected by DOLE labor inspectors (Patinio, 2021); (b) misclassification of labor inspectors as contractual workers rather than Department of Labor and Employment employees, and given additional tasks not related to labor inspection; c) the lack of significant impact of the Labor Law Compliance System (LLCS) that encourages self-regulation and voluntary compliance through a joint tripartite-based assessment amidst high risk of regulatory capture, low union membership that comprise less than 9% of Filipino salaried workers or 5% of the total Filipino workforce; (d) The large majority of employees in non-organized establishments are less likely to report OSH and labor standard violations for fear of reprisal and retaliation from their employers; (e) Sanctions for violations against labor and OSH standards were deemed to be too low to effectively dissuade and deter employers from non-compliance, particularly for medium-sized and large enterprises that may perceive the cost of full compliance to be much higher than the penalty for regulatory infringement; and (f) the absence of practical labor inspection mechanism for micro and small enterprises which comprise the majority of Philippine enterprises and whose workers are the more likely to suffer from exploitation and discrimination, low wages, and poor working conditions and who stand to gain the most from effective enforcement of labor laws.

The transformations of work and the weakening of trade unions call for a rethink of labour market regulation. In response to these challenges, labour inspections have experimented with different enforcement strategies through internal services restructuring, the diversification and combination of approaches to workplace monitoring, and the cooperation with partners such as trade unions.

Co-enforcement with unions and workers is a key strategy for enhancing the effectiveness of labour inspection by leveraging their expertise and direct knowledge of workplace conditions. This takes various forms, such as joint inspections involving inspectors, unions, and workers, or “inspector-delegates” elected by workers that can carry out enforcement functions. These models empower workers to participate actively in monitoring their working conditions and encourage controls through complaints filed by workers, enhancing trust and the willingness to denounce employer abuses.

The Joint Company Inspection (IPE) in Geneva is a significant example of “union-initiated co-enforcement”. The IPE is composed of an equal number of inspectors from unions and employer associations and its delegates have prerogatives similar to those of state inspectors. Why and how did this form of co-enforcement emerge in the Swiss context, known for its fragmented labour inspection system and historically limited union participation in labour market control? What are the advantages and limitations of IPE for labour market regulation?

Based on semi-structured interviews with IPE managers and key informants across the Swiss labour inspection system, as well on an analysis of grey literature, this paper explores the socio-economic and political conditions that enabled the emergence of this form of co-enforcement of labour standards. We first examine the global challenges of labour inspection and introduce co-enforcement, emphasising the role unions can play in it. It then analyses the fragmented Swiss labour inspection system, before exploring the creation of IPE and discussing its interaction with other enforcement bodies in the promotion of labour standards. By examining the dynamics between unions, employer associations, and inspection, the study contributes to academic and political discussions on the innovative forms of labour market regulation.

Labour informality refers to a complex, structural, multidimensional, heterogeneous, dynamic and difficult to understand phenomenon. However, in the last two decades important efforts have been made to advance in its conceptual clarification, operationalization and quantification. These efforts have borne fruit, especially in Latin America, where various institutions have developed an ambitious agenda aimed at analysing this issue.

Our interest in this paper is to analyse the evolution of labour informality in Latin America, and in the main countries that comprise it, in the period between the turn of the century and the present; to analyse the labour formalization policies implemented, such as those developed by the ILO in the last decade (FORLAC) and the one projected for the period 2024-2030 FORLAC 2.0; and to investigate the new forms of informality that appear in the current context linked to the platform and GIG economy.

For our task, data from the ILO are used, from the indicators estimated from its modelling [https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/#], as well as taking as sources the data on informality offered by the national statistical institutes of the different Latin American countries and compiled by the ILO.

Based on the analysis of the data, we question whether labour informality in Latin America has historically had a greater impact on women, as some of the literature has repeatedly argued (e.g. ILO), or whether its evolution depends mainly and almost exclusively on economic growth, without taking into account considerations such as the implementation of social, economic and labour policies explicitly designed to reduce informality and promote labour formalization. The perspective we highlight is in line with the diagnosis and new guidelines set by FORLAC 2.0, which is based on the development of an integrated framework of labour formalization policies composed of 4 types of interventions: 1) productive development policies; 2) employment and skills development policies; 3) social protection policies; and 4) policies for the recognition and enforcement of labour rights and incentives for labour formalization. In this regard, we offer an analysis of the cases of Brazil and Mexico, which, with similar economic growth rates over the last two decades (2 tenths of a percentage point higher on average in the case of Brazil), have a radically divergent evolution of labour informality.

Introduction and literature

Recent literature has explored how cities around the world have experimented with alternative economic models that attempt to move beyond the narrow goals of GDP growth and competition for inward investment (Crisp et al., 2023). Inclusive growth, Community Wealth Building and the Foundational Economy all represent efforts to promote more sustainable approaches to local development and economic upgrading. Such approaches also seek to address underlying issues of inequality and exclusion through ‘decent work’ experiments such as the living wage, improved social protection, and strengthened mechanisms of worker representation (Johnson and Herman, 2024). These experiments link with a growing recognition of the importance of localised policy reforms in promoting the SDGs particularly SDG8 (decent work and sustainable growth), and SDG11 (sustainable cities and communities) (ILO, 2015; OECD, 2017).

Methods and data

Through a comparative study of diverse cities around the world, we explore the distinct ‘motives and means’ of local experimentation and critically reflect on how alternative economic and labour market models are framed within national and local institutional frameworks (Gough, 2014). We also analyse the potential implications of these models for the quantity and quality of work within foundational sectors such as care, retail, transport and hospitality. Our analysis draws on semi-structured interviews with elite and non-elite actors, along with secondary sources such as policy reports, official documents, published statistics, and media coverage.

Findings and contributions

We find that many cities have attempted to combine transformational policies aimed at expanding and upgrading foundational industries, with more incremental approaches that seek to upskill the workforce and distribute existing job opportunities more evenly. These policies rely on a combination of voluntary negotiation with employers and other social actors to improve job quality, as well as more institutionalised rules that seek to protect decent minimum standards. This piecemeal approach reflects the practical difficulties of tackling entrenched labour market issues at the local level, as well as the fragile coalitions of social actors that have a stake in promoting decent work. Nevertheless, in the ‘interstices’ of municipal policy making, which have widened in many cities after COVID-19, we find dynamic examples of experimentation that seek to improve pay and working conditions and build worker voice from the bottom-up.

This study explores the intersection between decent work and meaningful work in four different work contexts in Portugal: domestic workers, musicians, construction workers and workers on digital platforms. The main objective is to understand how working conditions and social perceptions influence the experience of decent work and meaningful work in sectors with different challenges. The research aims to answer the following questions: (1) How do workers in different sectors perceive distinctive work and meaningful work? (2) What contextual factors facilitate or hinder the coexistence of these two dimensions? (3) What are the similarities and differences between the sectors studied? The evidence-based methodology involves a qualitative analysis using semi-structured interviews to capture the subjective experiences of workers. Forty interviews were conducted (10 per sector), with questions about working conditions, employment relationships, security, recognition, and goal setting. The data were analyzed using a thematic approach, which allowed for the identification of patterns and specificities across sectors. The results indicate that decent work and meaningful work do not always coexist. In the case of domestic work, workers value emotional closeness to their families but are confronted with informal working conditions and social vulnerability. In the case of musicians, the work is often perceived as very meaningful because of the creative expression, although economic insecurity detracts from the dignity of the work. In the construction industry, the completion of concrete projects gives meaning to work, but security issues and low wages limit the perception of dignity. Finally, workers on digital platforms value autonomy, but the lack of stability and social benefits reduces overall satisfaction. This study contributes to the literature by combining the concepts of decent work and meaningful work in different work contexts, highlighting the importance of contextual and structural factors. The voices underscore the need for public policies and organizational interventions that address inequalities in the workplace while promoting dignity and meaning at work. Furthermore, the study paves the way for future studies investigating the relationship between these dimensions in other sectors and cultural contexts.

INTRODUCTION

As per the Prison Statistics of India the current population of prisoners is 573, 220 and 75.8% are undertrials (most of them are in confinement for more than one year). Undertrial prisoners can opt to work in prisons whereas convict prisoners with rigorous imprisonment have to work. Incarceration impacts earnings, contribution to family finances, breeds idleness and jeopardizes future employment. The major challenge in this regard is -how to convert punitive labor into rehabilitative? Key challenges are- marginal involvement of undertrial prisoners in prison labor as it is optional; no uniform categorization of prisoners into- skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled prisoners; interstate variations in the payment of wages; disguised employment; insufficient labour opportunities inside prisons; budget allocation across states is not uniform; labour is confined to sustaining prison life - cooking, cleaning, gardening and fails to prepare the prisoners for post release decent employment; idleness exacerbates mental health issues among prisoners; may breed recidivism. The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, Rules 96-103 deals with various aspects of labor in prisons for the holistic development, rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Whether prison labour can be equated with general labour ?​

Whether the existing labour laws can be applied with regards to prison labour ?

Whether incentivized labour as per the skill and educational background of undertrial prisoners can be successfully introduced in India?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Qualitative and quantitative research, primary data shall be collected from prison management staff across India. Secondary data from government reports, analysis of legal framework, regulatory institutions, judicial responses, interstate comparative analysis on work inside prisons, model prison manuals and recommendations of All India Jail Manual Committee.

CONTRIBUTION TO LITERATURE

Pave way for comprehensive reforms in prison industry, jail branding of products, usage of online sale platforms, involvement of prison labour for environment friendly production, boasting agriculture, making jails self-sufficient through prison industry. Robust aftercare to reintroduce prison labour into industrial/manufacturing units as a part of aftercare program post release.

FINDINGS

Manufacturing in the prisons can be undertaken on the basis of availability of raw material, local demand for the products, compulsory purchase of the jail manufactured products by govt. offices and institutions, engagement of private companies under Corporate Social Responsibility to upgrade prison labour, Skill building and literacy programs.

Researchers from many academic disciplines have developed and employed various typologies and models to explain difference in industrial relations systems in different countries as well as tried to explain the development of industrial relations systems using those models. Furthermore, the relevance of those typologies and models were also dominated by ‘standard’ (macroeconomic) models and indicators of ‘performance’ and ‘importance’ (e.g. Hall and Soskice, 2001; Gould et al., 2015; Kim et al., 2015). In this work we are augmented this approach by including further indicators that are including an environmental as well as social component to these models and typologies, i.e. develop a more human-centred typology. Furthermore, we are augmenting existing theoretical and empirical discussions by widening the analysis to countries which have not received a lot of attention in literature, i.e. to countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Methodologically, in this paper, we are using the study by Eurofound (2018) as starting point but critically examine the Eurofound’s (2018) normative model of industrial relations in EU countries. More particularly we use OECD data to explore latent dimensions to go beyond the Euro-centric model’s existing analytical dimensions (industrial democracy, industrial competitiveness, quality of work and employment, environmental characteristics) in a global setting. We outline the processes used to develop the model in this manner, as well as their subsequent ‘testing’ at a global level using contemporary cluster analysis methods that integrate both quantitative and qualitative information and data. In particular, we rely on and integrate qualitative interview material from different regions to deepen knowledge on the area under investigation, and indicate avenues for future inquiry.

References

Eurofound. (2018). Mapping varieties of industrial relations: Eurofound’s analytical framework applied. 29 January, https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/report/2018/mapping-varieties-of-industrial-relations-eurofounds-analytical-framework-applied#:~:text=It%20identifies%20four%20key%20dimensions,their%20national%20industrial%20relations%20system

Gould, A., Barry, M. and Wilkinson, A. (2015). Varieties of Capitalism Revisited: Current Debates and Possible Directions. Relations Industrielles-Industrial Relations, 70(4): 587-602.

Hall, P. and D. Soskice. (2001). Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kim, D.-O., Kim, Y.-H., Voos, P., Suzuki, H. & Y. D. Kim. (2015). “Evaluating Industrial Relations Systems of OECD Countries from 1993 to 2005: a Two-dimensional Approach”, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 53(4): 645–663.

Introduction:

Nearly 61% of the employed population, predominantly from the Global South, work in the informal sector. The current economic system, driven by technological advancements, is reshaping the world of work. However, this system is based on social contracts that historically excluded key economic actors. These policies primarily cater to formal sector workers, neglecting the needs of those in informal employment. A human-rights-based just transition approach is essential to ensure decent work for informal workers. The social and solidarity economy (SSE) offers an alternative framework to address socio-economic and environmental issues often overlooked by governments and corporations. Social and Solidarity Economic Organizations (SSEOs) play a vital role in advancing the SDGs, particularly in promoting decent work for the informal sector. Despite their importance, limited studies have explored the role of SSEOs in ensuring decent work in general and social dialogue in particular. Keeping this gap in context, the present study seeks to answer the research questions: “What role the SSEOs from the global south are playing in ensuring social dialogue?” and “Are these examples replicable?”

Methodology:

The study utilizes an evidence-based multiple-case study approach to achieve its objectives. It focuses on examining initiatives undertaken by four SSEOs [Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WEIGO), Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), Streetnet and Federation of Informal Workers of Nigeria (FIWON)], providing a comprehensive analysis of their role in fostering social dialogue and promoting decent work for informal workers.

Findings:

The findings suggest that these SSEOs play a pivotal role in enhancing social dialogue and promoting social justice for informal workers. StreetNet Alliance, as a global network, connects various associations focused on fostering social dialogue for informal workers. WIEGO has successfully influenced policymakers to address the concerns of informal workers in new social contracts and labour laws. Additionally, FIWON and SEWA play pivotal roles in facilitating worker-employer negotiations, information sharing, consultations, and leadership in social dialogue, paving the way toward achieving decent work for informal workers. The findings of the study underscore the high replicability of these best practices in other economies.

Contribution:

The findings of the study will highlight the successful examples of social dialogues initiated by SSEOs for the informal workers which can be replicated in other economies to ensure decent work and social justice.

The Argentine Association of Workers of Communications (AATRAC), which represents workers in the national postal service (Correo Argentino) and public radio (Radio Nacional), is confronting significant threats in an era of socio-political and economic shifts in Argentina during 2024. This study explores the evolution of AATRAC and its metropolitan branch in BUenos Aires, TelecomB, and examines their strategies for defending labour rights and protecting livelihoods against a series of structural interventions, including privatisation and austerity measures combined with new technology's impact. Specifically, the research examines how these changes have reshaped union strategies, membership dynamics and working conditions.

The analysis looks at how AATRAC-TelecomB is responding to challenges like deregulated inmarket, and competition from international delivery and e-commerce companies like Amazon. During 2024, AATRAC successfully campaigned against the privatisation of Correo Argentino and Radio Nacional, but the union is still losing members rapidly, with a 30% workforce reduction last year.

Using a selection of multi-method approach, this research integrates qualitative and quantitative data. Semi-structured interviews with union leaders, workers and labour policy experts, combined with ethnographic and participatory methods, provide a nuanced understanding of union strategies and socio-cultural relations. Archival research and quantitative analysis of union membership trends, benefits and working conditions contextualise the wider impact of political and economic reforms in perspective.

The findings of this study contribute to the extant literature on trade union studies in three different ways. Firstly, they highlight the agency and adaptive capacity of sectoral unions, such as AATRAC-TelecomB, in the context of the high-speed implementation of neoliberal reforms. Secondly, they emphasise the centrality of women's participation in union structures as a critical factor in addressing unprecedented challenges bravely and effectively. Thirdly, the study demonstrates the importance of grassroots organising, political education, and alliance building as tools for sustaining trade union influence under a specific combination of adverse conditions.

Under the far-right government of Javier Milei, aggressive market liberalisation has intensified downsizing and reliance on private courier services, threatening the Public Postal and National Radio system's essential role in electoral processes and equitable access to communications, particularly in underserved regions.

The findings of our research reveal the fundamental necessity for unions to continually adapt to changing political and economic contexts, balancing the immediate needs of members with long-term strategic goals. This study provides important insights into the resilience of trade unions in fragile democracies and the implications for labour movements in neoliberal contexts worldwide.

Informal work is characterized by no job security, minimal social protection and irregular wages. Workers are often left with limited bargaining capacity and work under precarious conditions. According to ILO, 90% of the India’s workforce is engaged in informal work. The advent of technology, particularly the platformization of work, has further compounded inequalities between formal and informal work, as digital intermediaries often leave no space for worker engagement. It is in response to this gap, in several parts of the country, worker organizations, unions and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) have played an instrumental role in mobilising and addressing concerns of workers, and advocating for their rights and legal protections. Organizations are increasingly leveraging innovative technological solutions to incrementally improve the working conditions and contractual terms for informal workers.

This paper examines digital platforms co-produced by worker organizations and private entities. We are focusing specifically on three initiatives; LabourLine, Sampatti Card and Jugalbandi, to explore their potential in improving the working conditions for informal workers. LabourLine, is a national helpline, powered by an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), to provide free legal support and mediation services to informal sector workers, particularly migrants. The platform addresses issues such as wage theft and labour rights violations. Sampatti is a platform which is co-created with a domestic workers’ organization in Karnataka. The platform facilitates issuance of digital employment records and salary records to strengthen domestic workers' financial and legal standing. The platform generates employment contracts and salary records using whatsapp, a predominant instant messaging app in India, for domestic workers, which proves instrumental in providing them access to critical financial services. Lastly, Jugalbandi is an AI-driven platform working with multiple NGOs to enhance access to legal information and facilitating access to social protection systems.

Our methodology includes qualitative interviews with platform developers, union representatives, employers, and workers who have engaged with these platforms. This comprehensive approach enables an assessment of these platforms' effectiveness in supporting labour rights while identifying their limitations.

The study underscores the potential of digital platforms to empower informal workers and reshape power dynamics, advancing discussions on labour welfare with the active participation of worker organizations. The findings aim to inform policymakers, platform developers, and labour organizations about possibilities for leveraging technology in the informal economy, which could bring improvements in social and economic protections for informal workers.

Over the last 15 years, Korea has witnessed the rise of a range of local, urban-level initiatives oriented towards social dialogue, job improvement, and job creation such as the Seoul Labour Policy, Gwangju Job Project, and Kunsan-style win-win job creation agreements, among several others. This paper argues that these initiatives can be understood as novel forms of democratic experimentalism with the potential to address the need for job creation and improved job quality although there were also limits and unevenness to how urban-level social dialogues have unfolded.

Seoul, as a foundational case for the ILO’s initiative at decent work city, was driven by the governor’s charismatic leadership and philosophy in formulating and implementing labor-friendly policies, which achieved enormous dynamics to stabilize the employment regime under the city’s boundary. The Gwangju Job Project was an initiative by local union groups, which were more oriented to solidarity, participatory, and moderate style of interest representation, substantially played a role in drawing new investment and creating jobs in the automobile sector in Gwangju, which was a benchmark of the Auto5000 initiative by Volkswagen in Germany. Kunsan model of job creation was led by civil society leaders united to labor unions to draw new investments in battery cars after the shutdown of General Motors factor and quite elaborately systematized the mechanisms of local social dialogue, which however did not achieve great success in rooting the new investors in the local context.

All of these initiatives can be seen as democratic experimentalism, which were local joint endeavors at improving jobs conditions in terms of quantity and quality and show how democracy can play a role in vitalizing and reforming local economy. As an auxiliary governance mechanism, social dialogue mattered here in all cases although its strength and performance differed. This paper tries to explain the common achievements of the cases as well as their different performances, which can lead us to understand more deeply the possibilities and dilemmas of urban social dialogues as a means for inclusive labor policies. The variance between these different initiatives can be grasped in the nature of participation within them, and, in particular, the manner in which labor, civil society, and other public interests have been mobilized for support.

In Industry 4.0, digital transformation (DT) and societal shifts have transformed telework over the past 50 years into working from home (WFH) (López-Igual & Rodríguez-Modroño, 2020). Industry 5.0 builds on Industry 4.0, expanding digital technology with the Internet of Things and ethical Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Peter, 2024). This ‘fifth industrial revolution’ promotes human-machine symbiosis (Pizoń & Gola, 2023), driving the transition toward ‘Society 5.0,’ where automation reduces working hours and enhances employee well-being.

Our research focuses on communication affordances in WFH settings within micro and small enterprises (MSEs; 4–49 employees), which constitute 70% of the global workforce (ILO, 2019) and over 98% of all businesses in Switzerland (FSO, 2020), significantly contributing to the economies. Hence, we examine the question: How can communication affordances used for WFH be leveraged from Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 (including AI) to strengthen the Swiss MSE labour market institutions and meet the demands in the employment context?

Over a four-year longitudinal study (2020–2023), we surveyed 2,015 Managing Directors (MDs) of Swiss MSEs regarding their adoption of digital communication tools reflecting Industry 4.0’s DT. In 2024, we conducted an additional survey of 526 MSE MDs, focusing on cybersecurity and AI adoption in response to Industry 5.0.

Inferential statistical analyses show a significant increase in digital communication tools, particularly online conferencing and collaboration platforms, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We also observed a rise in WFH opportunities in MSEs across various industries. Moreover, 6% of Switzerland’s micro/small firms already use AI applications to enhance efficiency and innovation. A case study of an AI-powered customer support chatbot in a small enterprise will illustrate this adoption. Additionally, the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report (WEF, 2025) projects a rapid expansion of AI applications, emphasising the need for businesses and employees to develop AI-related skills.

Our study discusses the implications of Industry 5.0 for Swiss MSE employment and offers recommendations to strengthen labour market institutions. Given MSEs’ limited resources, policymakers should accelerate remote work policies and provide standardised digital policy templates and training programs to help MSEs transition into the digital age. Business leaders and employees must acquire digital skills to align with technology roadmaps and collaborate effectively. Senior management should establish ethical digital strategies and evaluate AI adoption to foster organisational trust. This will boost employee engagement and workplace quality, making organisations more resilient, competitive and well-positioned in the evolving landscape of ‘Society 5.0’.

The traditional concept of the “workplace” has long been associated with a fixed, physical location—often the employer’s premises. However, globalization and digitalization have redefined the nature of work, making this notion increasingly obsolete. The rise of transnational remote work raises fundamental legal questions regarding the identification of the “place of service provision” and the determination of the applicable labor law.

This research explores the challenges of applying the Rome I Regulation to employment contracts executed via the internet. The core question is whether the “usual place of work” in remote work scenarios should be interpreted as the worker’s physical location, the employer’s headquarters, or an alternative criterion. Given the absence of a specific European standard, the study examines legal precedents, doctrinal positions, and decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) related to cross-border employment.

The methodology involves a legal analysis of labor regulations governing remote work, examining their impact on determination of applicable national law. Additionally, the research incorporates doctrinal perspectives on the delocalized nature of digital labor and the regulatory gaps within current labor frameworks

Findings suggest that classifying the physical location of the remote worker as the “place of service provision” may lead to legal uncertainty, inequality among employees, and challenges for multinational companies. The study argues that, given the dislocation of work performed via Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), a more coherent approach would be to apply the labor law of the employer’s headsquare country, as per Article 8(3) of the Rome I Regulation. This interpretation balances legal predictability with the protection of workers’ rights, avoiding excessive fragmentation of labor standards in the digital economy.

This research contributes to the literature by highlighting the urgent need for legislative adaptation to address the complexities of transnational remote work. It underscores the necessity of harmonizing labor regulations to ensure fair and enforceable working conditions, regardless of geographical location.

This paper investigates whether remote work influences part-time employment in Italy, a country where female under-employment significantly contributes to gender earnings inequality. According to 2018 data, Italian women earn on average 43% less than men, with part-time employment being a key driver of this gap (Eurostat, European Commission, 2024). Feminist economics literature has extensively explored the determinants of low female employment, emphasizing the role of childcare, family, and home care responsibilities in limiting women’s labor market participation (Folbre, 2012; Thévenon, 2013; Aloe, 2023). While part-time work has historically enabled women to balance paid employment with family life (Buddelmeyer et al., 2004; OECD, 2011), it often entails lower earnings, career stagnation, and financial insecurity in old age (Adabbo, 2020; OECD, 2010, 2012).

Given that many women in Italy opt for part-time work due to necessity rather than choice, the rise of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic offers a potential alternative for work-family balance. Before the pandemic, remote work was primarily seen as a family-friendly arrangement with negative career trade-offs (Goldin and Katz, 2011). However, its large-scale adoption during the pandemic normalized its use, reducing the stigma and career penalties traditionally associated with flexibility (Barrero et al., 2021; Harrington and Kahn, 2023). The ability to work remotely allows individuals to handle family responsibilities without reducing their working hours, potentially decreasing reliance on part-time employment.

Using panel and cross-sectional data from the National Institute for Public Policies Analysis’ (INAPP) Participation, Labour, and Unemployment Survey (PLUS) for the period 2018–2021, we employ a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) framework to estimate the causal impact of remote work on part-time employment. By comparing individuals who worked remotely with those who worked on-site, we capture both immediate and lagged effects of remote work on employment status.

Our findings indicate that remote work significantly reduces part-time employment in the following year, suggesting that workers adjust their employment status after an initial trial period. This result underscores remote work’s potential to mitigate work-family conflicts and promote full-time employment among necessity-driven part-time workers. Given Italy’s low labor force participation and demographic challenges, expanding access to remote work could serve as a key policy tool for improving gender equality and labor market efficiency (Pissarides et al., 2005; OECD, 2017). Future research should explore long-term career effects of remote work, particularly for women balancing employment with caregiving responsibilities.

To protect workers' rights and promote safe and healthy working conditions, labour regulation must be appropriately enforced. This requires enforcement strategies which are both within the capacity of the regulatory agency to utilise, and which are able to achieve the desire regulatory outcome.

Theories of responsive regulation suggest that the regulatory agency should select the appropriate enforcement strategy. Braithwaite conceptualised enforcement strategies as a pyramid, with frequently used strategies (being less coercive, less interventionist, and cheaper) at the bottom with more coercive and expensive strategies higher up the pyramid. Bottom layer strategies could include information interventions such as the capacity to propagate "advice, information and persuasion".

There has, however, been little exploration as to when, why and how regulatory bodies with multiple regulatory strategies at their disposal utilise information interventions or evaluate their impact. Therefore, we know little about how information interventions are being used to move beyond the paradigm of "good idea, no impact".

This knowledge gap becomes more acute when we consider the importance of information interventions to regulatory agencies which lack a full complement of regulatory powers, such as Australia's Equality Commissions. Australia's Equality Commissions are unified by their legislatively stated goal to minimise prohibited discrimination, and the fact they can use a truncated pyramid of enforcement strategies which does not extend to coercion, punishment or sanction.

This paper will introduce current empirical research (HR ETHICS 2024-27851-49715-3 University of Melbourne) exploring the following research questions:

1. How have equality commissions in Australia used information interventions; and

2. If, and how, they have evaluated information interventions used.

The research consists of a mixed methods qualitative study, generating survey and interview data from each of Australia's Equality Commissions. This novel data about the use of information interventions by Australia's Equality Commissions will be analysed to shed light on how information interventions can be utilised in achieving effective and impactful regulation. Particular focus will be placed on the use of information interventions when limited regulatory strategies are available, or resourcing or other imperatives dictate primary use of cost-effective strategies.

This research examines the emotional exhaustion faced by Brazilian labour inspectors, highlighting their pivotal role as human rights defenders in combating modern slavery. Drawing on my decade of field experience and original research, the study identifies four primary stressors impacting inspectors: field inspections, post-rescue responsibilities, resource deprivation, and relentless on-call demands. Resource deprivation emerged as the most significant source of emotional strain, despite Brazil's international acclaim for its anti-slavery efforts. The findings reveal that while inspectors’ commitment has remained steadfast for nearly thirty years, their work is persistently undermined by political indifference, fluctuating government support, and structural challenges across administrations of varying political ideologies.

A key insight from this study is the emotional toll of the post-rescue phase, during which inspectors often exceed their formal duties to secure victims' well-being. The Labour Inspection Convention (C.81) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) grants them significant autonomy—crucial for addressing labour rights violations and confronting powerful economic interests. This independence fosters a deep alignment with the needs of vulnerable workers rather than their government employer, further cementing their dual identity as public servants and human rights defenders.

The study situates labour inspectors' experiences within Brazil’s thirty-year struggle against modern slavery, initiated with the formation of the Special Mobile Inspection Group (GEFM). Despite global recognition of Brazil’s anti-slavery model, political clashes have persisted, largely due to the economic influence and lobbying power of the industries targeted by inspections. These tensions often translate into direct threats against inspectors or covert political pressure on the Ministry of Labour, undermining enforcement efforts despite ILO protections. The high-stakes nature of inspections, particularly when confronting employers aware of severe penalties such as trade restrictions or blacklisting from public loans, further compounds inspectors’ emotional burden.

This research addresses a critical gap in the literature by exploring the intersection of grassroots activism, human rights advocacy, and emotional exhaustion among anti-slavery practitioners. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study draws from quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews with experienced labour inspectors to examine the complex interplay of stressors and their cumulative impact. The findings underscore the paradox of Brazil’s anti-slavery efforts: celebrated globally as a best-practice model, yet sustained through the emotional resilience of inspectors operating under chronic resource constraints and political pressures. Ultimately, this study calls for comprehensive support systems and policy reforms to safeguard inspectors' well-being, ensuring the sustainability of Brazil’s globally lauded anti-slavery initiatives.

Drastic reforms have transformed the Greek labor-market since 2010. Along with vast unemployment and erosion of wage bargaining, they arguably have changed the landscape of worker contracts and enlarged the number of flexible workers along with temporary contacts, unpaid and/or non-declared working hours, and dismissals. In this paper, we utilize EU-LFS microdata from 2010 to 2020 to answer the following two questions: has the number of flexible and informal workers really grown through the process of labor-law reforms? And are their working conditions and earnings significantly different? We find that indeed the labor-market reforms have given rise to an increase in flexible and informal work. Then we test whether the two-sector theory is corroborated by the Greek labor-market, or whether it could be better described with the so-called lighthouse effect on minimum wage to earnings of informal workers along with formal workers. We consider informal labor and test it with Difference-in-Difference analysis and Kernel Density approaches to see whether the rise in the minimum wage that happened in 2019 had negative or positive effects on the employment and earnings of the informal workers. The results indicate that the pro-labor movements have indeed given rise to a lighthouse effect.

In 2006, the International Labour Organization promulgated the Maritime Labour Convention, which clarified the rights and obligations of ratifying countries and seafarers. However, there exists a room for institutional arbitrage—if a country's shipowner association signs a collective agreement with the seafarers' union, port state inspections will only examine the compliance of the collective agreement, rather than the individual contracts. The "Chinese Seafarers' Collective Agreement" emerged in this context. This paper aims to examine whether the "Chinese Seafarers' Collective Agreement" of 2022-2023 has improved the working conditions of Chinese seafarers. Using a difference-in-differences approach, the paper analyzes 130394 inspection results from the 2020-2024 "Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Asia-Pacific Region." The empirical results show that the signing of collective agreements significantly reduces the proportion of labor-related deficiencies in port state inspections and lowers the frequency of deficiencies in labor clauses related to shipboard conditions, while having no significant effect on facility-related labor clauses. Mechanism analysis shows that the effect of collective agreements on improving labor conditions diminishes when inspections are conducted in the ports of contracting states. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the signing of collective agreements has a more positive effect on labor conditions for flag-of-convenience ships and privately owned vessels. These results suggest that the enforcement of international conventions is non-compulsory, and in practice, sovereign states tend to implement flexible enforcement, engaging in institutional arbitrage. The protection of international seafarer labor standards and working conditions remains an issue that requires further improvement.

Amidst employment crisis in India, platform-based work is emerging as a major source of employment. ILO (2024) citing Online Labour Index 2020 notes, India has the highest share of platform workers in the world, amongst top 15 countries (considering major online platforms). Indeed, surveys reveal that compared to traditional sectors, location-based platform workers receive better pay; although these may be higher returns for taking greater risks (completing pre-determined trips/deliveries during peak hours to obtain bonus). Nonetheless, studies reveal that they are stressed due to long hours, pressure to drive quickly, inability to take break/logout for the fear of slowdown in work offers and account deactivation. This adds to the risk of work-related injury and has major implications for occupational health and safety. Furthermore, most of them do not have social security coverage.

In this context, Indian government under Social Security Code 2020 proposed to formulate schemes to extend life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, old age protection, among others – to platform workers. However, it notably missed crucial areas of concern, namely, PF, gratuity and paid sick leave. Given this broad framework, until now two sub-national governments – Rajasthan (largest state in the country) and Karnataka (a southern state) – formulated legislations for location-based platform workers.

In light of the prominent problems highlighted by location-based platform workers, we discuss them in some details covering: unfair ‘contracts of adhesion’ governing every aspect of work process; problem of non-transparent algorithm; opaque grievance redressal and dispute resolution procedure; non-recognition of platform workers as employees and associated denial of benefits, among others. After identifying the areas of concern, we then analyse the sub-national legislations/bills closely to understand – how they suggest to address the specific problems identified above. Next, we indicate potential areas where amendments can bring in improvements (breaking data monopolies of platforms; collective user right over community data by creating Public data infrastructure; using aggregate data in collective bargaining; ‘human-in-command’ approach to ensure fairness and end discrimination; access to ‘source code’ of algorithm; allowing class actions in dispute resolution; scrapping ‘third party clause’ in disputes; promoting social dialogue and collective bargaining). Finally, international regulatory developments are reviewed along with examining their impact – in order to, understand reasons behind successes and draw lessons from failures, so as to improve the life location-based platform workers.

TThe economic revolution ushered in across the globe because of factors like rising urbanization and extensive use of smartphones and related technologies, which have given rise to a new form of work called gig labor. With the youngest population in the world, and gig workers sized up to 7.7 million in 2021-22, India is at the forefront of this structural change.

However, the existing legal framework in India (federal and provincial) does not address the problems and rights of those who are employed outside of traditional employer-employee relationships. Legal reforms enacted in the recent past have not been implemented owing to resistance from various quarters, rising business costs, inconsistent application to various sectors, etc. There is, thus, a need to examine the legal mechanisms and economic, social, and cultural barriers in the enactment and implementation of laws for protecting the basic rights of millions of people in the platform-based gig economy.

Research Questions

1. To what extent do existing labor codes protect the basic rights of platform-based gig workers?

2. What are the legal, institutional, social, and cultural challenges in implementing labor reforms in India relating to platform-based gig workers to ensure minimum wages, social security benefits, and decent work conditions?

3. How to ensure coordination among the Union and States while providing efficacious rights to platform-based gig workers, avoiding overlap of policy and law, given the fact that employment, social security, and social insurance are concurrent subjects under the Constitution of India?

Contribution

The research shall contribute to providing a strong basis for a policy framework regarding the entitlements of the platform-based gig workers.

Methodology

The study will use a combination of doctrinal and empirical methods of research. In-depth interviews shall be conducted using a structured interview schedule to collect quantitative and qualitative data from workers and employers to gain insight into the problems, challenges, and legal impediments in the enactment and implementation of basic rights of the platform-based gig workers.

Likely Findings

1. Keeping in view the high magnitude of persons employed in this sector, there is a strong need for regulating gig work in India.

2. There are systemic and structural challenges in implementing the Social Security Code, 2020, and the state enactments regarding platform-based gig workers.

3. There is a need for coordination and cooperation among the Union and States, keeping in view potential overlap between Union and State laws and policies regarding platform-based gig workers.

Globally, the growing prominence and control by major platforms has raised concerns. First, there is a platform dependency creating a power imbalance with “data colonialism” (Couldry & Mejias, 2019) and “limited liability” (Gillespie, 2010). Second, the problem of unequal value creation (Mazzucato, 2018). And third, there is an emerging global underclass where platforms thrive on a precarious and often invisible workforce that performs low-skilled gig and platform work (Graham & Woodcock, 2018), and even high-skilled piecework, or “ghost work” (Gray & Suri, 2019) usually earning less than the legal minimum wage without any social security benefits (ILO, 2021). However, as part of a broader global counter-movement, India, along with several countries in the Global South, is challenging the dominance of major platforms, emerging as competitors and reclaiming significant portions of their respective digital economies.

In Bengaluru, the so-called Silicon Valley of India, Mobi (pseudonym), a local ride-hailing mobility app has introduced an alternative commercial model built on SaaS protocol where (1) The initial demand for such an app came from the community of union drivers as a response against the unfair labour practices of platform giants like Uber and Ola; (2) Mobi charges zero commission unlike its competitors that charge commission of 20-30% for each ride from the app-based drivers; (3) Mobi operates on the “open” principle i.e. open-source code, open-data policy, OpenStreetMaps (OSM) and Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a Government of India initiative that seeks to decentralise platform monopolies and provide equitable market access to small and local players.

I conducted technography (tech + ethnography) in Mobi from July 2023 to March 2024 that involved participant observation, and interviews across the tech company including, the founder, CEO, CFO and software developers. Interviews were also conducted with 30+ app-based drivers along with three union leaders, government officials and civil society members ensuring perspectives across the stakeholders.

This article aims to explore “Protocol as policy” adopted in response to global platform giants amidst diverse social settings and labour practices to promote more equitable livelihood outcomes. This article will discuss the modalities of this institutional innovation, policy strategies and way forward. The research demonstrates new synergies in the platform ecosystem led by public-private partnership challenging the big players in the market. It is part of the wider movement to achieve digital sovereignty, and retain greater control over data, economy, and technological infrastructure.

Introduction: We study the procedural justice perception of Indian on-demand platform workers in a context where—the asymmetries of information and power prevail, platform worker identities oscillate between being a ‘micro-entrepreneur’ and/or ‘worker’, algorithmic management styles prevent face-to-face interactions, and workers work in a silo.

Research Questions: What is procedural Justice at work for the on-demand platform workers? How are such procedural justice perceptions formed for on-demand platform workers?

Methodology: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is employed to understand on-demand platform workers’ expectations, lived experiences, and procedural justice at work perceptions. 41 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted across three distinct industries- Cab Driving, Food delivery and Hyperlocal grocery delivery. The data was triangulated from multiple sources, including- newspaper articles, work agreements (contracts), social media posts from Facebook groups, and photos from the field.

Findings and Contribution: The identities of both a worker and an entrepreneur coexist simultaneously within an on-demand platform worker, with each contributing to the perceptions of justice. We find that freedom of voice and freedom of choice emerges as two crucial procedural justice elements, i.e., the ability to voice opinions and choose one’s desired outcomes alongside the procedures facilitating the achievement of such outcomes. We extend our theorizing by borrowing arguments from Greenberg and Folger (1983) and the work done in social justice research by Sen (2009), Carter (1995), and Rawls (1971) and integrate it with the organizational justice literature.

The workers work in silos, and their voices are often silenced due to the abundant supply of labour and the severe consequences of collectivizing. Replaceability came as one of the strongest themes suppressing voice. They find solidarity and often voice (sometimes anonymously) through social-media platforms. Findings reveal how the freedom to choose ‘outcomes’ and the ‘means’ of achieving such outcomes stem from the micro-entrepreneurial identity assumed by the worker. Similar to entrepreneurs, these workers seek to select and optimize their desired outcomes, determining the ways to achieve those goals. Recognizing the dynamic nature of contemporary work, we argue that this entrepreneurial identity may extend beyond platform work, establishing "freedom of choice" as a pivotal construct in the perception of procedural justice across various forms of employment. We thus find that freedom of voice and choice, along with proper explanations of decisions, accuracy of procedures, correctability mechanisms, consistent application of rules, representativeness and ethicality in practices, are important elements in the perceptions of procedural justice amongst workers.

Introduction

India's consolidation of 29 labor laws into four Labor Codes represents a watershed moment in addressing platform work regulation, particularly through the Code on Social Security 2020's unprecedented recognition of gig workers. In a global context where jurisdictions like the UK and Germany have established legal precedents for gig workers' rights, India's legislative transformation raises critical questions about implementation in the world's third-largest gig economy, employing over 7.7 million workers and projected to reach 23.5 million by 2029-30.

Research Questions:

1. How do India's new Labor Codes address the fundamental tensions between platform business models and worker protections?

2. What systemic barriers impede the effective implementation of these regulatory provisions, particularly regarding worker classification and social security coverage?

Methodology

The study employs a comprehensive policy analysis framework combining systematic legal analysis of all four Labor Codes, with particular focus on the Social Security Code 2020 and its implementing regulations. Our analysis examines recent legislative developments including the Rajasthan Platform-based Gig Workers Bill 2023 and evaluates landmark cases such as Blinkit workers' strikes and IFAT litigation to understand emerging jurisprudence on worker classification. We conduct comparative analysis of regulatory approaches and successful implementation models from Global South economies (Thailand, Malaysia) alongside developed jurisdictions (UK, Germany). Implementation gaps are assessed through analysis of court decisions, government documents, and stakeholder consultations, complemented by evaluation of registration mechanisms, social security frameworks, and collective bargaining provisions across digital platform ecosystems. Case studies of worker collective actions and platform responses provide empirical grounding for understanding regulatory effectiveness and compliance challenges in the Indian context.

Contribution to Literature

This research advances platform work regulation scholarship by providing a systematic analysis of implementation challenges in developing economy contexts. It develops an analytical framework for assessing regulatory effectiveness that considers the unique constraints of emerging economies, contributing to both theoretical understanding and practical policy development.

Findings

Our analysis reveals four critical implementation challenges: (1) ambiguous worker classification creating overlapping categories between unorganized, gig, and platform workers; (2) inadequate funding mechanisms and benefit delivery systems; (3) limited registration and documentation frameworks for informal workers; and (4) absence of collective bargaining rights and union formation provisions. These findings highlight the need for statutory affirmation of gig workers' rights beyond social security benefits and development of clear implementation frameworks tailored to developing economy contexts.

The ILO Departments on Conditions of Work and Equality and International Labour Standards propose the organisation of a special session on "Normative Frameworks for Social Justice" under the auspices of the Global Coalition for Social Justice and its thematic priorities on inequalities and human rights/labour rights.

The session will bring together renowned academics and senior policy makers to explore the economic impact of normative frameworks that protect workers rights as human rights, promote non-discrimination and opportunities for decent work, establish frameworks for social dialogue, reduce inequalities, and promote social justice. The session seeks to understand how, and under what conditions, labour standards and labour regulation promote inclusive economic development and ensures a fair distribution of the fruits of economic progress.

A productive starting point for this discussion is to consider what is the economy meant to address and how labour policies influence labour markets. How can economic, social, and regulatory policies vis-à-vis the labour market contribute to development and increased well-being in developing countries? This would require re-conceptualizing economic and social progress, based on the key role of the world of work, providing a deeper understanding of the relationship between economic growth, human wellbeing, human rights, reduction in inequalities, and sustainable development.

The session will include the following panellists:

- Nada Al-Nashif, Deputy High Commissioner, UN-OHCHR

- Manuela Tomei, ADG for Governance, Rights and Dialogue

- Radhika Balakrishnan, Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University and faculty director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University

- Simon Deakin, Professor of Law and Director, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge

The panel will follow an interactive model with a facilitator guiding the discussion. The two senior policy makers will launch the discussion by presenting their political vision. This will then be discussed by the remaining panel members, followed by an interactive exchange with the participants.

The OHCHR senior representative will present the Human Rights Economy, a transformative approach to economic policy rooted in human rights, equality, and environmental sustainability. The HR Economy seeks to address the growing global challenges of poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation by centering economic systems around the protection and fulfilment of human rights, prioritizing economic, social, and cultural rights, aligned with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and other international instruments aiming to ensure that economic policies, trade agreements, and business practices are guided by human rights principles that address systemic inequalities and discrimination.

The ILO senior representative will emphasize the complementarities between ILO’s normative framework and development outcomes, given the primacy of the world of work in discourses on development. These normative frameworks underline the Global Coalition for social justice which seeks to advance social justice by promoting workers’ protection and rights, job opportunities and social protection, reduction and prevention of inequalities and social dialogue. Moreover, the ILO representative will draw on the findings contained in the forthcoming State of Social Justice Report as well as ILO policy research to illustrate the importance of labour standards and rights-based frameworks to promote developmental outcomes in the context of significant inequalities and divides in the world of work.

Professor Radhika Balakrishnan will participate remotely in order to present findings from a study commissioned by the ILO which examines … “what is the economy for”, particularly in the current times of uncertainty and inequalities. She will speak to the normative foundations of economic policies, what are the criteria we use to judge if economic policies are working, and in this context delve into the links between macroeconomic policies and labour policies.

Professor Simon Deakin will present on the Impact of Labour Laws on the Labour Share of National Income, Productivity, Unemployment and Employment. He will be drawing on the initial results of research based on the extension of the CBR Labour Regulation Index (CBR-LRI) to include changes in labour laws around the world over the last decade. The presentation will focus on the evolution of worker protection through labour laws and their effects on productivity. He will deliberate on the need to redress asymmetries of information and resources between labour and capital, and the role of labour laws to help overcome barriers to coordination and promote cooperation.

At the close, the facilitator will summarize the key messages from the event.

Research on platform work has largely focused on algorithmic management in delivery and ride-hailing. This article shifts attention to care platforms to deepen empirical and theoretical understanding of how they employ nuanced forms of control. Building on the ‘conceptions of control’ (Fligstein 2001), we theorize the 'digital moral economy' of care by examining how care and domestic platforms create the perception of a legitimate 'digital market.' Specifically, we analyse how platforms deploy normative frameworks and discursive strategies to construct a 'digital moral economy' of care. We argue that these frameworks morally justify algorithmic management as a legitimate means of facilitating economically driven transactions. By doing so, platforms perpetuate the 'care crisis,' normalizing a form of casualized care and domestic work that remains detached from broader social support systems.

The study asks two key questions: how does AI-based algorithmic management intersect with existing welfare structures and actors in care? How do workers experience the provision of their care and domestic services through platforms?

The empirical investigation is based upon a total of sixty-five interviews conducted between Summer 2020 and Spring 2023. Our study included 56 narrative interviews with workers performing a variety of care and domestic services through two platforms (Helpper, Ring Twice) in Belgium and two platforms (Aide au Top/Top Help, Yoopies) in France, four interviews with platforms’ management and unions in the care sector, and five interviews with managers of non-profit organisations which support a variety of people, including disabled, in need of care services in both countries. We do not compare workers–platform relations across countries but within the country of origin of the platform to guarantee consistency between the operations of the platform and the welfare system.

The analysis challenges the view that care platforms control workers solely through technology. Instead, the 'digital moral economy’ of care explains how platforms use normative frameworks to exert control through moral justifications aimed at legitimizing and normalizing technology-mediated transactions. Justifications stem from values and norms that shape access to welfare. In Belgium, platforms are a ‘gift’ offering flexible, tax-exempted, free-services, where citizens are unaccustomed to such provisions. In France, platforms enhance transactions as ‘digital encounters’ within a welfare context more attuned to such services. Platforms thus address the ‘care crisis’ by legitimizing technologically-embedded transactions while normalizing socially-dis-embedded casual care, domestic work.

This paper aims to map the platformisation of female-dominated cleaning and care activities in French-speaking Switzerland, and examine the structuring role of digital intermediaries on the organisation and value of work. At a time when most countries in the Global North are characterised by population ageing, the implementation of neoliberal and austerity cuts in public services since 2008 (Schwiter et al., 2018) has increased pressure on social care systems (Dowling, 2021), compounding the broader crisis of social reproduction (Fraser, 2016). These tensions favour the commodification and externalisation of domestic tasks (Huws, 2019), and the platformisation of domestic and care activities is an expression of these trends. Over the last decade, digital labour platforms have emerged in the domestic and care sectors (Ticona & Mateescu, 2018), disrupting traditional employment relationships (Schwaab, 2021), but their impacts on working conditions are still debated in the literature. Recent research has questioned whether platforms are likely to affect work in an already highly precarious sector. While it is acknowledged that platforms tend to reproduce the fragilisation characterising non-standard employment (Strüver & Bauriedl, 2022), some aspects of platforms may contribute to the formalisation of work relationships (Ticona & Mateescu, 2018), although under the form of a “selective formalisation” (van Doorn, 2020). Overall, we still know little about how digital platforms shape working conditions in these female-dominated activities and how this may happen differently depending on the types of platforms and across contexts. This paper aims to shed light on this under-researched topic, by exploring the development of digital labour platforms in this sector in French-speaking Switzerland. This country constitutes an interesting case of study, characterised by a complex, multi-level regulatory framework. The paper uses a mixed methods approach combining digital methods (Rogers, 2019) to obtain data from 31 platforms, which are examined quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings show an important heterogeneity in platform characteristics and different levels of platformisation according to the kind of activities platforms operate in: multi-activity, cleaning, care, cleaning and care combined. A “transactional" intermediation model replicates the traditional informal labour market in the multi-sector (and in a more emergent way in care activities). An "organisational" model, with a more structuring role from the platform, is more common in cleaning and favours a contractual relationship at the expense of task fragmentation. Regardless of the sector, our findings show that platformisation continues to reproduce and reshape the social and monetary devaluation characterising these activities.

Over the last decade, there has been substantial growth in digital platform-mediated work in the domestic care work sector. Yet despite a growing interest on the impact on care work, the decent work implications remain relatively under-researched. Examinations of decent work in the gig economy have typically concentrated on transport and delivery platforms (e.g. Uber or Deliveroo) where gigs are characteristically one-off, intermediated by the platform app, and involve relatively limited client interaction (Healy & Pekarek, 2024). In contrast platform-mediated care work involves intimate client interactions (McDonald et al., 2021; Ticona & Mateescu, 2018) and as we know from research in the care economy, domestic care work is complex, relational and multi-varied, comprising of different types of private work arrangements shaped by relationships between multiple parties (ILO, 2018; Macdonald, 2021; MacLeavy, 2021). There has been limited exploration of the various types of gig work arising from intermediary care platforms to inform our understanding of working conditions, workers’ rights and interests and subsequently opportunities for decent work (Khan et al., 2023).

In this paper, we systematically examine the organization of platform-mediated care work arrangements by interrogating the perspectives of critical actors – care-workers, care-platforms and care-seekers/platform clients. We propose an empirically informed typology of care work ‘gigs’ and consider the associated decent work implications.

Our data comprised 65 interviews with care-workers and care-seekers using digital platforms and an analysis of websites and features of the14 digital intermediary platforms offering care services in Australia. Our findings demonstrated how the intersecting motivations and interactions between these actors produce three distinct categories of heterogenous care work arrangements. The typology reflects the varying temporal and relational aspects of care work and challenges pre-conceptions of what constitutes a ‘gig’, raising new questions about the role of platforms and platform clients in supporting longer-term work arrangements. Adopting the pillars of decent work as an analytical heuristic we discuss how the typology identified from the data impacts the conditions of work, reshapes the boundaries of social protection, workers’ rights and interests.

The insights from this paper highlight how the relationships between workers, platforms and clients shape working conditions in platform-mediated care work in differential ways according to the type or nature of the gig. This understanding is critical to informing policy regulating care work in the gig economy. This paper also advances knowledge on the disruptive impact of new technologies on decent work in the care economy.

Abstract

Domestic work, a significant yet undervalued sector of the informal economy, encompasses 75.6 million of workers globally, including an official estimated 4.75 million in India, however the real numbers may range till 50 million. This sector is characterized by precarious employment, low wages, unsafe working conditions, and absence of legal protections. Despite their critical role in supporting households and economies, domestic workers (‘DWs’) remain excluded from the major labour laws. This research addresses the urgent need to institutionalize the domestic work sector by transitioning it into a regulated framework aligned with the principles of decent work and social protection, as envisioned by the International Labour Organization.

Research Questions

1. What legal and policy measures are necessary to extend labour rights to DWs in India?

2. What are the barriers to formalizing domestic work, and how can these be overcome to ensure social and economic security?

Methodology

The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining doctrinal research with empirical data collected from Siliguri, India. Primary data from 100 DWs, 100 employers and Regional Labour Department is analyzed to recognize socio-economic constraints, legal gaps, and discriminatory practices faced by DWs. The qualitative component includes interviews and focus group discussions with DWs, employers, Labour Department of Government and stakeholders from NGOs.

Contribution to Literature

This research contributes to the discourse on labour rights in informal employment by integrating empirical insights with theoretical frameworks, including the capability approach and substantive equality principles. It critically examines the inadequacies in India's labour legislation and compares best practices from countries like South Africa, Brazil, and the Philippines that have successfully regulated domestic work.

Findings

The study highlights a persistent power imbalance between employers and DWs, driven by socio-economic disparities and legal exclusions. Findings reveal that 70% of DWs earn less than ₹6,000 per month, with 87% lacking health or social security benefits. Furthermore, no workers have formal written contracts, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and forced labour conditions. The research underscores the need for a dedicated domestic workers’ legislation including mandatory contracts, minimum wage regulations, and access to social security.

By advocating for the institutionalization of the domestic work sector, this study provides actionable policy recommendations to facilitate the transition of DWs from informal employment to a regulated and equitable formal economy in line with the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011.

This study investigates the restructuring of labor relations amid technological advancement, platformization, and global inequality. It argues that the conventional wage-centered labor paradigm and the assumption of self-sufficient individuals are inadequate to explain emerging labor market dynamics shaped by automation and AI. Central to this analysis is the structural invisibility of unpaid domestic labor—primarily performed by women—which remains excluded from national accounting systems and formal labor policies.

Employing the Labor-Employment Independence Model (LEIM), the study conceptualizes unpaid care work as an alternative labor market with measurable economic value. Using time-use data and opportunity cost analysis, the model estimates this labor’s contribution to GDP and offers a normative framework for policy design. Case studies from Turkey and Libya reveal gender-based disparities in labor allocation and underscore the implications of recognizing unpaid care work for labor equality, human rights, and inclusive development.

The paper highlights the contrast between paid care professions and unpaid domestic labor, arguing that the latter's systemic devaluation restricts women's access to social protection, education, and employment. It calls for a rights-based economic model that integrates unpaid labor into formal systems to ensure fairer value distribution and gender-sensitive policy reforms. The study contributes to ongoing debates on labor market transformation in response to demographic shifts and the expanding care economy.

Navigating Employment Challenges: Addressing Work Permits, Contracts, and Poor Working Conditions for Kenyan Migrant Workers in the Arab World

By Samuel Auchi Ngonela

Abstract

Kenya’s high unemployment rate has compelled thousands of citizens to seek employment opportunities in the Arab world, driven by the promise of better livelihoods. However, this migration is fraught with challenges, including difficulties in obtaining work permits, exploitative contracts, and poor working conditions. These obstacles leave migrant workers exposed to economic hardship, human rights abuses, and limited access to justice, undermining the potential benefits of labor migration for workers and their families. This study investigates the systemic gaps in Kenya’s labor migration policies, focusing on bilateral agreements with destination countries and the regulatory frameworks governing labor export. The primary research questions include: How do existing policies and agreements address the challenges faced by Kenyan migrant workers? What roles do recruitment agencies and pre-departure training programs play in mitigating these issues? How can Kenya align its labor migration framework with international labor standards to better protect its workers? Adopting a multidisciplinary methodology, the study combines legal analysis, international labor law, and migration theories. Data collection involves case studies, policy reviews, and interviews with migrant workers, recruitment agents, government officials, and advocacy groups. By integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches, the research provides a nuanced understanding of the socio-economic and psychological impact of labor migration challenges. The findings reveal critical gaps in the enforcement of international labor standards, inefficiencies in recruitment processes, and inadequate support structures for Kenyan migrant workers. Despite the existence of bilateral agreements, their implementation often fails to address the lived realities of workers abroad. Recruitment agencies play a pivotal role but are largely unregulated, leading to exploitative practices. Pre-departure training programs, though beneficial, are inconsistently delivered and lack comprehensive coverage of workers’ rights and coping strategies. This paper contributes to existing literature by highlighting the intersection of migration, labor rights, and economic policy in Kenya. It offers actionable recommendations to enhance the regulation of recruitment agencies, strengthen pre-departure training, and improve the enforcement of bilateral agreements. Ultimately, the study advocates for a sustainable labor migration framework that ensures dignity, fairness, and economic security for Kenyan migrant workers in the Arab world.

Key Words: Kenyan migrant workers, Employment challenges, Work permits, Exploitative contracts, Poor working conditions and Labor migration policies.

Though international migrant workers occupy a wide range of occupations, a report by the International Labour Organization (2021) found that the majority are in the service sector. In emerging Gulf economies like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the rising demand for service work has led to increased reliance on expatriate labor from South Asian and Southeast Asian sending states. In response, the UAE has introduced legislative reforms regulating employee rights and employer relationships. However, the complexities of temporary work arrangements and the kafala system make navigating migration and labor rights challenging for many workers. This is particularly true for overseas Filipino workers, who, despite having rights on paper and state-led initiatives, such as the mandatory pre-departure orientation seminar, are often unaware of their rights.

This mixed-methods study examines how aware Filipino service workers in the United Arab Emirates are of their labor and migration rights, and why this awareness often fails to translate into meaningful redress. While prior research has measured rights awareness, few studies have assessed how the nature of rights information sources shapes levels of knowledge and action. Drawing on original survey data and semi-structured interviews, this study finds that despite exposure to multiple information channels, workers remain poorly informed about many of their core rights. Available sources often emphasize restrictions over entitlements, conditioning workers to view the exercise of their rights as a threat to their employment and legal status. Even when workers are aware of formal recourse procedures, many choose silent endurance, compelled by a high tolerance of abuse, severe power imbalances in the workplace, and a mistrust of systems of redress. These findings suggest that rights education for low-wage migrant workers must move beyond raising awareness, toward building the capacity and confidence to act.

Using the analytical category of right-making/state-making, the aim is to examine how the Indian state of Kerala, a state renowned for its high social development and communist governments, has been protecting labour rights and interstate migrants in particular within the context of the ILO's efforts to promote a human rights-based economy. In response to the increased inflow of interstate migrants in the state, Kerala declares itself a "migrant-friendly" state and implements a number of welfare programs. It is argued that Kerala sees migrants not as a problem, not even part of a problem, but as integral to the larger development process and a model worth replicating for the global south but confronted with financial constraints.

This paper examines the economic and social conditions of interstate migrants in the state at a time when Roy and Raman (2024) describe Kerala as a "miracle state." It is important to know how far the interstate migrants contribute to the process and to what extent their rights are protected since the miracle state has experienced highly impressive economic growth since the turn of the century, with a per capita income that is 50 to 60 percent higher than the national average. The objective is to capture this process by extending the analytical framework of “right making/state making," which I have already explored as a policy intervention (Raman 2021; 2024), a mutually legitimating process. As a reciprocal welfare state, it is equally important to know how much the migrants contribute to this economic growth and what they get in return (Parida and Raman 2022) as a measure of inclusive and human-rights embedded growth through infrastructure projects employing a large number of migrants. Furthermore, I wish to supplement the ILO's normative framework for inclusive growth and social justice with policy mechanisms worth emulating and the policy challenges ahead—especially in terms of migrant-friendly welfare projects—to understand what kind of financial architecture might be developed at the state (social security funds, pension funds, welfare boards, etc.), federal, and international levels based on evidence-based experiences and experiments at the state and regional levels.

The paper would make use of available statistics, including the National Sample Surveys and Periodic Labour Force Surveys, and more importantly, the sector-wise composition of economic growth, nature and size of the migrant population in varying sectors, and budgetary allocations for their welfare benefits.

Labour market orientation in migration policy has often been associated with the commodification of migrant labour and workplace exploitation. In this paper, we argue that employer-centric migration policy can create conditions where exploitation not only becomes endemic but evolves into a tradeable commodity. To make this argument, we examine the transformation of New Zealand’s migration policy, which has led to the systemic exploitation of migrants in workplaces, accommodation and other spheres. Our analysis focuses on the development of temporary labour migration management in New Zealand since the early 2000s, particularly examining how policies have consistently prioritised employer demands for workers. A key consequence of this policy orientation has been growing reports of migrant exploitation, for which policymakers have sought solutions that protect and prioritise employer-centricity. This is especially apparent in the rush to address labour shortages following Covid-19 where a new labour migration scheme was developed based on accrediting employers—the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme—shifting to employer-initiated visas and quantifying employer entitlements to recruit migrants.

Methodologically, we conduct a systematic document analysis of primary sources, including proactively released Cabinet papers and ministerial briefing documents, alongside an analysis of the New Zealand Public Service Commission’s review of the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme. Additionally, we incorporate commentary from key stakeholders, such as the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, to provide broader context. This triangulation of sources allows us to trace policy evolution from multiple institutional perspectives. Our research question asks: "How has New Zealand's employer-centric migration policy framework since the early 2000s contributed to the commodification of migrant labour and shaped the conditions for exploitation?"

The outcome has been the expansion of exploitation from the workplace to a literal trade in precarious workers who experience heightened risk of exploitation. Migration policy has thus constructed a marketplace for exploitation, where migrant lives and their capacity to work and be subject to substandard conditions have become tradeable commodities for employers and intermediaries. Our account, in this regard, offers a critical and cautionary tale about employer-centric migration policy and the ways in which this can facilitate the entrenchment and expansion of exploitation. By providing both theoretical insights and policy critiques, this paper advances scholarly debates on temporary migration schemes, commodification, and precarious work.

The Politics of Unpaid Labour: Sustaining and Valuing Work in a Just Economy

Valeria Pulignano (CESO - KU Leuven) and Uma Rani (ILO Geneva)

Contact e-mail: valeria.pulignano@kuleuven.be

Description of the session:

Philosopher Paul Gomberg (2018: 559) highlights how many individuals endure “unjust harm through their labour,” including inadequate compensation that denies workers a dignified livelihood. In today’s economy featuring the emergence of gig work, remote employment, and multiple and flexible job arrangements, unpaid labour has expanded beyond domestic duties and volunteerism to permeate paid employment, undermining sustainability, eroding workers' rights, and deepening inequality.

Traditionally, unpaid labour has been understood as work performed outside the market, encompassing voluntary or community work and social reproductive work. Scholars have broadened this scope, recognizing unpaid labour as endemic within paid market employment (e.g., ‘wage theft’). Recently, studies have also pointed to unpaid labour to be a systemic issue embedded within neoliberal economic structures. The flexibilization of employment, the fissuring of production systems, and employers' increasing reliance on short-term, on-demand, and insecure contracts contribute to this in-market unpaid labour. What is unpaid labour ?

Unpaid labour is time and effort spent on tasks tied to one’s work but lacking fair compensation. Although the forms and mechanisms may differ, workers often engage in unpaid labour due to employer demands (e.g., long hours, strict control over work time) or career advancement goals (e.g., internships). Thus, unpaid labour functions as a hidden subsidy to employers, compelling workers to extend their working hours without pay to meet deadlines, secure job stability, or comply with workplace norms. Growing job insecurity and unpredictability, driven by capital's recourse to unpaid labour, result in workers losing valuable job features, including pay, benefits, and pensions, and experiencing intensified work strains. Consequently, unpaid labour is a significant dimension of precarious work, inherent to capitalism. Employers utilize unpaid labour as a source of value, extending and intensifying the working day to maximize profits, while workers struggle for fair compensation for their efforts. This value loss significantly impacts workers' social and political lives.

However, with the rise of digital technologies, unpaid labour has extended to online freelance platforms, which contributes to the accumulation of capital among tech giants. In freelance work, workers theoretically might retain some ‘effort power’, which pertains to their autonomy in determining the amount of effort they invest in their work and their choices regarding 'where' and 'to whom' they sell their labour. Although freelancers, aren't typically classified as waged labour, they too perform unpaid labour as observed among traditional freelancers. However, in platform work due to competitive dynamics, there is often a blurred boundary between the two dimensions – work and free time. Unpaid labour is driven by both platform task allocation and performance monitoring and takes different forms such as unpaid tasks for building reputation, searching for tasks, bidding for projects, profile curation, dispute resolution, travelling to perform tasks, and addressing client abuse such as providing unpaid revisions for a higher rating.

This session argues that addressing unpaid labour requires rethinking precarity as a process shaped by structural power imbalances. Neoliberal policies have deregulated employment, weakened unions, and normalized exploitative practices. Tackling these dynamics involves a paradigm shift in how we value and regulate labour. By addressing unpaid labour as a political issue requiring systemic solutions, this session contributes to reimagining an economic model that values humanity, equity, and sustainability over exploitation and growth at any cost.

It will also propose some concrete strategies to address the issue of unpaid labour. First, strengthening multi-level collective bargaining by expanding agreements across sectors to include informal and precarious workers, supported by alliances between trade unions and grassroots organizations. Second, reducing working hours by implementing shorter workweeks with wage protections, enabling workers to balance paid and unpaid responsibilities while creating opportunities for formal employment. Third, enhancing government interventions by subsidizing reduced hours through tax incentives, wage supplements, and investments in public services like childcare and eldercare to alleviate unpaid labour burdens. Fourth, challenging cultural norms by launching educational campaigns to dismantle harmful narratives, such as the myth of the ‘ideal worker’, which legitimizes exploitation and reinforces gendered divisions of labour.

Session Chair: Valeria Pulignano (CESO – KU Leuven)

Session Discussant: Professor Jill Rubery (Manchester Inequality Institute - University of Manchester, UK)

Session Papers:

Damian Grimshaw (King’s College London, UK) The Politics of Unpaid Labour: Sustaining and Valuing Work in a Just Economy

Valeria Pulignano, Milena Franke and Bart Meuleman (CESO – KU Leuven) Economic Sustainability, Unpaid Labour and the Reframing of Employment in the Post-Growth Era

Uma Rani (ILO, Geneva), Valeria Pulignano (CESO – KU Leuven), Nora Gobel (ILO, Geneva), Karol Muszyński (Warsaw University, Poland) Challenging Boundaries: Exploring Pricing Strategies, and Unpaid Labour Time to Explain Earning Disparities in Online Labour Markets

This study examines the emergence of the Lesotho- and Dindigul agreements to eliminate gender-based violence and harassment. Drawing on interviews and fieldwork, the author asks how local worker representatives and international labor stakeholders collaborate to form Enforceable Brand Agreements (EBAs) and their approaches to women worker representation. The analysis reveals two pathways: In the Lesotho agreement, international labor stakeholders identified and organized local unions and collaborated with women's organizations to address gender gaps in male-dominated unions. In the Dindigul agreement, a women-only union with experience in gender issues initiated the alliance with international stakeholders and directly represented women workers. Both cases highlight the role of international NGOs acting as "institutional entrepreneurs" in establishing novel institutional arrangements and the need to address power imbalances between local- and international stakeholders. Thereby, this study responds to calls for analyzing local-global dynamics in EBAs and incorporates a typically underacknowledged gender perspective.

Amid multiple challenges, trade unions have sought to maintain/augment their membership, coverage and power (Visser 2024). Alongside the feminisation of their rank-and-file, many have also promoted gender equality internally (McBride 2020). Outwardly, unions have pursued workplace equality via collective bargaining and other means, such as the endeavours by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and their affiliates (ETUC 2024). However, this outward equality activity has received comparatively limited examination (Williamson and Baird 2014). Little is thus known about unions’ (comparative) workplace-centred gender and intersectional equality advances, or the influences on such.

We ask: i) which equality approaches do unions emphasise in the workplace?; ii) how do they do this?; iii) what is the comparative extent of unions’ equality progress?; iv) what influences this progress?; and v) what ‘lessons’ can unions draw on? The dimensions used to frame this inquiry are those of a new institutional-level equality index (Parker et al. 2024). This study also ‘stress tests’ the index in relation to union equality endeavours.

Evidence was gathered from a survey of senior union women at European and other levels; EU-level documentation; interviews with ETUC Women’s Committee members; and union records. The first research question required qualitative (thematic content) analysis of all materials structured by an equality approach typology (Smith and Stewart 2017), a dimension of the index. Again framed by index dimensions, findings concerning the remaining questions emerged from qualitative thematic and statistical analyses and helped to inform refinements of the index.

Substantive findings include that many unions in Europe adopt gender and, less so, intersectional equality approaches (the first index dimension) to pursue workplace equality, mostly reflecting ‘liberal’ equality ambitions. Survey results indicate that union campaigns, collective bargaining, and social dialogue often yield equality progress. Target areas for change are far-ranging; emphasise gender-based rather than intersectional interests; and concern workplace outcomes and workplace/union processes. However, unions recognise that more progress on workplace equality is vital as challenges (e.g. employer resistance to meaningfully engaging in collective bargaining; extreme right (political actors) gaining ground) escalate.

Methodologically, the index helps to frame, classify, and identify emergent aspects and the significance of union equality endeavours. For assessing workplace equality progress by unions, its dimensions could be extended to reflect union particularities (e.g. their collective bargaining and campaigning functions). It thus helps to pinpoint how unions, alongside other workplace actors, can inform opportunity structures (Pillinger and Wintour 2019) to advance equality.

Introduction

Workplace equality frameworks across Europe have evolved through a combination of legislation, industrial relations mechanisms, and employer-led initiatives. However, these frameworks remain uneven, contested, and selective. Despite differing industrial relations traditions and legal structures, France, the UK, Spain, and the Netherlands share key silences and closures—areas of exclusion and resistance that shape equality outcomes.

Research question

This paper draws on Hyman et al.’s (2012) concept of social regulation to analyse how institutional constraints, trade union strategies, and corporate policies influence workplace equality.

Methodology

Our study is based on over 150 interviews with HR managers, trade union representatives, state officials, NGOs, and third-sector organisations as part of a UK ESRC-funded project.

Contribution and findings

We examine four key dimensions of workplace equality. First, we explore regulatory frameworks and institutional silences. While the UK’s Equality Act (2010) provides a comprehensive framework, enforcement gaps persist. France and Spain prioritise gender equality but lack provisions for race and ethnicity. The Netherlands relies on soft law to regulate migrant workers, reducing legal protections. Second, we analyse the role of trade unions in shaping workplace equality. Historically male-dominated, unions have struggled to integrate equality concerns. In Spain and the Netherlands, collective agreements address flexible work but implementation is uneven. In France, collective bargaining is increasingly managerial, limiting its impact. The UK’s weakened bargaining structures mean employer-led initiatives dominate. Third, we discuss race and migration. European workplace equality policies often marginalise racial discrimination. France and Spain lack ethnic data collection, the UK faces resistance to mandatory ethnic pay gap reporting, and the Netherlands lacks strong enforcement for migrant worker protections. Finally, we examine political and economic constraints. Economic downturns, government policies, and industrial relations traditions shape equality outcomes. France’s social dialogue has become managerial, the UK faces uncertain employment reforms, and Spain and the Netherlands balance state intervention with employer resistance. Our study highlights the silences and closures embedded in industrial relations, employer strategies, and state policies. While legal and collective bargaining mechanisms exist, their effectiveness varies. The rise of soft law and corporate diversity initiatives raises concerns about the erosion of legally binding protections. Our research identifies the need for stronger enforcement mechanisms, inclusive collective bargaining, and intersectional approaches to workplace equality.

References

Hyman, R., Klarsfeld, A., Ng, E. S., & Haq, R. (2012). Introduction: Social regulation of diversity and equality. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 18(4), 279–292.

How did private household workers respond to the pandemic when excluded from state and national occupational health and safety laws? This paper, part of a 6-nation Trans-Atlantic Partnership project, places focus group interviews in the larger context of domestic and care work in the United States, a neo-liberal private-public welfare state that ties benefits to employment status with social assistance that is means-tested and contingent on location. The pandemic brought temporary national relief, but not all states fully availed themselves of such programs, with a few notable exceptions, went only to citizens. I first present a generalized portrait of the conditions before COVID, then discuss the impact of the pandemic, and end with the ways that domestic workers have fought back through collective action, focusing on the worker-led campaign run by the California Domestic Worker Coalition to win Health and Safety for All. Initiated in response to wildfire harms, the campaign took off in March 2020 during the pandemic and had to adapt its organizing strategies for remote lobbying. Over four years, workers decided to shift regulatory demands in the face of opposition by the state’s governor, who rejected regulating the home workplace and vetoes the bill twice before allowing for agency compliance with OSHA, already part of federal rules.

We address three sets of questions: first, how did household workers experience the health and safety challenges of the pandemic? Second, what resources from their own organizations did they rely on to get through lockdowns and loss of employment? Third, what kinds of collective organizing and demands did they attempt to improve working conditions? We turn to a series of focus group interviews with members of worker councils of the National Domestic Worker Alliance conducted in Fall 2023 as part of “Who Cares? Rebuilding care in a post-pandemic world,” led by one of us. We analyze these in light of worker researched studies conducted by the NDWA and others. We then turn to the California case study, with materials gathered through participant observation, written records, campaign materials, interviews, and legislative outcomes.

These findings illuminate the activism of household workers even in a nation that has not ratified C189 but has developed grassroots local and regional organizations. They enhance the interdisciplinary literature on Covid and post-Covid responses (i.e., Triandafyllidou, Migrations and Pandemics, 2022; Guimarães et al, Care and Pandemic, 2025), offering models of informal worker mobilization.

Introduction

How warehouse work is conducted has undergone substantial technological change, including robotics and digital technologies interacting with human labour. Advances in e-commerce tools can control labour tasks, monitor workers, and re-shape labour market institutions and forms of worker participation. Leading organisations in the sector, such as Amazon, have actively resisted unionisation and collective bargaining. What is less clear is what is happening in the many smaller e-commerce fulfilment providers and how small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) re-configure employment due to Amazon’s dominance of the sector.

Research Question

The core research question is ‘to what extent do SME e-commerce fulfilment centres in the UK converge with or diverge from Amazon’s work and employment practices?

Framing and Theory

The research draws on the concept of mimetic isomorphism, which explores how institutions, labour agency, and firms adapt/adopt practices of dominant enterprises. Employment conditions may be replicated to remain competitive, or to meet expectations of other international labour market actors or institutions, by copying the employment arrangements of leading firms. These may include trade unions and/or works councils, but also, potentially, anti- or non-union systems for worker participation. Larger and foreign MNEs often compel local partners to adopt specific standards to maintain contracts, shaping their employment conditions. Additionally, intense competition within product markets often forces domestic firms to prioritise short-term operational efficiency and cost reduction over long-term investments in advanced technologies.

Methods

This data is from interviews across 35 UK-based SME e-commerce and third-party logistics (3PL) fulfilment warehouses. All the cases are matched as competitors with Amazon. The research deploys an ‘expert interview’ methodology with senior actors in 35 fulfilment firms across all parts of the UK (constituting c20% of firms in the sector). Additional qualitative interviews with senior members for (currently) 5 warehouse software solutions firms, who advise on work technologies for firms in the sector, along with 6 interviews from the sectoral employer association. The data is analysed thematically relating to how work, technology and social dialogue is (re)configured in a sector dominated by Amazon.

Analysis and Contribution

The evidence makes a distinctive contribution to the role of institutions and agency in a sector subject to large MNC dominance-effects. Analysis also sheds insight on a diverse interplay of human agency subject not always to digital transformation and control, but the endurance of low-tech workplace experiments.

Trade unions play a crucial role in safeguarding decent working conditions and ensuring employees' voices are heard. However, in Zimbabwe, trade unionism is facing a significant decline, which, if unaddressed, could lead to its extinction. To revitalize trade unionism, particularly in the banking sector, both trade unionists and employees must explore innovative ideas. The sharp decline in trade union membership is closely associated with deteriorating employment conditions. It is believed that reviving trade unionism can help restore dignity in the workplace. This study aims to develop a sustainable framework for trade unionism by drawing on insights from trade unionists and bank employees. To achieve this objective, the researcher examines the root causes behind the decline of trade unionism and explores the evolving roles that trade unions can adopt within the sector. A qualitative methodology has been employed to create a well-informed framework for sustainable trade unionism. The first phase of the research process consisted of face-to-face interviews with members of the Zimbabwe Banks and Allied Workers Union (ZIBAWU) and employees from three participating banks. The interviews reached saturation after the 15th session, at which point no new information was emerging. The second phase focused on conducting focus group discussions to explore and analyze the themes identified during the interviews. Only those themes that were confirmed in the focus group discussions were included in the final framework. Data analysis was conducted in three stages: open coding, selective coding, and axial coding, utilizing NVivo version 15 software. Ethical considerations were paramount throughout the study; informed consent was obtained from participating institutions. The identities of all participants were protected at all times, during and after the investigation. To ensure data trustworthiness, a member-checking process was implemented, where findings were shared with participants for their confirmation prior to publication. The results indicate that factors such as the technological revolution, rising unemployment, economic challenges, and the emergence of new workplace demographics, particularly among Generation Y and Z, are contributing to the decline of trade unionism. The proposed framework emphasizes new roles for trade unions, including the promotion of flexible work arrangements, the use of social media for mobilizing workers, advocating for diversity and inclusion, remaining apolitical, raising mental health awareness, and facilitating reskilling in response to advancements in artificial intelligence and technology. The study recommends that trade unions adopt this framework to remain relevant and effectively promote decent work.

After decades of rising inequality and a growing imbalance in power between employers and employees, calls for workplace democratization and increased worker participation have gained momentum. However, the debate over employee representation remains highly polarized. Critics argue that it creates inefficiencies, deters investment, and diminishes firm performance, leaving all stakeholders worse off. Proponents counter that it fosters infor-

mation sharing, strengthens job security, improves wages, and ultimately enhances firm performance and long-term competitiveness. Empirical evidence on the effects of worker representation, however, remains inconclusive. Existing studies focus on a limited number of countries, primarily Germany and Scandinavian countries, and often rely on simple comparisons that fail to address endogeneity concerns stemming from pre-existing differences between firms with and without employee representation. In this paper, we contribute to this debate by empirically estimating the effects of worker voice institutions

on both job quality and firm performance. We focus on the 2015 introduction of a legal mandate for board-level employee representation in French firms employing at least 1,000 permanent workers for two consecutive years. Using rich linked employer-employee data, we employ two complementary empirical approaches—a difference-in-differences design and a difference-in-discontinuity design—to exploit exogenous variations in the timing and eligibility for the policy. Our findings are mixed but insightful. We observe that board-level employee representation has either negligible or small positive effects on wages and job security. However, we find no evidence of significant changes in labor productivity, profit margins, or capital intensity. Crucially, we do not detect any adverse effects on job quality or firm performance, challenging the critics’ view that such policies harm firms.

This research analyzes the effectiveness of integrating transnational and local bargaining agreements to enhance working conditions and promote environmental sustainability within global value chains. It focuses on the impact of the triple transition – demographic, ecological, and technological – on the labor market, specifically examining the implications of the ecological transition.

The European Green Deal, Regulation (EU) 2021/1119, and the "Fit for 55" package represent an unparalleled process of economic and social transformation. These initiatives provide an ambitious framework to guide Europe towards a climate-neutral future, with specific goals for reducing emissions, promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable mobility. However, it is crucial to recognize that the European context, even if characterized by its complexities and challenges, does not provide a direct footprint for developing countries: while Europe is undertaking ambitious efforts to decarbonize its industrial sector, developing countries are grappling with the ecological transition within a context of economic, political and social vulnerability.

Decarbonization policies are significantly impacting developing economies that supply mineral raw materials. These nations, already facing complex development challenges, may experience further adverse effects from the ecological transition, potentially affecting production, employment, and export revenues. For instance, the shift to a low-carbon economy increases demand for minerals like lithium and cobalt, essential for green technologies, which could strain natural resources and risk exploitation, including unsustainable mining practices and negative environmental and social impacts. A holistic approach to the ecological transition is essential, and shall consider the entire value chain.

Proximity contracts, as tools to adapt bargaining to local needs, can promote cooperation between companies and workers to address specific local issues. At the same time, IFAs offer a broader scope, regulating the entire value chain at the global level. These agreements, as highlighted by the ILO and Eurofound, are important to support workers’ rights and promote sustainability standards along global supply chains: IFAs can counter social and environmental dumping practices, strengthen fundamental labor rights, and promote corporate due diligence on human rights and the environment.

The study aims to provide insights into how integrating transnational and local agreements can enhance working conditions, promote environmental sustainability, and ensure social inclusivity. It seeks to contribute to the development of effective strategies for navigating the complexities of the transition and achieving a just and sustainable future.

For years, the impact of algorithmic management on occupational health has remained under heated discussion; however, to date, evidence to reach conclusions is scarce. This study aims to shed light on this debate by adopting a non-deterministic approach, which considers the impact of technology within the framework of broader non-technological occupational health determinants. Using data from the 2022 Flash Eurobarometer OSH Pulse Survey, which includes over 27,000 respondents from 29 European countries, this article assesses the impact of digital performance monitoring, automated work attribution, and biological indicators monitoring. The findings reveal that algorithmic management tools have a nuanced impact, sometimes being associated with a lower probability of detrimental OSH outcomes arising from non-technological risks, while in other cases, associated with a higher probability of such outcomes. Overall, although these tools have the potential to improve safety, their effectiveness is highly context-dependent and, more importantly, the magnitude of their effect is never enough to equalize scenarios where “traditional” OSH risks are absent. The study concludes that addressing traditional OSH challenges should remain a priority, advocating for a balanced approach that integrates technology in a critical manner and does not lose sight of broader workplace sources of risk to workers.

This paper examines the experiences of content moderators in India and Kenya and the implications for their rights to a safe and healthy work environment. Content moderators play a pivotal role in monitoring digital platforms by reviewing and filtering user-generated content. Content moderation is outsourced by big tech to developing countries such as India and Kenya, however, compared to their counterparts in the Global North they earn significantly lower wages. Furthermore, these workers operate in conditions akin to forced labour and they are exposed to inappropriate, offensive and gruesome content that severely impacts their mental health.

Labour laws remain unequipped to protect these workers. For instance, Indian labour laws provide some general safeguards regarding employment rights, but there are no specific regulations addressing the psychological risks associated with prolonged exposure to harmful content. Similarly, the legal framework of Kenya provides health and safety safeguards but the dynamic of employment arrangement remains ambiguous thereby leaving these workers vulnerable. In both these countries, mental health concerns are stigmatised which further exacerbates the indecent working conditions of content moderators.

The absence of a clear legal framework, coupled with the unique mental health issues of content moderation, highlights the urgent need for socio-legal reforms. Using desk-based research, this paper highlights the mental health challenges that content moderators encounter and examines the legislative loopholes. Furthermore, this paper aims to develop a theoretical legal framework to facilitate a healthy work environment and psychological support systems for content moderators in India and Kenya.

Precarious employment can be conceptualised as multidimensional, involving but not limited to employment insecurity, income inadequacy, and a lack of rights and protection in the employment relationship. It can affect both informal and formal workers, and is often perceived as a key determinant of health inequity among workers (Gunn et al., 2021).

Scholarship in the area of occupational health and safety has established that those in precarious employment suffer poorer OHS outcomes than those in more standard forms of employment (Quinlan & Bohle, 2004; Underhill & Quinlan, 2011). As argued by Quinlan and Bohle (2004) in their Pressures, Disorganisation and Regulatory failure model, the pressure of working long hours in low paid work which is often unregulated and unprotected undermines health quality and safety precautions. However, informal workers in developing economies who work in conditions that are entirely unregulated have far poorer OHS outcomes than precarious workers anywhere else (Lund & Marriott, 2011).

This study utilises the qualitative approach of semi structured interviews to answer the research question “What are the specific drivers of risk to health and safety for Indonesia’s construction workers?”. It argues that along with the risks of financial pressures and the disorganisation associated with informal work, a lack of regulatory oversight and enforcesment contributes significantly to poor OHS outcomes. Indonesian OHS law could offer some protection for informal workers, however their lack of knowledge, power and engagement with formal institutions, mean that these protections are rarely activated. Whilst collective organisations exist to represent these workers and educate them on their labour rights, informal construction workers are difficult to access and organise due to the ephemeral and itinerant nature of their employment.

This study seeks to assess the parameters of applicability for the PDR model in Indonesia. It also considers whether the model requires some adaptation in a developing country context where the activation of employee voice is, challenging. In conclusion, it will argue that informal workers – who lack enabling conditions to support individual agency and voice – need safe access to forms of collective representation to legitimise their concerns. Despite the inherent difficulties associated with seeking such representation for these workers, some form of collective representation is necessary to create conditions for safer workplaces and more secure employment relationships. Collective representation could also be supportive of building a broader social movement to improve the effectiveness of regulations and practices that will safeguard their futures.

Decent work is a term used to describe employment that respects the rights of workers and the fundamental rights of the human person. Ship-breaking refers to the dismantling of outdated vessels for the purpose of recycling their materials. In India, the Alang Ship-breaking Yard stands out as one of the most prominent facilities, recognized as the largest ship-breaking yard globally. In nations such as India, the ship-breaking sector is characterized by its reliance on manual labour and is regarded as one of the most perilous and accident-prone industries. Incidents and health-related issues are prevalent at Alang, where the working environment is severely lacking in safety both within and outside the yard. Employers impose the terms and conditions of employment, leaving workers with little choice but to accept them. This article aims to investigate the working conditions experienced by employees at the Alang ship-breaking yard and to evaluate the enforcement of various industrial and labour regulations in that context. The results indicate that 8 out of every 100 workers encounter accidents daily, while 9 out of 100 are susceptible to health issues at the yard. This ratio is alarmingly high for a recognized industry. Furthermore, it has been observed that the applicable laws governing the industry are frequently disregarded at the yard, leading to the exploitation of labour.

Existing literature highlights a bidirectional relationship between mental health and economic outcomes, where mental distress leads to reduced productivity, higher unemployment, and lower income, while economic shocks contribute to mental illness (Ridley, 2020; Killingsworth et al., 2023). However, research on employment quality and mental health remains limited, particularly for informal workers. This study seeks to bridge this gap by distinguishing subcategories of informal work, such as gig workers, home-based workers, and daily labourers while assessing multiple dimensions of employment quality. We hypothesise that informal workers are more vulnerable to mental distress and examine whether social integration (measured through employment status, job search methods, and workplace interactions) and productivity can mitigate this relationship. Additionally, we focus on vulnerable groups (youth, women, and the elderly) to analyse heterogeneous effects. Women in least-developed countries (LDCs) often dedicate a significant proportion of their time to unpaid care work, affecting their employment quality and mental well-being. In Thailand, demographic shifts have resulted in an ageing workforce and declining youth participation, contributing to volatile productivity growth (<3%) and rising youth unemployment, particularly among women (ILO, 2020). The unpaid care burden on Thai women further constrains their participation in the formal labour force (Bui et al., 2024).

Using secondary datasets such as the 2015 Mental Health Survey (MHS), 2015 Informal Employment Survey (IES), and 2015 Time Use Survey (TUS), this study explores the multi-faceted causes and effects of employment quality in the informal sector. We define informal employment based on the ILO (2013) and Thailand’s National Statistics Office standards, considering dimensions such as work status (self-employed, daily wage), work location (home, street, market), working conditions (continuity, accidents), work hours (irregular, multiple shifts), and social security (lack of benefits or insurance). Mental health outcomes are measured using two subjective well-being indicators: Life Satisfaction, measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) (Watson et al., 1988) and Mental Health Distress, using Z-Score to standardise distress measure. We also construct the Composite Mental Health Score (Likert Scale Average), which assigns equal weight to all well-being factors to calculate a single mental health score to test for the robustness of our measurement. To address endogeneity, we use workplace entitlements (social security, benefits, and protections) as instrumental variables to control for unobserved factors affecting both mental health and employment quality. This study provides new insights into the intersection of informal work, employment quality, and mental health, informing policy interventions to improve workers' well-being.

Platform work is one manifestation of shifts driven by digitalisation. There is a growing body of empirical research on the incidence and characteristics of platform work, as well as concerns raised about the grey area which platform work inhabits in terms of the employment relationship. However Purcell & Brooks (2022:391) note that there has been little accompanying theoretical debate, which they argue ‘has had consequences for the quality, form and potential of debates about platform work to date’.

Some key elements of digital labour platforms, such as algorithmic management practices and digital monitoring, are seeping through to conventional work settings across different sectors and countries, and likely to grow in the future (Urzi-Brancati et al. 2020; Woods 2021; Baiocco et al. 2022, Fernández Macías 2023, Rani et al. 2024). In addition to concerns about the potential intrusiveness of digital tools and how constant surveillance may affect workers’ wellbeing, the breaking down of jobs into smaller tasks required by algorithmic management may lead to an increasing fragmentation and commodification of labour (Franke and Pulignano 2021; Ball 2021). Thus, a repositioning of the traditional frames of the labour process is required. This ‘platformisation’ of work can be deepened and accelerated by recent developments in artificial intelligence which will fundamentally affect work processes. These implications may well require changes in the current labour market institutions and regulations.

To measure, better understand and characterise the transformation of both content and work processes as a result of the introduction of algorithmic management, digital monitoring and AI, we introduce the AIM-WORK survey which is representative of the working age population in all EU countries. Empirical data from AIM-WORK is used to measure the prevalence and characteristics of digital monitoring, algorithmic management and platform work in the EU, and investigate how they are being used to organise, coordinate and control platform workers and regular workers alike. Preliminary empirical analysis suggests that platformisation of work is a real phenomenon affecting the labour process in a relevant proportion of workers in the European context. Additionally the analysis delves deeper into the implications of AI tools on the world of work. Our analysis underpins a better theoretical understanding on the impact of digital technology on the labour process.

The aim of this joint research project by ILO and NASK is to develop a system of more precise assessment of potential effects of generative AI (GenAI) on labour markets. We build on the methods developed by the ILO (Gmyrek, Berg, and Bescond 2023) and further refined in cooperation with the World Bank (Gmyrek, Winkler, and Garganta 2024), fitting into the rapidly emerging literature on modelling of potential impacts of AI on tasks and occupations (Acemoglu, 2024; Acemoglu et al., 2024; Acemoglu and Restrepo, 2022; Svanberg et al., 2024, Comunale and Manera, 2024 for literature review).

By using the official national 6-digit classification of occupations in Poland, we expand tenfold the number of tasks compared to the studies conducted solely on the ISCO-08 structure (Gmyrek, Berg, and Bescond 2023). We capture the opinion of 1650 people currently in employment in each ISCO-08 1-digit group to rank automation potential of a representative sample of tasks and combine this with a detailed review by a mix of national and international experts. We then train an AI model to reflect human judgement and re-generate scores for the tasks in ISCO-08, previously provided by Gmyrek et al. (2023). This leads to an adjustment of the 2023 ILO index of GenAI exposure, and an update of global, regional and income-based employment estimates. We also run predictions based on some 30,000 6-digit tasks in Poland’s official occupational classification system and provide detailed employment estimates and characteristics of affected demographics in the national context, based on ILO’s micro data.

Our study responds to the need for modelling of GenAI’s potential impact, given the growing societal angst and the recent reports about low levels of preparedness (Bick, Blandin, and Deming 2024; Maison & Partners and ThinkTank 2024). While several indicators of occupational exposure to broader AI technologies are available (Nurski and Vansteenkiste 2024), very few tools focus on GenAI (Nurski and Ruer 2024). Our new, more precise exposure index enables a closer alignment of the academic work on digital economy with the significant interest in the GenAI technology in the public debate. The methodological blueprint provided by our research uses open-source code and can be flexibly expanded to other types of AI or focused more narrowly on specific subsets of digital technologies and sectors. This paper is first in the series of publications, which will also include qualitative elements and a nationally representative survey on GenAI workplace adoption.

In recent years, the debate on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) has gained increasing momentum. This also applies to public administration and, in particular, to public employment services. Placement officers perform a central function on the street level of the labor market. They assess job seekers’ qualifications to identify a profile, develop search strategies and make job offers. They provide advice and guidance, and help job seekers to find further training that extends their competences meaningfully.

Algorithmic decision support systems (ADSS) offer opportunities to help placement officers to fulfill their consulting and mediation tasks. The productive use of algorithmic decision support systems (ADSS) depends heavily on user acceptance of the systems. We are therefore interested in what attitudes employees in public employment agencies generally have towards the use of ADSSs and whether the extent of acceptance differs between specific tasks carried out by placement officers.

The design of an ADSS requires normative choices on its (1) safety, (2) accountability, (3) transparency, and (4) efficiency. While some studies in this field of research are based on qualitative research designs, we worked with a sample of potential future users of ADSS in the public employment agencies and carried out a standardized survey. In particular we use a conjoint experiment to explore the role of different design features for the acceptance of a hypothetical ADSS that uses artificial intelligence to identify individual needs for further training and vary concerning the four normative features.

For our survey we addressed 5,000 randomly drawn placement officers from a total of 150 public employment agencies in Germany. All of them got an invitation e-mail asking them to participate in the survey. The e-mail also contained a short description of the topic, a reference to the voluntary nature of the study, and a link to the relevant information concerning data protection regulations. After data cleansing, we used a net sample of 1,415 individuals for further analyses.

The empirical results indicate that placement officers’ balance privacy and safety standards while maintaining professional accountability. They appreciate ADSS’s support but firmly reject the mandatory use of such advice.

In many Western industrial societies, work has historically represented more than a productive economic activity; it has served as a key factor in personal identity and social cohesion. Digital automation emerges as a possible element of disruption to this foundation, raising critical questions about the role of work in a future where productivity can be increasingly decoupled from human effort in the traditional sense, challenging long-held notions of skills, merit, and value in the workforce. This study examines the need to reassess labor institutions and the evolving role of work, questioning whether the European Industry 5.0 framework – centered on human-centricity, resilience, and sustainability – offers a suitable approach. Examining transformations in the labor market through the lens of AI ethics and drawing on critical questions and debates from political philosophy and social theory enables a broader assessment of the societal implications of automation. In addition to theoretical analysis, the research incorporates an evaluative study of Industry 5.0 as an alternative framework for addressing these challenges. To evaluate the economic feasibility of the Industry 5.0 framework, the study analyzes a selection of case studies presented in the context of the Business Case 5.0 for Sustainable Competitiveness, within the Community of Practice 5.0, promoted by the DG RTD of the European Commission. Contextually, this research situates itself within ongoing debates on both “meaningful work” and “post-work” perspectives. On one hand, it engages with arguments that wage labor serves as an essential source of meaning, re-examining historical frameworks that link work to social cohesion and reassessing the role of labor in fostering human and social connections. On the other hand, in line with discussions on the future of European competitiveness, the study evaluates the viability of a human-centric policy framework for industrial transformation. For automation to contribute positively to human well-being, a renewed societal agreement should emphasize shared responsibility among governments, industries, and citizens and, within this framework, policies that promote equitable access to education, reskilling opportunities, and social protections should play a key role in shaping its development. Moreover, a more expansive understanding of productivity – one that reflects psychological, social, and environmental well-being – could serve as a foundation for this transition. By engaging with its principles, this study evaluates the potential of Industry 5.0 to serve as a normative counterweight aligning technological progress with holistic human flourishing, while noting the gap between conceptual aspirations and implementation.

Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine has had an unprecedented impact on Ukrainian labour law. While Ukrainian labour law has been under reform for many years, new regulations enacted under martial law have been addressing not only emergencies of hostilities, migration, relocation, and destruction of production areas, but also Ukraine’s future EU integration. This session considers the dramatic changes and institution-building taking place in Ukraine’s labour markets, in a situation of a high degree of instability and uncertainty. It is a country faced by a multitude of disruptions, quite specific for a country attacked by war.

The session presents first results of the collaborative project “Just Transition”, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and the Ukrainian government. The project starts from the assumption that the principal aims of labour law and social policy – i.e. of protecting workers and their rights at the workplace, as well as furthering social dialogue – should be an important factor in Ukraine’s transition to peace, to societal and economic resilience and a possible convergence towards the European Union, in line with ILO Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation No. 205 of 2017, which also recognizes the importance of employment and decent work for enabling recovery and building resilience.

The session retraces the dynamics of ongoing and continuous reform in Ukrainian law, as the Ukrainian labour market has been and is confronted with challenges and threats due to digitalisation, societal changes and economic transformation. It shows how these challenges are confronted in a situation of war, and which options would be available for afterwar time in the context of a possible EU accession.

In this context the session focusses on the recent debates and reform projects under the martial law regime enacted in 2022, insofar as they relate to employment, working conditions and termination of employment, as well as collective labour and trade union rights in wartime. It analyses how workers’ interests are represented in these regulations, considering the fact that martial law limits the extent to which social partners can enact conflicts. It also looks at how Russia’s armed attack has affected the courts’ ability to process labour disputes, and which mechanisms could be made available for a quick and effective protection of labour rights.

The session includes the discussion of two particular questions that trouble labour lawyers in all legal systems. Firstly, the problem of disguised employment, i.e. the distinction between employment contracts and civil law contracts, has in Ukraine been influenced by the situation of martial law. Secondly, domestic work has been regulated only in 2024, giving rise to the question how this kind of regulation influences and is influenced by family housework and its distribution in times of war.

Lastly, the session puts these reforms and challenges in the context of international law. It uses the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention 190 of 2019 and ILO Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation No. 205 of 2017, to discuss the role of international law as a framework for enhancing human rights during wartime and peaceful transition. The synergy between these three instruments is particularly interesting in relation to the ECHR which Ukraine ratified in 1997.

Community Health Workers (CHWs) form a critical institutional bridge between healthcare systems and communities in developing countries, yet their positioning as 'volunteers' often undermines their integration and effectiveness. India's Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) program, employing over one million women nationwide, operate at the intersection of volunteerism and formal employment exemplifies this challenge. Through an analysis of Kerala, an Indian state recognized for its progressive labor practices, this study examines how innovative institutional arrangements can transform volunteer health workers from marginalized service providers to empowered agents of change.

Research Questions:

1. How do institutional innovations in human resource management influence the empowerment and integration of community health workers operating in quasi-voluntary positions?

2. What mechanisms enable the development of inclusive labor institutions that effectively support and protect volunteer workforces?

Methodology:

Drawing on 31 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2024 across five districts of Kerala, including 21 ASHAs, 6 frontline supervisors, and 4 state health officials, this study employs a rigorous qualitative approach. Primary data collection was supplemented by extensive document analysis of government reports, program guidelines, and policy documents. Using Braun & Clarke's six-step thematic analysis framework, we systematically coded and analyzed the data through multiple iterations to ensure reliability. Interview transcripts were analyzed in both Malayalam (local language) and English to preserve narrative authenticity, with member checking employed to validate interpretations. The analysis maps institutional practices onto the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) framework while maintaining sensitivity to power dynamics and structural constraints inherent in volunteer workforce management.

Contribution:

This research advances our understanding of institutional innovation in the informal/volunteer sector by: (1) demonstrating how hybrid institutional arrangements can reconcile volunteer ethos with professional integration, (2) revealing how participatory governance enables both worker voice and institutional effectiveness, and (3) providing evidence-based insights for developing inclusive labor institutions that protect and empower volunteer workforces.

Findings:

Our analysis identifies three key institutional mechanisms that enable effective volunteer workforce management: (1) formalized yet locally-embedded recruitment processes that legitimize workers' roles while maintaining community connections, (2) hybrid compensation systems that combine performance incentives with basic security, and (3) decentralized governance structures that facilitate worker voice and participatory decision-making. These findings suggest that building effective labor institutions for volunteer workforces requires moving beyond traditional employment paradigms to develop context-sensitive frameworks that balance formalization with flexibility.

Introduction and literature

International research has shown that the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector is crucial to the functioning of inclusive labour markets as it both enables parents (predominantly mothers) to enter and re-enter work, while also directly providing job opportunities, often women from more deprived communities (Black, 2020; Fudge and Mundlak, 2021). But despite a brief recognition of the value of ECEC during the pandemic, many countries are now facing the twin challenge of expanding, affordable and flexible provision meeting the needs of parents, while addressing chronic staff shortages and high turnover (Smyth 2024). In many cases the policy response has been to expand parental entitlements to subsidised care (often met by the private market) without considering the entrenched problems of low pay, insecure work, and weak career development (Hardy et al 2023). Recognising the scale and the unequal impacts of the ‘crisis of social reproduction’ is essential to raise the status and value of the ECEC workforce that is highly feminised and ethnically diverse (Black, 2020; Cullen and Murphy 2020).

Methods

This paper draws on a comparative study of campaigns and initiatives that aim to address the ECEC crisis. International differences are explored using original empirical material (including interviews with activists, workers, employers, unions and government officials) gathered across four regions in four countries: Montreal Canada, Bremen Germany, the Greater Manchester UK, and New York US, these are contextualised as they are triangulated together with gray literature and statistical sources. Using a gender lens to understand the arguments that were being put forward to overcome the crisis and the impact this had in particular on working conditions and staffing.

Findings and contributions

What we find is that while all four regions are faced with similar challenges, social actors have adopted different campaigning and bargaining strategies to improve the quality of work and care within ECEC. In Bremen and Montreal, ECEC is more explicitly articulated as a feminist cause, whereby trade unionists work closely in coalition with other actors (such as parents and the local state) to put forward gender equality arguments in support of the sector. In contrast, in the New York and the Greater Manchester, campaigning is largely ‘gender blind’, in that ECEC is often framed as a means to promote economic growth and labour market participation. Across all countries however, staff shortages remain linked with the low social valuation of ECEC work.

The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Decent Work Agenda emphasizes four objectives: promoting rights at work, fostering employment, enhancing social protection, and encouraging social dialogue. In 2011, the ILO ratified the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), the first international legal instrument focused on domestic workers. Women comprise 76.2% of domestic workers globally, with one in twelve female employees engaged in this sector. Additionally, 80% of domestic workers lack social security (ILO, 2023). Despite global progress, domestic workers in India still face systemic barriers, including informal employment, lack of legal recognition, and minimal state intervention. Their exclusion from institutional dialogues further exacerbates their vulnerability.

This paper explores the challenges and opportunities related to decent work for domestic workers in India through three dimensions. First, it identifies the obstacles they face in asserting their rights and examines how social security programs can be improved. Second, it assesses ways to restructure labour institutions to ensure domestic workers' participation in shaping their working conditions and rights protection. Third, it explores innovative policies that balance existing labour laws with domestic workers’ lived realities. The study addresses two key questions: What institutional arrangements can improve domestic workers' conditions? How can social mobilization and representative democracy contribute to safer, better work conditions?

Using a mixed-method approach, this study combines quantitative data from national labour surveys with qualitative insights from interviews with 50 domestic workers across five Indian states, employing a stratified sampling method. It also examines implicit collusion among domestic workers and employer awareness of decent work. To assess the accessibility of existing legislation and informal structures, the study adopts an interpretive paradigm and thematic analysis, centering on workers’ narratives. A measurement scale is developed to standardize the evaluation of decent work conditions for domestic workers in India.

Preliminary findings reveal that India's fragmented social security system, lack of uniform employment contracts, and weak legal recognition perpetuate informality and exploitation. Female domestic workers face heightened vulnerabilities. Innovative alternatives, such as cooperatives and online platforms, show promise but require institutional support to scale effectively.

Migrants make up a significant proportion of the labour force in high-income states such as Canada, where most transnational workers long entered the country through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) focused historically on filling jobs deemed undesirable to the domestic population. Yet partly as a result of public outcry over the exploitative conditions associated with the TFWP, starting in the mid-2010s Canada shifted the focus of its regime governing international migration for employment on a temporary basis to “mobility” programs under the auspices of its newly inaugurated International Mobility Program (IMP). Contrary to narratives of economic necessity and well-documented realities of exploitation associated with the TFWP, at a policy level, the IMP is cast as a program promoting economically beneficial migration that fosters worker voice and favourable conditions. It nevertheless remains unclear whether the IMP represents a genuine departure from the corrosive conditions associated with temporary migrant work under the TFWP.

This roundtable brings together leading scholars in the field of labour migration to discuss migration/mobility policy distinction underpinning the emergence and rationalizing growth of so-called new international mobility programs across different contexts and explore new directions and continuities in international migration for employment. Taking the publication of Migrant Work By Another Name: Differential Inclusion and Precarity in Canada’s International Mobility Program (University of Toronto Press 2025), and Vosko’s core arguments and analyses as its starting point, presenters will consider how contemporary (im)migration policy frameworks sort transnational workers in a manner contributing to different degrees of inclusion and perpetuate distinct forms of precarity with a focus on high-income receiving states.

Introduction: Since its enactment in 2000, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been a cornerstone of U.S. trade policy with Sub-Saharan Africa, offering non-reciprocal duty-free access to goods from eligible countries. This study uses country-level data over three decades to examine the labor market consequences of AGOA by exploiting variation in eligibility and the timing of implementation across countries.

Research Question(s): This research addresses the question: What are the effects of AGOA on labor market outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly on the distribution of workers across sectors and the quality of employment?

Methodology: To estimate the labor market consequences of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), we specify the following difference-in-differences model:

Y_st=β_0+β_1 AGOA_t+β_2 Eligible_st+β_3 (AGOA_t×Eligible_st)+X_st Ω+_st

where Y_st represents various labor market outcomes in country s during year t, AGOA_t equals 1 from year 2000 onwards and 0 otherwise, reflecting the start of the AGOA policy, while Eligible_st equals 1 if a country meets AGOA eligibility criteria in year t, and 0 otherwise. The vector X_st includes time-varying country-level controls which account for factors potentially influencing labor market outcomes and the error term, _st represents unobserved factors affecting labor market outcomes. Standard errors are clustered at the country level to account for potential heteroscedasticity and correlation of errors within countries over time.

The coefficient on the interaction term, β_3,captures the difference-in-differences effect, highlighting the changes in labor market activities between AGOA-eligible states and AGOA-ineligible states after the policy’s implementation.

To address endogeneity concerns, we explore instrumental variables such as pre-AGOA trade intensity with the U.S.

Contribution to the literature: This study contributes to the literature on international trade policies and labor markets by providing empirical evidence on the sectoral shifts in employment induced by the AGOA policy. It also adds to the understanding of how trade policies can influence labor market structures in developing regions. Furthermore, this research offers insights into the role of non-reciprocal trade agreements in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 9.2, which emphasizes inclusive and sustainable industrialization.

Findings: The results indicate that AGOA has decreased the share of workers in agriculture while increasing the proportion in industry and wage labor, with consistent effects across genders. However, the policy has no significant impact on labor force participation, employment ratios, or unemployment rates. These findings suggest that while AGOA has partially achieved its goals, complementary measures are needed to expand its benefits to a broader share of the population.

I: Background

The assumption in the development economics literature remains that the informal economy is a free entry and exit sector. A key puzzle is how it is then possible that many developing countries have stubbornly high unemployment rates. We explore this empirical enigma of low informality amidst high unemployment with a specific application to South Africa - a country with one of the highest unemployment rates in the world.

II: Method and Approach

In a simple reduced-form theoretical model, unemployment is thought to be a function of both ‘formal’ unemployment (u_f)and ‘informal’ unemployment 〖(u〗_inf), such that aggregate unemployment (u_tot) is: [u_tot=u_f+u_inf ]. We show that elevated unemployment rates are a function of barriers to entry into either formal [b_f] or informal employment b_inf– or both. If we can show that the barriers to formal sector employment often touted in Neo-Classical models (Labour regulation, wages, Unions) are not particularly binding– then it must mean by inference that the economy’s unemployment rate is disproportionately a function of barriers to entry into the informal economy.

III: Assessing Formal Barriers to Wage Employment: An Empirical Application to South Africa

We apply this model to South Africa which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, yet also simultaneously one of the lowest rates of informality in the world. We examine various elements of the barriers to formal wage employment - b_f -that are common in the literature. These barriers germane to standard labour economics theory include low employment elasticities, high wage-employment elasticities, minimum wages, excessive labour regulation and the role of institutions. We hope to consider the evidence for each of these barriers – with a focus on whether they serve as an adequate explanation for South Africa’s inordinately high unemployment rates. We would show that in fact most of the standard explanations for South Africa’s high unemployment rates, cannot be explained by barriers to wage jobs.

IV: Barriers to Informality: A Brief Consideration For South Africa

This section will posit that instead of formal wage barriers to employment, there exist a series of barriers to informal sector activity for South Africa workers. These can be captured under the following broad thematic areas such as business regulation, infrastructure and crime.

VI: Policy Implications

Providing clear entry points to the informal sector whilst retaining core elements of a decent work agenda remains a key focus. The paper hopes to fill this intellectual gap.

Economic policy is often conceived from the vantage point of the state: that is, what can economic policy do to improve the performance of the economy overall. National, regional and local economic policy is almost always conceptualized in terms of formal economic activity: trade policy, monetary policy, industrial policy, for example, are all designed to intervene in the formal economy. In this paper we ask two key research questions. Firstly, what are the economic challenges faced by informal traders in South Africa. And secondly, what does good economic policy look like from the perspective of informal workers? Drawing on a set of in-depth interviews with informal traders, activists, and policy makers in Gauteng, South Africa, we find that informal traders in South Africa face a range of economic barriers which are often ignored in the literature on informal trading, and in the debates about formalisation. While the literature focuses on regulation and compliance, our findings show that competition in various forms is a key concern of informal traders. We argue that there are two principles which should underscore an economic policy from below, which are largely ignored in policy documents governing informal traders in South Africa. Firstly, informal trading must be recognised as an important economic sector which contributes employment and income to many marginalised people. The second principle is that informal traders must be involved substantively in all matters which affect them. Taken together, these two principles lay a foundation for cooperation and mutual advancement between informal traders and local authorities. Drawing on our fieldwork findings, we offer eight pillars at the core of an economic policy from below for informal traders: “the Economic Policy We Want”. The Economic Policy We Want is an economic policy from below; it is intended to improve the sustainability of informal traders, promote their advancement, reduce harassment, and ensure that informal traders work in an environment that is safe and conducive to their trade. Finally, we ask if this conception of economic policy is in tension with efforts to transition workers from the informal to the formal economy, how these tensions can be resolved, and what lessons the South African case offers for global debates on the formalisation of the informal economy.

There is a crisis of decent employment in Africa where creating jobs that offer fair compensation, security, and opportunities for advancement have become a challenge. Why does Africa find it difficult to create decent jobs for citizen? This paper investigates the role institutional and settlement factors that influence the availability of decent employment, including the strength of labor market institutions, the quality of governance, and the level of state capacity in Africa. The literature on why the cotinent is lagging behind in providing decent employment for its citizens is found in structural theories which draws attention to limited economic growth (World Bank, 2019); lack of diversification (AfDB, 2019); and infrastructure deficits (World Bank, 2018). Studies on demographic theories suggests that rapid population growth (UN, 2019); urbanization (World Bank, 2019) do exert pressure on urban labor markets. Other studies pay attention to trends in automation and artificial intelligence (ILO) and climate change (IPCC, 2019) as causes of job losses. Few studies pay attention to institutional theories which argue that weak institutions (Acemoglu & Robinson, 2012) manifesting in ineffective governance, corruption, and lack of rule of law, often suppress investment and obstruct job creation efforts. To the best of our knowledge there are no discussions on political settlement amongst the tripartism actors and citizens as a way of addressing the unemployment problematic. The institutional and radical political economy theoretical framework provides an understand of how political institutions and settlements can shape employment outcomes. Regression Analysis, using econometric models will employed to analyze the relationship between political institutions, political settlements, and employment outcomes. The World Bank's Governance Indicators and the International Labour Organization's (ILO) employment data will be used. In addition, case studies of South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria with varying political institutions and settlements will be used to examine such relationships. The major preliminary findings of the study are that (i) the nature of political institutions and political settlements in African countries has a profound impact on the availability of decent employment. (ii) therefore, countries with weak institutions and unstable political settlements are more likely to generate high levels of unemployment. (iii) weak institutions, clientelistic politics, and unstable settlements can lead to policy incoherence, corruption, and regulatory uncertainty, which in turn discourage investment, innovation, and job creation. African countries can create jobs, when institutional strengthening, settlement reform to ensure all-of-government, private sector and citizens’ approach to employment, and policy coherence is prioritized.

Many residents in low-income areas in South Africa rely on informal convenience stores, colloquially referred to as “spaza shops”. Many of these are immigrant-owned and operated, often by Somali nationals. Increasingly, there are attempts to formalise the spaza sector. Such formalisation would limit ownership to those who are legally permitted to work. It could, consequently, open opportunities for local South African residents to take over spaza businesses. Formalisation could thus be a way to promote one of South Africa’s national development goals which is to expand entrepreneurial opportunities. This assumption fails to neglect, however, that foreign nationals have been able to establish a strong foothold in the sector even though it had, until the 1990s, been fully locally owned. It suggests that availing entrepreneurial opportunities alone is insufficient to drive economic development. Is formalisation thus indeed the best way forward for the spaza sector? To answer this question an in-depth understanding of what creates business success in the spaza sector is required. This study furthered this understanding through mini-ethnographic case study data from South African (n = 5) and Somali (n = 5) owned spaza businesses in Orlando West, Soweto. Soweto is an urban area in the City of Johannesburg in Gauteng province. Gauteng is South Africa’s entry point for most Somali migrants. It has the largest Somali community in South Africa and Somali immigrants own most spaza shops in the province. The study used direct observations and semi-structured, individual face-to-face interviews to collect data to obtain a detailed picture of each owner and their business and enable a detailed descriptive analysis of each participant. The researchers spent four weeks with each business owner. The data revealed marked differences between locally and immigrant run businesses. The study found that formalisation benefits spaza shops by providing legitimacy, stability, and increased government support. It can lead to economic growth and job creation. However, South Africa's formal regulatory framework may not adequately address township business needs. Many entrepreneurs thrive in the informal economy, seeing little incentive to formalise due to administrative burdens outweighing benefits. While formalisation can enhance access to resources and legitimacy, it also presents challenges related to regulatory compliance and costs. The effectiveness of formalisation in expanding entrepreneurial opportunities depends on policy measures addressing these challenges and creating a more supportive environment for small businesses.

This 90-minute session will consist of four sections: a brief introduction (5 minutes), a concise summary of the Social Dialogue Report 2024 and its key findings/messages (15 min), a panel discussion of the challenges and opportunities for peak-level social dialogue (PLSD) around the world (50-minutes, 4x speakers), and an audience Q&A with the panellists (20 minutes). Damian Grimshaw will chair the session and deliver a brief introduction. Lieve Verboven will present the Social Dialogue Report 2024.

The presentation will focus on the barriers to effective and inclusive PLSD around the world, such as short-term and non-inclusive approaches to economic development, neglect of the fundamental principles and rights at work, low trade union density and patchy collective bargaining coverage, inadequate representation of the informal economy, and poorly resourced labour administration systems and social partner organisations. The globally diverse panellists will then speak to these issues, outlining the opportunities and challenges for PLSD from the perspectives of different regions. While panellists will note good practices of PLSD when appropriate, discussion will largely highlight the present limitations to PLSD in order to ensure we address the session’s most pressing question – what must be done to strengthen peak-level social dialogue in national policy-making and sector collective bargaining and how to ensure its relevance for the most disadvantaged workers?

Ongoing transformations in the world of work, spurred by overlapping crises such as digitalization, decarbonization, socio-demographic change, and evolving forms of precariousness, demand a critical rethinking of job quality frameworks, so that they remain relevant in shaping labour market institutions capable of addressing new conditions and challenges. Traditional job quality frameworks have provided robust tools for assessing decent work and employment conditions, but have remained static in the face of unprecedented changes in work organization, technological advances and global challenges. This paper seeks to address this gap by broadening the scope of current academic and policy debates on measuring job quality to ensure their relevance in informing labour reforms and the development of effective labour institutions in a changing global context.

The main aim is to enhance understanding of how transformative forces and intersecting crises affect job quality. Among the transformative forces addressed are technological transformations, in particular AI and platform work, the impact of the green transition, precariousness and its intersections with job quality, and multiple jobholding and its quality trade-offs. Drawing on existing job quality frameworks, their recent extensions and the literature on multidimensional poverty, the paper proposes new conceptual and theoretical tools for effective measurement and analysis of job quality and decent work. By critically engaging with current theoretical approaches, we challenge and expand them in light of new empirical evidence, offering insights into the evolution of job quality and the meaning of “good work” in contemporary societies. The empirical and conceptual evidence that forms the basis of this novel and extended theoretical framework is drawn from an ongoing multidisciplinary and collaborative research project on “Job quality in a turbulent era”.

The paper emphasises that transformations in the world of work not only alter traditional job quality dimensions but also demand new methodologies to measure and analyse them. Our results serve to equip policymakers and practitioners with innovative conceptual tools to formulate effective responses to these transformations. We argue for frameworks that can address different forms of employment, take account of individual and institutional contexts, and integrate broader societal objectives. The findings highlight the need for policies that address systemic inequalities and strengthen workers’ bargaining power to ensure access to good quality jobs. It also highlights the need for institutional innovations to regulate emerging labour markets and support workers in turbulent times, providing solidarity to bridge divides and promote inclusion in fragmented employment.

In response to the European Commission's initiative on adequate minimum wages, Eurofound conducted a pilot project to establish a database of minimum wage rates in collective agreements applicable to low-paid sectors. Building on this work, the subsequent project ‘Collective Bargaining Beyond Pay’ looks beyond the pay set within collective agreements and analyse the content of collective agreements for low-paid workers. This paper builds on the outcomes of the Collective Bargaining Beyond Pay project and further develops what other aspects of working conditions – beyond pay – are regulated in collective agreements across Europe. Based on the comprehensive content analysis of 98 collective agreements from three low-wage sectors (Manufacture of food, leather and tanning; Retail; Residential and social care) in 12 EU Member States, over 14,000 clauses were coded, analysed and grouped into key topics. To understand the development of key topics over time, the paper compares two versions of each collective agreement. The analysis of results focuses on job quality of workers in low-paid sectors and looks into seven dimensions of job quality (Eurofound 2021). Preliminary findings indicate that collective agreements improve job quality of workers in low-paid sectors beyond their pay: in addition to securing higher earnings through additional bonuses and allowances, these agreements also provide non-monetary benefits and opportunities for career advancement, including upskilling and reskilling initiatives. This paper contributes to our understanding of the role of collective agreements in promoting job quality and informs policy initiatives aimed at improving working conditions for low-paid workers in Europe.

The Netherlands is known for its high share of employees in fixed-term contracts (FTCs). This is partly explained by the highly dualized nature of the Dutch labour market: permanent contracts are strictly protected while employers face few restrictions when using FTCs. However, trade unions and employers are allowed to deviate from national legislation in collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) regarding the use of these contracts: they can decide on a maximum amount of consecutive FTCs, and on the maximum duration of a spell of consecutive FTCs. The aim of this study is to explore how CBAs and particular agreements in CBAs about the use of FTCs by employers affect careers of employees with an FTC.

We use a unique dataset on Dutch CBAs between 2009 and 2019 which was linked to Dutch register data. This allowed us to (1) identify employees that were covered by a CBA and which ones were not; and (2) which agreements were made in these CBAs about the use of FTCs. We included employees who entered the labour market between July 2015 and December 2015. We used hidden Markov models to (1) identify different states of employment quality based on individuals contract type and income; (2) analyze how individuals move between these states; and (3) study how CBAs affect these movements.

We identified eight states of employment quality, three of which were characterized by having an FTC (one with low wages, one with medium wages, and one with high wages). We also identified two states which were characterized by having a permanent contract (one with low wages and one with high wages). Individuals who were in the FTC state with low or medium wages were more likely to transition to the permanent state with low wages, while individuals who were in the FTC state with high wages were more likely to transition to the permanent state with high wages. Interestingly, being covered by a CBA increased the likelihood of transitioning to a permanent contract for those in the low and middle income states, while it decreased the likelihood of such a transition for those in the high income state. In addition, individuals covered by a CBA that deviated from national legislation on the use of FTCs were much less likely to transition to a permanent contract than individuals covered by a CBA that followed national legislation in all income groups.

Documents on the history of labour market institutions, such as those kept in the ILO Archive, are used by the ILO itself to make messages around its anniversaries (such as the ILO Centenary, in 2019) more precise and more attractive. They are also the normal source for academic research on historical topics.

Yet historical documents can also play another role, more closely related to the history of labour market institutions in specific countries and the ILO´s work in those countries. By contrasting the past with the current situation, historical research can illustrate surprising continuities in some fields and radical change in others. This, in turn, can be used to generate attractive messages to better appreciate the sequence of institutional strengthening in many cases, but also to highlight persisting challenges in others.

In this sense, data such as the number of labour inspectors forty years ago, the Labour Ministry´s share in the national budget, the arguments used in favour or against the ratification of certain ILO Conventions are worth tracking down and can be used in presentations, short articles and training activities.

In this paper, these general messages will be demonstrated with documents from the ILO Archive from Chile, Paraguay and other Latin American countries.

In recent years, increasing disparities in wealth distribution, diminishing share of wages, lack of sustainable livelihood & adequate social protection has prompted worldwide extensive experimentation with a new generation of Minimum Wage (MW) laws, aiming to improve quality of life rather than just ensuring economic survival (ILO,2024). The core focus of this shift is on the introduction & adoption of ‘Living Wages’ (LW), providing workers with decent quality of work and life, as well as the choice to participate meaningfully in social life.

Developing countries around the world have widely utilized MW as a vital instrument to redistribute income, prevent exploitation, and alleviate poverty (Varkkey, Korde & Wadhwaniya, 2021; Rani,2017). Contrary to its intended purpose, MW have had counterproductive effects, and are accused even of contributing to unemployment and poverty (Romero 2023).

While LW has been shown to positively impact individuals livelihood and organizational performance, its adoption at industry and economy levels continues to face considerable institutional, political, and legal resistance in developing countries, including India, further complicating the transition from MW to LW.(Bisht, 2024).

India, which has a long history of MW, operating with a very complicated system has officially decided to adopt LW (Verma,2024). In this paper, we contribute to discussions on the regulatory, structural, and governance obstacles, in transition from MW to LW in India, the following questions are therefore relevant; a). Why should and how can India transition from MW to LW system to create a more equitable labour market? b). What role do stakeholders (TUs, businesses and state governments) play in effective implementation of LWs, & how can their collaboration address regulatory & structural challenges, c). How can the impending reforms in India’s labour laws and labour administration facilitate the successful transition & implementation of LW.

Drawing on the ILO’s Decent Work framework and Sen’s (1980) Capability approach, this paper examines the perspectives of HR professionals in organized industries, regarding the implementation and impact of living wage through an exploratory survey in the western part of India. Data was collected through using an in-depth interview protocol. The study utilized purpose and referral chain sampling techniques. Further, the study compares regulatory, structural & governance measures implemented by other countries, in their transition from MW to LW.

Drawing from these international experiences, we aim to propose a model tailored to the Indian context, outlining key policy measures and strategies to ensure a smooth and effective transition from MW to LW.

Earned Wage Access (EWA) is a technology-enabled financial service that allows workers to access a portion of their earned wages before payday, typically for a fee. It is generally provided by digital financial or payroll service providers in collaboration with employers. Emerging in the early 2010s, EWA experienced rapid growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. More recently, it has gained traction among lower-income workers in developing countries, especially within the platform economy.

Evidence suggests that EWA may offer relevant benefits to workers’ financial well-being by improving access to liquidity, smoothing consumption patterns, aiding personal financial management, and helping to avoid costly formal and informal loans. These findings align with broader research on the positive impact of increased wage payment frequency on financial stability. However, EWA services also pose significant risks, including repeated use and over-reliance, excessive fees, restrictions on how advanced wages can be used, and data protection concerns.

As EWA services grow in popularity, regulators have begun addressing some of the associated risks. However, most regulatory efforts so far focus on financial consumer protection—such as fee transparency and affordability—while overlooking key labour-related concerns. Wage protection provisions, particularly those requiring full and direct wage payments to workers, safeguarding free disposition of income, and restricting wage payments in vouchers, are directly relevant to EWA services. Additionally, these services intersect with issues typically governed by labour regulations or social dialogue initiatives, including wage payment frequency and payroll management.

The paper examines the regulatory framework needed to ensure that EWA services, as an innovative application of digital financial technologies to wage payments, maximise benefits for workers while effectively mitigating associated risks. It explores the intersections between financial regulation, consumer protection, and labour relations in the provision of EWA services, highlighting the need for greater collaboration among regulators in these areas. The paper builds on existing academic literature, regulatory debates, analysis of international labour standards, and field research conducted by the ILO Global Centre on Digital Wages for Decent Work, which includes insights from key stakeholders and a survey of over 500 EWA users across various regions.

The minimum wage serves as a policy instrument to reduce wage inequality and narrow the gender wage gap, particularly for workers in the lowest decile of the wage distribution. However, its effectiveness in India remains widely debated due to persistent non-compliance in the labour market (Rani & Belser, 2012; Soundararajan, 2019). Weak enforcement mechanisms and the complexity of the wage system contribute significantly to this non-compliance (Belser & Rani, 2011; Rani & Belser, 2012; Mansoor & O’Neill, 2021). Despite these challenges, studies have documented improvements in compliance rates between 2004–05 and 2011–12, particularly in rural areas (Rani & Belser, 2012; Mansoor & O’Neill, 2021). This period coincides with the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the world’s largest employment guarantee program. While several studies have examined MGNREGA’s impact on rural employment, wages, and welfare, its role in improving minimum wage compliance remains unexplored.

This study investigates the impact of MGNREGA on compliance with minimum wage regulations for informal sector workers in rural India. Specifically, it examines whether MGNREGA contributed to the observed improvements in compliance rates, as suggested by Rani and Belser (2012). Using a matching procedure combined with a difference-in-differences estimation approach, the study analyses the short- and long-term effects of MGNREGA on rural wages, wage distribution, and employment between 2004–05 and 2018–19. The findings indicate that MGNREGA significantly improved minimum wage compliance and increased reservation wages. However, the program’s effects vary across states, regions, and genders, highlighting its heterogeneous impact.

At its inception, MGNREGA provided a legal guarantee of 100 days of public-sector employment per year at the minimum wage for rural households. However, policy changes since 2011, such as indexing MGNREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index, have weakened its distributional effects and diminished its impact in recent years. In developing countries with weak enforcement mechanisms, employment guarantee schemes like MGNREGA not only provide employment opportunities in underserved populations but also serve as effective tools for enforcing minimum wage regulations for unskilled workers.

Over the last three decades, wage inequality and minimum wage policies have occupied a central space in academic and policy circles. Extant literature stresses that effects of minimum wage policies can spill over and even affect workers with earnings above the minimum wage (Gopalan et., 2020; Bossler and Shank, 2022), with recent studies finding positive ripple effects ripple up to the 60th percentile but negative effects for those beyond (Gregory and Zierahn, 2022).

In this paper, we present the first discussion of the changes in the wage distribution following labor reforms in Qatar. The GCC, as a whole, is a high-income region with relatively unrestricted access to the global poor and a major source of international remittances (Wagle, 2024). Yet, the distributional implications of recent labor reforms in the region remain understudied. Qatar, with almost 90 percent of its population consisting of expatriates, and a minimum wage legislation enacted in 2021 that increased wages of affected workers by 32 percent, offers a unique opportunity for research.

Three waves of primary data collected in 2018, 2019 and 2022 show that the Gini index of wage inequality among blue collar workers (defined as those earning less than QAR 6000) declined from 0.30 in 2018/2019 to 0.24 in 2022. The p90/p10 also recorded a decline from 3.5 to 2.6 in 2022.

Using density decomposition techniques as introduced by DiNardo et. al (1996) and developed by Firpo et al. (2018) and Fortin and Lemieux (1996), we decompose changes in wages at each decile to show (preliminary) that wage increases were limited to the bottom 20 percent, and these were explained almost completely by changes in the wage structure. However, there were significant decreases in wages (up to 18%) from the 50th to the 80th percentile, where up to 50 percent of the decline may explained by changing characteristics, particularly Qatar specific work experience.

Identification remains challenging, not least because the 2020 promulgation of the Minimum Wage Law overlaps with the negative labor demand shock due to COVID-19 and a positive shock due to FIFA 2022 preparations. This said, we use the differential bite of the minimum wage between broad occupational categories to come closer to causal estimates of the impact of the legislation [in progress]. Despite these limitations, this works highlights the potential implications of labor reform.

India’s comprehensive minimum wage system has long been an important tool for improving the incomes of the large section of India’s workforce that still relies on daily wage labour to make ends meet. Empirical findings that demonstrate the low distortionary costs (w.r.t. both inflation and employment) of this policy raise exciting prospects of its possible applications as an efficient mechanism not just for improving incomes, but also to allay distributional concerns, as labour market discrimination along the lines of gender, caste and religion continues to be a persistent and pressing problem for India’s uniquely diverse workforce, as these marginalized sections remain beyond the protections minimum wage is supposed to offer. The size of these wage differentials varies across the distribution. The impact of minimum wages on wage inequalities between these social groups remains woefully understudied in the Indian context. This warrants empirical examination, as several factors like labour market dualism and varying compliance levels affect how minimum wages shape between-groups wage inequality. The skewed distribution of these groups across different states adds another dimension to the evaluation of minimum wage legislation, which is largely a state subject, as varying base rates and temporal variations can be expected to affect inequalities in different ways. Using NSSO-EUS (1999-00, 2004-05, 2011-12) and PLFS data (2017/18 to 2023/24), this study seeks to use a two-way fixed effects regression framework and a stacked difference-in-difference approach (both using a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition) to estimate the impact of an increasing minimum wage on between-groups inequality at different percentiles of the wage distribution in the formal sector, focusing especially on backward castes and religious groups, as no other research exists on this topic. It also uses a generalized quantile regression framework as a robustness measure for its results. This research has the potential to be consequential, given that minimum wage cover continues to be inadequate despite being an active policy area, and as an important input in the ongoing debate about the necessity of increasing the minimum wage to a living wage level.

This roundtable brings together leading scholars to explore critical questions surrounding AI technologies in the workplace, with a focus on regulation and the future of work. Key topics of discussion will include: What are the primary challenges posed by AI in the workplace today? How might the relationships between technology, workers, and employers evolve in the future? What are the next frontiers for academic research in this area? And how should AI in the workplace be regulated? Given the panelists' deep involvement in academic research and policy discussions at both the EU and national levels, we anticipate a dynamic and insightful exchange. In line with ILO’s international outlook, the panelists will draw on their knowledge of a variety of jurisdictions, including the EU, UK, Canada, US and Israel.

In contemporary society, structural inequalities, connected with the complexities of individual identities, are increasing. Moreover, the rise in vulnerabilities requires a profound reflection on the legal framework ensuring equal treatment of workers, particularly from the perspective of intersectional discrimination (Crenshaw, 1989; Makkonen, 2002; Bello, 2020). Notably, the recent approval of European Directive 970/2023 marked the first time intersectional discrimination has been explicitly regulated. At the European level, the intersection of gender and disability is one of the most scrutinized cases of intersectional discrimination (e.g., the European Parliament Resolution of 29/11/2018 on the situation of women with disabilities). However, women with disabilities continue to face multiple and intersectional discrimination in all areas of life, including employment. Only 49.0% of women with disabilities aged 20-64 are employed, compared to 53.9% of men with disabilities in the same age group (EU-SILC UDB 2019). When considering full-time employment, only 20% of women with disabilities hold a full-time job, compared to 29% of men with disabilities, 48% of women without disabilities, and 64% of men without disabilities (Gender Equality Index 2021). This study adopts a legal analysis based on empirical data to propose initiatives to ensure decent work for women with disabilities. It examines the critical and essential principle of the person's centrality (as established by CRPD 2006) and explores this discrimination from the employment perspective. The central research questions are: Which policies and collective bargaining practices can ensure equal treatment for this vulnerable category in light of the European legal framework and recent legislative initiatives in the Italian legal system? What legal protections are needed to enforce labour rights against intersectional discrimination? The research promotes an in-depth analysis of remote work as a form of "reasonable accommodation," considering it a key measure to improve decent work conditions (Brollo, 2022; Verzulli, 2024). Remote work guarantees fair wages and greater flexibility and enables higher retention of full-time employment contracts for women with disabilities. At a jurisprudential level, courts increasingly recognize that remote work constitutes a case of reasonable accommodation (Lambertucci, 2024; De Falco, 2021). However, no specific rule provides for this in the Italian legal system. These crucial aspects are regulated through soft law and collective bargaining, promoting a practical and compelling interpretation of measures protecting decent work. Addressing intersectional discrimination through effective labour rights enforcement and inclusive policies is essential for shaping the future of social protection and advancing labour justice.

Our paper will discuss the development and use of a digital Harassment Risk Assessment (HRA) tool and Harassment Risk Index (HRI) deployed in 2023 in 40 South African companies as an innovative digital solution to measure, address, and monitor workplace harassment, as required by employment equity law (see https://www.workplace-conflict.coach/harassment-risk-assessment).

C.190 recognises ‘the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment’. The scope of protection applies regardless of contractual status and in both private and public sectors, and in the formal and informal economy. Violence and harassment impact negatively on individual and organisational health and well-being and ‘affects the quality of public and private services’.

State and employer obligations in C. 190 include risk assessment and monitoring mechanisms, and mechanisms to identify high-risk sectors, occupations, and vulnerable worker groups (Articles 8 and 9 of C190). In South Africa, the Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Harassment in the Workplace (2022) aligns with these international standards, and mandates employers to conduct risk assessments and implement preventative measures, which is the context for the digital HRA/HRI tool.

Research Question

“How can the HRA/HRI digital tool be developed as a universal tool to measure risk as envisaged in C.190, and to inform strategic interventions, and monitor progress toward the achievement of international labour standards (C.190) and related SDG Indicators?”

Methodology and contribution

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the anonymous risk assessments conducted in South African companies will provide data-driven insights into the dynamics of work culture and a deeper understanding of the extent and forms of violence and harassment experienced in the world of work; and a desktop review of literature on digital risk management in occupational safety and health management (OSHM) systems will be conducted to assess lessons for improving and scaling the digital risk assessment tool.

The use of digital risk assessment tools is in its infancy. Existing literature on OSHM digital risk management tools provides a foundation, but there is limited research on digital harassment risk assessment methodologies. The paper contributes to the emerging field of technology-enabled risk management in the implementation of labour standards by evaluating the HRA as a scalable tool for measuring and mitigating violence and harassment in the world of work.

Sexual harassment and violence remain persistent problems for women in the workplaces of many European countries. This happens despite the existence of regulatory frameworks that explicitly define and forbid it, such as the Article 4(3) of the 2004/113/EC EU-Directive, according to which sexual harassment constitutes discrimination on grounds of sex and is therefore prohibited. Indeed, broader social movements such as the global #MeToo have contributed to raise further awareness around the fact that denouncing and fighting sexual harassment and violence requires to delve beyond the conditions of legal acknowledgment for this latter to be effective.

In this sense, research has highlighted the importance of addressing the need of informing risk assessment and prevention strategies, together with the necessity to better understand how the awareness of sexual harassment and the way it operates in the workplace can shape the conditions in which reporting is more or less likely to occur. This work aims to provide a contribution in this direction by exploring the relationship between perceived discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace in the European context, building on the argument that women’s perceptions of their working environment as discriminatory may also be critical to assessing risks and developing prevention initiatives.

We use data from the European Working Conditions Survey (2010 and 2015) to analyse the effects of female workers’ perception of discrimination on their likelihood of experiencing sexual harassment, physical violence, or multiple forms of violence. Perceptions of discrimination are assessed as perception of discrimination for gender reasons and for gender at the intersection with other aspects of inequality (age, race, sexual orientation, etc.). Results show that perceiving gender discrimination increases the likelihood of being exposed to sexual harassment, but this is especially so for women who perceive they are discriminated against also based on other aspects of inequality, who are also more likely to experience physical violence alone in addition to multiple forms of violence.

These findings offer insights into how individual perceptions of discrimination can be considered an indicator of hostile working environments and can therefore contribute to informing risk assessment and prevention programs, but also existing regulatory frameworks, with the aim of reaching the most vulnerable groups of female workers.

Maternity leave is set in 120 days by Brazilian Law, extensible by the employer to 180 days, in return for tax benefits. Paternity leave, on the other hand, is equivalent to 5 days, extensible by the same tax mechanism to 20 days. This significant difference, allied with other maternity-related fringe benefits, fuels the public perception that women are less reliable employees than men – which is used as a moral argument to justify the unlawful gender pay gap. However, an INSPER (Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa) study shows that, considering other social security benefits for work-related accidents, work-related or non-related diseases, military service and unpaid leaves, as well as the maternity and paternity benefits, men are absent from work for 13.5 days per year on average, while women are out for 16 days by the same standards. This leaves a minor disparity of 2.5 days. So, if the discourse in detriment of female employees is not justified by data, it is important to analyse other factors that contribute to the aforementioned public perception. This paper will review legal and sociological literature on social reproduction and care economy in search for the root causes of this notion, aiming to propose effective measures to counterbalance such factors. In the current hyper-connection era shaped by narrative control, it is more relevant than ever to not only institute fair and effective labour regulations, but to reflect on their impact and impressions caused on employers, employees and society at large.

In May 2024, Belgium enacted pioneering legislation that formally recognises sex work within the realm of labour law, granting sex workers the same rights and protections as other employees. This transformative law aims to reduce discrimination and enhance safety by providing access to social security benefits, including health insurance, annual leave, sick and maternity leave, unemployment benefits, and pension rights. Additionally, it enshrines specific freedoms to safeguard sex workers' autonomy and consent, such as the right to refuse clients or specific sexual acts, and the right to discontinue services at any time.

This paper critically examines the regulatory innovations introduced by Belgium's 2024 law and assesses its potential impact on advancing decent work for sex workers. The research is guided by three primary questions: (1) What are the key elements of the new legislation? (2) To what extent does the law address the specific needs for protection of sex workers, particularly concerning health and safety at work, access to social security, and what are its limitations? (3) What challenges may arise in the enforcement of labour rights by sex workers, especially for marginalized groups within the sex work industry?

Findings suggest that the law represents a significant advancement in recognizing sex work as legitimate labour, improving not only the working conditions of sex workers but also contributing to their de-stigmatisation. However, sex workers will face several changes in the effective implementation of their labour rights. Like other precarious workers, sex workers will continue to face barriers related to immigration status, bureaucratic exclusion, limited access to collective bargaining, as well as reduced visibility and social location at the intersection of multiple axes of inequality. Moreover, several specific challenges persist for online sex workers, ranging from legal qualification as employee, to platform control over earnings and contents and privacy risks. Against this background, targeted strategies will be needed to ensure that the rights enshrined in the legislation are accessible to all sex workers.

This paper contributes to the current labour law literature by providing one of the first in-depth analyses of Belgium’s regulatory shift, highlighting its potential to serve as a model and to stimulate a discussion at the European and International level on the opportunity to recognise sex work as work and to address the decent work deficits faced by sex workers.

The paper looks at the structural exploitation and emotional labour deeply ingrained in care work, mainly focusing on the intersection of familial dynamics, stress and work-family conflicts. Drawing upon the theoretical frameworks of Hochschild (1983) and Stacey (2011), the paper, following a qualitative research methodology, explores the precarious conditions associated with care work, including subordination, inadequate compensation, and disproportionate burden. Based on semi-structured interviews conducted with care workers working in a gated community in Noida, India, the paper identifies affective violence—a form of emotional abuse veiled by genuine affection—as a critical but often overlooked dimension of care work. This type of abuse, masked by familial bonds or kinship, exacerbates emotional exhaustion and perpetuates the double exploitation of care workers while significantly disrupting their personal lives.

In this context, the paper attempts to address the following research question "In what ways do genuine affect and blurred boundaries between work and family life in home care settings contribute to the systemic exploitation of care workers, particularly in the Indian context?"

The analysis highlights the often-overlooked emotional strain and abuse inherent in care work, emphasizing the urgent need for systemic reforms. It specifically calls for strengthening labour market institutions, developing ethical standards, and establishing robust care infrastructure to address these pressing challenges. Situating care work within the broader context of labour rights, migration, and informal work, the paper advocates for inclusive policies to address the systemic vulnerabilities faced by care workers and promote fair and dignified working conditions. It recognizes the emotional toll on in-home care workers, crucial for fostering fair workplaces and ensuring all workers are treated with dignity and respect. By shedding light on these issues, the paper emphasizes the need to transform conditions that perpetuate exploitation, particularly the additional burdens imposed by clients’ families under the guise of kinship.

With the lack of affordable, high-quality childcare and eldercare facilities, coupled with an aging population, Sri Lankan employees—especially women—are struggling to balance work and caregiving responsibilities. Many women are either facing challenges at work or leaving the labor force at higher rates to care for children and elders. Care work, traditionally considered a female responsibility, also contributes to employers’ reluctance to hire women. Recognizing this critical issue, some companies in Sri Lanka are making a conscious effort to provide infrastructure and policies that support employees in managing both work and caregiving. The paper aims to explore how these companies create supportive infrastructure and care practices and policies to support employees in managing work and care responsibilities in Sri Lanka. Using a qualitative research methodology, data were collected from 42 companies across various sectors, including banking and finance, insurance, retail, manufacturing, education, IT, telecommunications, and healthcare. These companies ranged from small to large enterprises. Thematic analysis identified five key areas of corporate care initiatives as 1) childcare facilities provided through on-site childcare centers, childcare stipends, employer-sponsored daycare programs, partnerships with childcare providers, and emergency/backup childcare services; 2) flexible work arrangements by offering flexitime, flexible workdays, alternative work settings (e.g., temporary branch transfers during caregiving periods), remote work, and hybrid work models; 3) parental and care leave where employers grant paid maternity leave (as legally required), extended maternity leave (more than what the law requires), and special leave for caregiving; 4) promoting gender equality in care responsibilities through introducing paid paternity leave (not legally mandated in the country), conduct training and awareness programs, and encourage shared caregiving; and 5) additional care support through the facilitation of employee support groups/help groups, counseling services, and initiatives such as medicine delivery services for caregivers. However, the findings reveal a stronger corporate focus on childcare than eldercare, despite the growing need for elder support due to lack of elder care as well as cultural reluctance to use eldercare facilities. Furthermore, most of these corporate initiatives remain voluntary, highlighting the need for a structured and shared approach among employers, the government, and the community. To develop a robust care infrastructure, collaboration is essential in expanding affordable care services, implementing supportive policies, and shifting societal mindsets. This study fills a gap in existing research by uncovering organizational solutions and interventions in a patriarchal, developing-country context, where caregiving responsibilities hinder women's career progress.

This research led to the book "What Lies Behind Brazil’s Grand Houses in the 21st Century? A Diagnosis of Contemporary Domestic Slavery", which investigates the persistence of domestic slavery in contemporary Brazil, addressing the institutional, political, and legal barriers that hinder its eradication. The full study, published in January 28th, 2025, analyzes 118 labor inspection reports and 86 documented cases from 2017 to 2023, identifying a structural pattern of exploitation predominantly targeting lower class black women, often recruited in childhood and subjected to slavery-like conditions for an average of 26 years, according to the data. Moreover, the book deeply analyzes the statistics extracted from the cases, and suggests concrete improvements in order to guide public policies. Those recommendations are focused on gender pay equality and dignified conditions for the groups most affected by domestic slavery.

Among the cases, 92 people were rescued, with 78.3% being women and 21.7% men. In terms of racial composition, 82.6% of the victims were black or mixed race, and 65% had low educational attainment. The methodology combined qualitative and quantitative analyses, with data obtained from infraction reports, legal proceedings, inspection reports, and related documents. A form was used to parameterize the analysis of the documents, and the data was processed by charting the information in spreadsheets.

The study identified the most common mechanisms of exploitation, including: absence of remuneration, emotional manipulation, restriction of freedom, racial discrimination, and limited opportunities for personal/professional development. The most frequently observed form of contemporary slavery was subjection to degrading conditions, present in 83% of the cases. As for the employers, it was discovered that they were predominantly members of the urban elite, reinforcing the social and economic hierarchy that sustains these practices. Another significant factor is the naturalization of domestic work as a “natural female duty”. An important social marker of this is the way employing families refer to workers as “almost part of the family,” a notion that, in practice, is instrumentalized to deprive victims of proper labor conditions.

In the criminal perspective, the findings reveal that despite legislative advancements, law enforcement remains limited: only 16.3% of the cases resulted in criminal proceedings, with low conviction rates and insufficient compensation for victims. The conclusions and data are detailed in the aforementioned new book, which will be internationally released at the RDW 2025 Congress, contributing to the debate on gender equality, decent work, and social justice.

The governments of African countries have been experiencing policy and manpower challenges in implementing a decent work agenda in the domestic work sector in the Sub-Sahara areas, especially in Nigeria. This study explores the implementation of the Decent Work Agenda within the domestic work sector, focusing specifically on the Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area in Lagos, Nigeria. The study seeks to address the various challenges that domestic workers encounter and offers evidence-based recommendations to improve their lives and rights. The literature review focuses on the historical neglect and poor working conditions experienced by domestic workers, particularly in Southwestern Nigeria. It emphasizes the necessity of understanding the evolving landscape of domestic work and the influence of the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Decent Work Agenda. The study has several key objectives, including examining the relationship between employers' awareness of decent work standards and their commitment to fair labour practices for domestic workers. It also investigates the connection between employer policies and practices and the working conditions and social protections available to domestic workers. Additionally, the research intends to guide employers, policymakers, and stakeholders in fostering decent work standards and improving labour practices within the domestic work sector. The study utilized a quantitative approach to explore the presence of domestic workers. A convenience sampling method was used to gather data through structured questionnaires from households with domestic workers. The findings highlight major challenges employers face, with trust and reliability being the most significant concerns. Other challenges include workload management and communication issues, and few employers identified legal compliance as a challenge, suggesting a lack of awareness regarding the rights of domestic workers. The study stresses that decent work is a fundamental human right, requiring collaborative efforts from various stakeholders to establish frameworks that uphold labour standards. Recommendations include enhancing social dialogue, empowering domestic workers through training, creating brochures, handbooks, and digital resources that clearly outline the rights of domestic workers, collaborating with local government offices to promote awareness campaigns, and distributing educational materials in communities to reach both workers and employers on decent work agenda. Overall, this research aims to illuminate the vital contributions of domestic workers to households and tackle the challenges they face.

This panel explores continuities and changes in the evolution of programs fostering international migration for employment on a temporary basis across Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the US. Panelists investigate the conditions and outcomes of “new” international mobility programs alongside traditional temporary labour migration programs in the context of settler states whose immigration regimes have been shaped historically by various axes of social difference (gender, age, nationality, etc.) between migrants and settlers. While early immigration policies of the countries of focus promoted permanent settlement, such countries have also long relied upon temporary labour migration schemes to meet employer demands. Historically, prominent guest- or migrant-worker programs in these contexts have been characterized by depressed wages, poor working conditions, and limited access to rights, entitlements, and protections -- a dynamic shaped by colonial legacies and, in turn, racializing processes. Yet, the first quarter of the twenty-first century marked an apparent shift toward international mobility programs (IMPs) (i.e., issuing temporary work permits to postsecondary students and recent graduates, spouses of educational migrants and skilled workers, working holiday makers, and intercompany transferees). In this context, the growth of IMPs, oft typified by open work permits and assumedly more meaningful opportunities for permanent settlement, and justified typically on the basis of economic benefits to national economies (not sure), began to outpace (in some contexts) the expansion of traditional migrant work programs associated with exploitation more explicitly. In an evolving policy environment, participants in this special session use administrative and national survey data to generate profiles of migration and mobility subprograms—such as post-study permits, spousal accompaniment permits, intra-corporate transfers, and youth mobility arrangements—in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the US, to document the changing number and composition of workers they attract (i.e., considering country of origin, gender, age) and the occupations and sectors in which workers are employed. Collectively, the six papers comprising this panel seek to advance knowledge about the nature of these programs towards identifying policy circulation and mirroring in different national contexts and its effects.

There is a lack of productive, formal employment; more than half of the global working population is only precariously employed. In view of the success of the early industrialized countries and a few economically catching-up countries (especially the PR China), the question arises as to the exact economic, social and political reasons why the productive absorption of the working-age population is insufficient in the rather heterogeneous mass of the capitalist periphery compared to these successful countries. What specifically distinguishes the countries of the capitalist periphery from those that previously achieved a high level of formal employment?

To answer this question, I use a historical-materialist approach that takes into account the respective geopolitical contexts and the state of the productive forces of early industrialization and later industrialization efforts. My theses are therefore that (1) the colonial period casts a long shadow into the present, that (2) the significantly greater productivity gap between industry and agriculture compared to the early phase of industrialization inhibits the absorption of labor from the countryside into industry, that (3) the considerably faster growth of the working population (medical progress and a narrower migration valve) exceeds the productive employment opportunities and that (4) the early capitalist centers have enforced global economic rules that make industrial catch-up more difficult.

Following the work of Gavin Kitching on the problem of absorption of the population released from agriculture, I therefore compare the conditions in the early European industrialized countries with those in today's post-colonial countries. To illustrate this, I select two post-colonial countries that were both subject to the British Empire, but which differ greatly in terms of their initial situation, the forms of colonial exploitation and their size: Ghana and India.

This analysis adds historical materialist insights to the literature on economic informality, emphasizing not only the structure of global asymmetric dependencies but also the agency of early industrializers in limiting the possibilities of catching-up economies.

The paper begins with the violent enforcement of the international division of labor, with special consideration of the consequences of the enslavement of people in Africa. This is followed by a comparison of the capacity to absorb labor in the industrialization process of the imperial powers and the colonies that later became sovereign. It concludes with the post-imperial measures that restricted the catch-up economic development.

Abstract

This paper examines the interplay between labour markets, income distribution, economic structure, and growth. An attempt to challenge the neoclassical synthesis's neglect of the structure and income distribution in macroeconomic analysis, arguing that it's crucial for understanding growth patterns and their sustainability. The Employment Guarantee Program is presented as the alternative to stabilize the economy.

Research questions

The central research question revolves around identifying the factors contributing to sustainable growth that simultaneously reduce poverty and increase income inequality. This question is explored through the lens of different macro regimes and their impact on market structures and income distribution.

Methodological approach

The methodology employs a taxonomy of firms following Rima (2000) based on two dimensions: market orientation (external or internal) and market power (price setter or price taker). This framework allows to analyse four types of enterprises and their distinct relationships with the labour market and income distribution. The analysis integrates both functional and personal income distribution, examining intra-class conflict alongside the classical struggle between these factors. This framework is used to compare two contrasting periods in Argentina: the Convertibility regime (1991-2000) and the Post-Convertibility era (2003-2009). The analysis draws on historical data and economic theory, particularly Post-Keynesian economics, to interpret the observed patterns. A proposal of EGP is assessed and presented as automatic stabilizers of the economy.

Contributions to the literature

Re-emphasizes the significance of functional income distribution in macroeconomic analysis. Introduces a nuanced taxonomy of firms that goes beyond simple classifications, allowing for a more precise understanding of their roles in the economy. It offers a analysis integrating the interplay between exchange-rate regimes, market structures, income distribution, and employment. It provides a strong case for Employment Guarantee Programs (EGPs) as automatic stabilizers, offering a policy recommendation to mitigate economic volatility and reduce inequality.

The study concludes that while a competitive exchange rate is a necessary condition for sustainable growth, it's not sufficient. Employment Guarantee Programs, acting as a counter-cyclical measure, emerge as a crucial policy tool to manage distributional conflicts, stabilize the economy, and provide social protection. The EGPs are presented not as temporary social programs but as a permanent and flexible institutional mechanism capable of acting as an automatic stabilizer, smoothing economic cycles and safeguarding the livelihoods of the most vulnerable members of society

According to current macroeconomic models there is a need to maintain a “natural rate of unemployment” to contain inflation. Put simply, unemployment is considered an (inevitable) cost of price stability. Even some Post Keynesian economists consider the, so-called, balance of payments (BOP) constraint imposes a trade-off between inflation and unemployment in developing countries. On the contrary, what has come to be known as Modern Money Theory (MMT), from inception, argued that full employment and price stability can be achieved simultaneously, through a labor buffer stock or Job Guarantee (JG). In addition to the theoretical literature on the JG, there have been a number of “real world” experiences. In particular, Argentina´s Jefes y Jefas de Hogares Desocupados program (hereinafter, Jefes) has been considered, in the MMT literature, as a JG case study. While the Jefes and its reform have been addressed in the past, this article considers the rationale for such reform within the broader framework of an economic policy based on two fundamental pillars of social inclusion: the expansion of social security, and "Keynesian" demand-side policies that would drive economic growth and, thus, job creation.

While both job creation and expansion of social security allowed for a steep decline in poverty and extreme poverty rates during the 2003-2015 period, reversing the increasing trend of the 1990s, the economy did not get to full employment; in fact, jobs were lost for the less skilled. Not only “Keynesian” demand policies did not create true full employment, but they proved to be inherently inflationary. Indexation of public wages, social security payments and, virtually, every price paid by the government compounded the problem and institutionalized inflation.

After the fall of the currency board, in 2002, Argentina defaulted on its foreign currency public debt and implemented the Jefes, which could have been expanded to achieve full employment and an internally stable currency. Unfortunately, the Jefes was gradually faded-out, along with the potential benefits of transforming it into a true JG. As if this were not enough, Argentina is no longer a “sovereign” currency issuer. It is imperative to retake the road once taken.

Labor markets and, more generally, the world economy is going through an unprecedented transformation driven by technological, environmental and demographic changes. In this context, MMT offers practical solutions for achieving politically determined goals -like, for example, sustainable development goals-. Very especially, the JG can deliver full employment (for all) now.

Minsky’s (1965) Job Guarantee program, originally proposed in the mid-1960s, was designed to address unemployment and poverty. However, as Kalecki (1943) argued, full employment may be technically feasible but politically challenging due to class struggle, a contradiction that we term the ”Kaleckian dilemma.” This paper aims to explore how lessons from the Swedish Rehn-Meidner plan—which achieved low unemployment and controlled inflation for over three decades—might help to deal with this dilemma. While the current Job Guarantee literature outlines features that could partially replicate the Active Labor Market Policies of the Swedish plan, this paper contributes by suggesting an additional desirable feature: the establishment of an institutional framework that encourages collective worker bargaining in wage negotiations. Drawing on the Rehn-Meidner experience and building on Setterfield et al. (2023) approach to the Kaleckian dilemma, we suggest creating a tripartite centralized bargaining council (mediated by the

government) to negotiate wage adjustments at the national level, supporting the Job Guarantee program dealing with the Kaleckian dilemma by increasing the social bargain index to partially offset the reduction in unemployment cost.

Building on the power resources approach as an analytical framework, this article examines labour organising in Vietnam. Since the socio-economic reforms of 1986, Vietnam has emerged as a global manufacturing hub. However, during this period, state-controlled trade unions have struggled to effectively represent workers at the grassroots level. This systemic inadequacy has led to wildcat strikes becoming the predominant form of labour resistance. Despite successive legal reforms, state-sponsored dispute resolution mechanisms—such as labour mediation, arbitration, and adjudication—remain marginalised in addressing workers’ collective actions.

Drawing on a case study of workers organising a wildcat strike and live-streaming the event to mobilise participation and garner public attention, this research explores how workers exercise power and navigate dispute resolution. While workers’ structural power remains limited, the case study highlights how digital tools have accelerated information exchange and facilitated collective action, thereby strengthening associational and societal power. However, these tools also enable tighter employer surveillance and state repression against so-called ‘riot’ workers. This article highlights that the effectiveness of digital tools in empowering workers is not only shaped by employer responses but is also contingent on the role of the state apparatus.

This paper examines the power resources of dockworkers and seafarers within the maritime industry, emphasizing the spatial dynamics that shape their collective bargaining strength. Dockworkers operate in geographically contained environments, allowing them to exercise influence at national or local levels. Their unions, often nationally organized, can mobilize large-scale strikes, leveraging ports as strategic chokepoints. In contrast, seafarers are dispersed globally, limiting their collective action despite unionization under the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF). The fragmented nature of their workplaces—aboard vessels with small crews—diminishes their bargaining power compared to dockworkers.

Field research spanning harbors and shipping lines in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Western Europe reveals that traditional harbors tend to have strong labor organizations, while newer ports favor flexible employment models. This variation affects the logistical, market, and associational power of dockworkers, who benefit from urban proximity and social integration.

Dockworkers often secure local political support due to their integration into urban and political networks, with some union leaders holding positions in local governments. Their institutional power remains nationally bound, but in European harbors, proposed regulatory reforms by the European Commission have sparked resistance, coordinated primarily by the ETF. While dockworkers rely on national labor regulations, seafarers depend on international agreements such as the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), which seeks to establish fair working conditions and mitigate global labor exploitation.

Discursive power varies across contexts. In Colombia, neoliberal policies have marginalized dockworkers' rights, whereas in Belgium, unionized labor is considered essential for operational efficiency. For seafarers, international advocacy shapes perceptions, with the ITF playing a key role in negotiating collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). Notably, port workers aid seafarers by influencing ship handling operations, using their local power to pressure shipping companies into compliance.

Ultimately, the spatial dimension is a critical determinant of labor power in the maritime industry. Dockworkers' ability to concentrate their efforts within port cities contrasts sharply with the global dispersion of seafarers, highlighting the challenges and opportunities of labor organization across different geographical scales.

Empirically this study is based on field research in the context of the project titled “Possibilities and Limitations of Decent Working Conditions in Intercontinental Banana Shipping.” This project is supported by the German Society for International Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit - GIZ) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung - BMZ).

Fishing is a longstanding occupation in the world. Small-scale fishing (SSF) communities of South Asia face many challenges in their lives and livelihoods, particularly due to, capital expansionists, technological innovation, and climate change. This study was conducted in one Jaladas (slave of water) village of southeastern Bangladesh to determine the conditions of fishing labours in big boats and provide some evidence-based recommendations for enhancing their holistic well-being. This study adopted the qualitative research design, specifically the FGD. A random survey of 50 households was conducted to find out socio-economic conditions. This paper finds that the young Jaladas are pushed away from their birth-ascribed occupation and engaged as fishing labours in big boats. Their existing working environment is like an ancient slavery system. Bahaddar (owner of a mechanized boat) or his representative verbally appoints labours on contractual basis. They normally pay Taka 115,000/- (1 US$ = Taka 84.83) to 140,000/- to each labour for nine months. The amount of wage is fixed on the basis of some key factors; like age, physical strength, fishing skill, experience, trust, and supply & demand of labour. Usually, each labour has to stay nine months continuously at mid-sea for fishing. Scope of leave is rare. Fishing labours are not able to communicate with their family and relatives due to lack of network frequency of cell phone. They only return to shore during high signal of cyclone and embargo period on fishing. Fishing labours are bound to work under such adversative conditions for survival. SSF communities become poorest of the poor due to lake of sufficient concentration from the government, NGOs, private sector, international development agencies and other actors. Moreover, relevant articles of the UDHR and FAO initiated SSF Guidelines are not implemented properly in support of fishing labours working in large boats. Highest profit-earning mentality of commercial entrepreneurs, apathy, absence of rules of law; lack of collective voices & effective labours association, and non-recognition the rights of labours under small-scale fisheries sector in Labour Law of Bangladesh are major reasons for plights of fishing labours. Still research works are very inadequate in this area. Therefore, global human rights organizations are in dark from real scenario. This paper urged that the Government of Bangladesh should include prioritized needs of fishing labour as provisions during the amendment of Labour Law. Proper execution of Labour Law and establishing the rules of law are concerning issues for ensuring the well-being of fishing labours.

As the world of work evolves, creative institutions exemplify the complexities of non-standard employment systems. This study explores organizational (OC) and professional commitment (PC) within the interorganizational theatre employment system in West Bengal, India, where the labour market is segmented into the “permanent” uni-contractees, the self-employed freelancers and the transparent moonlighters who are allowed interorganizational mobility. As theatre organizations allocate numerous resources (training, compensation and networks) to actors, this study draws on social exchange theory and proposes a theoretical model that investigates how perceptions of HR bundles (commitment- and performance-based) and flexible contracts, such as transparent moonlighting, influence actors’ affective, continuance and normative commitments, and subjective career success (SCS).

Using the context of theatre organizations, this study examines the tensions between both commitments through the interplay of artistic values, organizational goals, multi-agency and volition. It makes significant contribution in the HR bundles domain, where even in low-paying non-formalized socially-constructed institutional fields such as theatre, actor experiences indicate how innovative HR bundles organically evolve from hiring, training and compensation practices to sustain decent work and commitment. It also probes into how transparent moonlighting emerges as a transformative employment model that crafts institutional adaptation by providing adequate remunerative work opportunities in creative industries. This study contributes to theory by highlighting that commitment towards an organization does not necessarily require being contractually bound to it, rather being involved in reciprocal and negotiated arrangements with multiple organizations raises organizational commitment as it ensures decent work. It also looks into the mediating roles that both commitments play in the HR bundles-SCS relationship.

Data was obtained by surveying 347 professional theatre actors: uni-contractees (N=77) and transparent moonlighters (N=270), from various theatre organizations in West Bengal. As our model has interrelated constructs, we used ANOVA and linear regression analysis to verify the hypotheses.

The findings reveal that commitment-based HR bundles enhance OC, while performance-based HR bundles strengthen PC, excluding normative commitment. Contract flexibility moderates these relationships, paradoxically showing that working across organizations elevates actors’ commitment to their primary organization as it increases decent work opportunities. Continuance organizational commitment weakly mediates the commitment-based HR bundle and SCS relationship. By positioning theatre organizations as experimental spaces for revitalizing labour market institutions, this research proposes adaptable HR models that promote decent work, support lifelong skill development, and respond to the challenges of informal employment, addressing broader global issues, including precarious work and institutional adaptation in the face of environmental shifts.

Indian artisans constitute an indispensable yet vulnerable section of the society. Despite their significant contribution to the nation’s economic growth, they often find themselves excluded from mainstream financial and technological advancement. The Global Findex Database 2021 of the World Bank estimates that 44% of adults in India do not have an account at a financial institution. However, India has made significant strides in this area in recent years. The use of digital technology has allowed India to achieve financial inclusion for 85% of its population. Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana launched by the Government of India, is the world’s largest COVID-related cash transfer scheme benefitting the marginalised section. This study explores the transformative potential of financial inclusion in enhancing the sustainable livelihood of artisans. The research is based on Mithila art also known as Madhubani art (GI tag in 2007) that evolved from being a folk art to a sustainable livelihood for many artisans in India. The study investigates the current state of financial access and inclusion among Mithila artisans and attempts to discuss the challenges faced by the community, their financial access and market integration. Focussing on multi-sited ethnographic in Bihar and Delhi, in-depth interviews with artisans, Self-Help Groups (SHG) and focused group discussion at Jitwarpur (Craft Village of Bihar, India) was conducted. Archival reports were referred to analyse how financial constraints impact their economic well-being. Recent studies culminate that financial inclusion can have a positive impact on marginalised communities and lack of access to financial services can lead to poverty traps and inequality (Banerjee and Newman, 1993; Aportela, 1999; Beck Demirg -Kunt and Levine, 2007; Dupas and Robinson, 2009). This study grounded in the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (Majale,2002) and Financial Inclusion Framework (World Bank Group, 2013), argues that improved access to appropriate financial services can strengthen artisan’s asset base, enhance their capabilities, and expand their market opportunities. A key focus of this research is exploring the interplay between access to financial services and existing social capital within artisan communities, examining how this dynamic influences economic outcomes. The research aims to provide context-specific, evidence-based recommendations for stakeholders to empower Mithila artisans through strategic financial inclusion initiatives, ultimately contributing to their economic empowerment and sustainable development.

This paper presentation investigates the evolving life-course trajectories of globally connected Information Technology (IT) and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) workers in India, emphasising how global service value chains generate economic opportunities while simultaneously reinforcing entrenched precarity, risk, and uncertainty. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research in Pune, a vibrant Tier-2 urban services outsourcing hub, and on recurrent participant interviews since 2017, the study maps out workers’ skill training pathways, precarious working conditions, and fragmented career trajectories. It reveals not only the systemic challenges that underpin these global networks but also the remarkable resilience and agency with which Indian workers sustain them.

At the heart of the analysis is a critical exploration of local social factors and institutional frameworks for effective work regulation and oversight. Findings indicate that traditional labour market structures often fail to protect younger workers and then through their life-course, particularly in environments dominated by rigid management systems that exact a heavy mental and physical toll. The study argues that revitalising local regulatory frameworks, through targeted skill development initiatives and enhanced collective bargaining rights, is essential for safeguarding workers amid rapid technological and economic disruptions. It argues that effective ground-level oversight must integrate the efforts of both state and non-state institutions, including the private sector and NGOs providing grassroots training support, advocacy, and indie union collectives representing the voice of IT/ITeS workers. Together, these coalitions can help translate regulatory policies into practical improvements, ensuring that the protections promised by policy are realised on the ground, creating buy-ins from lead firms in the global North and their subcontractors in the global South. In sum, this paper contributes to debates on labour market institutional reform by offering actionable strategies for constructing a resilient and adaptive labour framework in services supply chains. The insights so developed have significant implications for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars who seek to foster a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable labour ecosystem in India’s global services landscape.

Given the rise in income inequality worldwide, the role of firms as modern drivers of the

economy for propelling the growth of employment and ensuring economic stability has become the central focus of policy discussions. This paper examines empirically, the institutional complementarities between labour, finance and product market regulations along with their role in influencing the growth trajectory of employment in India. In India, the growth pertaining to the size of a firm is largely constrained by stringent labour and product market regulations. As per the assertions put forth by existing literature impact of financial market development on the growth of firms has been heterogeneous across all industries. On the contrary, labour market effects of these institutions are disparate. This paper further analyses the heterogeneity in product and labour market regulations as well as the varied development of financial markets across all the states of India. Further, using the dynamic panel data model-IV model, the differential impacts of financial market development combined with product and labour market regulation on the growth in the size of the share employment both at extensive and intensive margins has been assessed. The dataset, provided by CMIE-PROWESS is composed of small, large and medium-sized Indian firms and covers a span of twenty four years from 1998-2022, with varying information for twenty-one Indian states.

The central argument of this paper is that the effect of financial market development is stronger for stimulating inherent or intra-firm growth compared to product and labour market regulations. Albeit, it prima facie appears that labour market regulation could decelerate the growth of a firm’s size, it has been established in this paper that upon controlling the macro trends the estimated coefficient turns out to be almost negligible. This paper concludes that the growth of Indian firms is more or less affected by their capacity to attract external funds to bolster investment and the possibility to adapt to the dynamic workforce, assuming the presence of a stringent institutional framework. The results are robust to alternative specifications that control for industry and firm-level characteristics and address the concern of potential reverse causality.

Abstract: There is a growing trend likely responding to the fragmentation of the labour market in which substantive collective labour rights have been gradually extended to different groups of solo self-employed (e.g., the EU guidelines for antitrust standards of the solo self-employed, the platform worker directive, and several legislative reforms at the national level, which provide different rights on information/consultation/representation of workers beyond the employment relationship).

This tendency is compliant with the foundational principles laid down in human rights instruments and international labour standards (UN, ILO). However, in most legal reforms, procedural channels and structures of representation seem to have been left untouched. Individual case studies where workers outside the employment relationship do not meet the requirements stipulated in the law to be recognized as a valid structure of representation have been broadly identified, threatening to render these substantive collective rights inoperable. Cases where more flexible procedural rules led to illegitimate representation have also risen, particularly in the platform economy. These developments raise questions of whether rules of recognition and representativity established for structures of worker representation obstruct the effective exercise of collective labour rights by solo self-employed and to what extent these rules are well suited for these workers. Are they able to enable their collective representation and voice? Or, are they simply a procrustean bed in urgent need of reconceptualisation? This research is about that question – and related issues.

The overarching aim of this research is to assess if current rules that regulate structures of worker representation and their criteria for recognition and representativity hinder the enjoyment of fundamental collective labour rights of workers outside the employment contract. To do so, the methodology proposed is to examine and compare specific national legal systems, to later contrast the domestic rules against the exercise of platform workers' fundamental collective labour rights, precisely seeking to determine from such exercise if such rules enable or obstruct the effective enjoyment of these rights.

Introduction

Globalization, technological advancements, and shifting market dynamics have disrupted job stability, social security, and protections for workers worldwide. In the manufacturing sector, downsizing strategies driven by economic restructuring, climate change adaptation, and technological upgradation have significantly impacted labor market institutions, intensifying the vulnerabilities of workers in formal and informal economies.

Research Objectives

This study aims to investigate the socio-economic, physical, cultural, and emotional effects of termination on workers in manufacturing industries in Gujarat, India. It explores the challenges faced by workers pre- and post-termination, evaluates institutional responses, and identifies mechanisms to protect and empower affected employees.

Methodology

The research employs a mixed-methods approach. Qualitative data is gathered through personal interviews with terminated employees to understand their lived experiences. Quantitative data is derived from secondary sources to analyze broader trends in labor market institutions and termination practices. Judgmental sampling is used to ensure a diverse and representative sample of respondents.

Key Findings

Preliminary findings shall highlight the multifaceted challenges faced by terminated workers, including economic hardship, mental health strain, and social exclusion. The study examines the role of collective bargaining, trade unions, and labor legislation in mitigating these impacts and assesses the effectiveness of care infrastructure and upskilling programs in facilitating employment transitions.

Contributions to Literature

This research bridges a critical gap by providing empirical evidence on the socio-economic consequences of worker termination and offering insights into strengthening labor institutions. The findings contribute to the discourse on decent work and highlight the need for inclusive policies to safeguard workers’ rights in a rapidly evolving labor market.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The paper proposes actionable recommendations to enhance institutional responses, including stronger labor legislation, expanded social protections, and mechanisms to support sustainable employment transitions. It underscores the importance of labor market reforms that prioritize equity, inclusivity, and resilience for vulnerable workers.

This special session proposal examines the impact of mandatory mediation on the effectiveness of labour law, using Türkiye as an example. Mandatory mediation was introduced in 2018 to resolve individual labour disputes faster and ease the judiciary’s workload. Mediation is not only a dispute resolution method, its practice affects all employees and has significant effects on their social positions and working conditions, influencing both their needs and how they exercise their rights in labour relations.

This session socio-legally examines mediation in individual work disputes, focusing on participants’ experiences. It will interpret the mediation practice from the viewpoints of employees, comparing across different types of work, and discuss legal practice based on the analysis of court decisions. In this aspect, it is compatible with the 4th track of the conference. Especially in terms of employees’ access to justice, the mediation practice affects and transforms the legal and institutional frameworks that regulate and implement labour rights. This analysis will explore whether mediation bolsters reforms to improve working conditions or undermines employees’ access to fundamental rights and justice. The goal is to provide data and a starting point for ensuring rights for formal, informal and migrant employees. This proposal comprehensively analyzes Turkish mediation, offering insights for policy and other similar countries.

The assumption that the parties are equal in mediation can be questioned where there is inequality between the parties in employment relations. Mediation, as a legal mechanism designed for equal parties, is imposing to an unequal situation. Power imbalances, such as employee’s economic weakness, lack of sources to finance the litigation or an urgent need for payment, and lack of knowledge about their rights can reduce their bargaining power. Employers’ superior position makes it easier for them to abuse mediation. Concerns also arise regarding the impartiality of mediators chosen by employers. The confidential nature of mediation can weaken the strengthening effect of courts, especially visibility, potentially masking social injustice data, as mediation agreements do not set precedents for other employees. They may feel pressured to accept monetary settlements on issues that are difficult to bargain over or prove, such as discrimination, being qualified as employees or sexual harassment. Mandatory mediation can also restrict court access, as the plaintiff has to prove that an agreement could not be reached in the mediation. This research will verify concerns and propose mediation practices to ensure effective labor law and meet employee needs.

We recommend increasing employees’ legal literacy, compulsory representation of employees with a lawyer, strengthening legal aid, and controlling mediator selection, for an inclusive and accessible mediation process that ensures the right to a fair trial and decent work, addressing the shortcomings and barriers in realizing and strengthening employees’ rights.

The proposed session will present findings from an ongoing project (No: 124K758) supported by Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK). The research does not deal with mediation from a positivist legal perspective and employs a socio-legal approach based on grounded theory. Data are collected from three primary sources:

- In-depth interviews with employees in different sectors and employment types (10 of 40 interviews completed with partial analysis)

- A survey of 385 employees measuring satisfaction with mediation experiences (to be completed in early April)

- Analysis of Court of Cassation and appeals court decisions since 2018, examining the prominent issues, the trends, and the controversial issues in doctrine and in the courts decisions such as nullity, defect of consent, unfair advantages, revocability, and the legal qualification of agreements reached before the mediator.

The goal is to measure mediation’s effectiveness in labour law and to uncover its fundamental transformation of labour relations through legal practice.

Individual presentations will cover various aspects of mandatory mediation:

- Assoc. Prof. Dr. Duygu Hatipoğlu Aydın, from Hacettepe University Faculty of Law, Department of Philosophy and Sociology of Law, will analyze how labor relation changes affect dispute resolution, comparing the mediation process with court proceedings based on employees’ experiences with both.

- Dr. Çağla Erdoğan, from Ankara University Faculty of Law, Department of Labour and Social Security Law, will present research data showing how mandatory mediation can be used manipulatively to serve employers’ interests.

- Assist. Prof. Dr. Orhan Emre Konuralp, from Kırklareli University Faculty of Law, Department of Civil Procedure and Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law, will analyze the relationship between the mandatory mediation and the right to access to court.

- PhD Candidate Münevver Temir, from Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University Faculty of Law, Department of Labour and Social Security Law, will address difficulties in protecting fundamental rights in labour law through mediation.

- PhD Candidate Hasan Karakaya, from Bursa Uludag University, Department of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations, and PhD Candidate Burak Yücekaya, from Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Faculty of Law, Department of Philosophy and Sociology of Law will assess the current and potential effects of mandatory mediation on informal employees.

Introduction

Since 2014, digital labor platforms have transformed Brazil’s labor market, with over 1,500 platforms—705 dedicated to transport services alone—operating in the country. Despite their economic relevance, approximately 1.5 million platform workers remain in a regulatory void, caught between contradictory judicial rulings and legislative inertia. Although more than a hundred legislative proposals addressing platform work are under discussion, none have yet provided effective protection for these workers. Bill 12/2024, developed by a tripartite working group, represents the most ambitious attempt at regulation. However, will this initiative translate into real labor protections, or will it remain another well-intended but ineffective reform?

Research Question

This study critically evaluates whether Bill 12/2024 is capable of closing the regulatory gap for platform workers and ensuring effective labor protections. It investigates whether the bill’s provisions can overcome implementation barriers such as enforcement deficits, corporate resistance, and workers' access to labor rights.

Methodology

The study employs a qualitative legal analysis, integrating legislative review, case law examination, and policy evaluation. Primary sources include the official records of the tripartite working group that formulated the bill. Comparative perspectives from international regulatory models help assess the feasibility of the Brazilian approach.

Contribution to Literature

By situating Bill 12/2024 within global debates on the effectiveness of labor regulation, this study contributes to understanding why many well-intended labor laws fail to deliver meaningful change. It assesses whether the bill moves beyond symbolic regulation by providing enforceable rights and institutional mechanisms. Furthermore, it highlights the structural challenges of integrating platform workers into traditional labor law frameworks.

Findings

Preliminary findings suggest that Bill 12/2024 offers an important but incomplete step toward regulating platform work. While it establishes minimum labor protections, a tariff regulation model, and social security mechanisms, the real challenge lies in enforcement. Without robust oversight, the bill may fail to improve working conditions, mirroring the difficulties seen in previous labor reforms. The study argues that effective implementation strategies are crucial for transforming regulatory aspirations into tangible protections for platform workers.

Introduction:

The regulatory landscape for app-operating companies in the transportation sector is evolving rapidly. Despite well-meaning legislative attempts to safeguard essential rights, the recent Brazilian Bill 12/2024 raises significant concerns regarding the adequacy and efficacy of legal protections for workers in this sector. This paper explores the implications of such legislation on labor rights and the broader legal framework governing worker status and protections.

Research Questions:

1. What are the potential impacts of Bill 12/2024 on the legal classification of app-based transportation workers?

2. How does this bill align or conflict with international standards and judicial practices regarding worker autonomy and employment rights?

3. In what ways does Bill 12/2024 reflect broader trends in labor law adaptation to digital economies?

Methodology:

This study adopts a qualitative approach, examining legislative texts, judicial rulings, and secondary literature on labor law and digital economy regulations. Through comparative legal analysis with international cases and doctrinal review, the research seeks to uncover underlying motivations and projected outcomes of the bill's provisions.

Contribution to Literature:

This research contributes to the growing body of literature on the intersection of technology and labor law, offering a critical analysis of the Brazilian legislative response to the gig economy. It situates Bill 12/2024 within global debates on worker classification and legal protection, thereby enhancing the understanding of legislative approaches in emerging markets.

Findings:

The analysis reveals that Bill 12/2024 potentially undermines established labor protections by categorizing workers as autonomous, circumventing traditional judicial roles in determining employment status. This aligns with global patterns toward deregulation but contradicts many international standards advocating for judiciary-based oversight. The bill represents a significant shift in Brazilian labor law, moving away from court jurisdiction over such matters, thus risking reduced protection for workers.

The tension between autonomy and subordination that characterises platform work challenges labour, social security and union statutes, leading to judicial and legislative disputes over the application of traditional employment classifications and the concept of independent contractors, involving workers, companies and governments. In Brazil, this regulatory dispute follows a similar pattern. The agreement forged between the government and the companies was based on the rejection of the classification of app drivers under Brazilian labour law, while at the same time including them in the public social security system. Through a tripartite forum with representatives from companies and trade unions, the government sought to facilitate labour and social security regulation for the sector. However, the content and the agreement reached were rejected by the app driver and courier movements, which do not recognise the unions and claim that their demands have not been effectively addressed. The disputes continue. There are a range of studies on legislative innovations and judicial decisions related to working conditions on digital platforms. A relevant part of them examines the degree of affinity of the legislation and decisions with the ILO Recommendation on Employment Relations (198, 2006). At the same time, there is a substantial body of literature on associativism among platform workers. These movements often combine demands to increase their earnings, reduce company discretion and preserve autonomy. The literature emphasises the importance of informal social networks in organising workers and highlights a notable distrust of trade unions and institutionalised representation. How does the associativity of these workers affect the regulatory frameworks of labour rights and social security within platform markets? How do everyday working conditions and particular forms of organisation challenge the institutional arrangements of worker representation? Adopting a political economy and class composition approach, and mobilising document and interview analysis, the paper examines the interests, strategies and coalitions within the current experience of the associativim of transport platform workers in Brazil in relation to regulatory conflict. The paper suggests that the movements of app drivers and couriers are a key factor in the regulatory process. The analysis also shows how their work routines and organising repertoires within them challenge the notion of the 'most representative organisation', undermining trust not only in unions but also in parties and governments. It articulates the regulation of digital platform work with the broader issue of the legitimacy crisis of democratic regimes, highlighting the need for regulatory and institutional experimentalism.

Introduction

The spread of digital platforms, though a global phenomenon, interacts with local socioeconomic structures. The implications for labour relations in Latin America pose a challenge for academics and policymakers.

Digital platforms benefit from the existence of abundant unemployed, discouraged, and underemployed workers, and contribute to the replacement of protected with unprotected labor, prompting a public debate about their regulation. We hypothesize that this process is an important factor in the restructuring of labour relations in the region.

Based on interviews conducted with delivery workers as part of the project “LABOR RELATIONS IN DIGITAL PLATFORMS IN PERIPHERAL CONTEXTS: A FACTOR OF RE-PATTERNING IN LATIN AMERICA?”, covering Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, this paper discusses how delivery workers perceive their work and act in consequence. The focus will be on a comparison of the cities of Rosario and Santa Fe (Argentina) and Recife (Brazil), to show the impact of different labour market contexts.

Objectives

To identify the similarities and differences in the agency of delivery workers in the selected cities in Argentina and Brazil, analyzing the intersections among "survival strategies," "resistance actions," and "forms of struggle and organization". To generate reflection on whether the agency of delivery workers does or does not contribute to decent work in the region.

Research Question

How do app-based delivery workers in Brazil and Argentina, particularly in the cities of Recife, Rosario, and Santa Fe, perceive their work and how does this influence their actions? How might this influence the realization of decent work?

Methodology

The paper brings together the following elements, all addressed in a comparative framework:

• Contextualization of recent changes in labor market dynamics.

• Systematization of initiatives to regulate platform work, in the context of recent changes in labor legislation.

• Analytical matrix of worker profiles in the three cities, using survey data.

• Synthesis of survival strategies adopted by delivery workers, their forms of organization and actions of resistance against corporate policies.

Contribution to Literature and Findings

• Documentation of the interconnections between the spread of the platform economy and the historical existence of informality in the region.

• Characterization of delivery workers' practices in Brazil and Argentina and of the relational nature of their daily work strategies.

• Identification of similar and differing conditions for the regulation of work in the two contexts, from the perspective of decent work.

Session 1: Conceptualising Decent Work Across Disciplines, Geographies and Perspectives

Across two special sessions we showcase ten chapters from the forthcoming Research Handbook of Decent Work, which is being finalised for publication by Edward Elgar Publishing. The book takes an interdisciplinary and international approach to explore the concept of decent work and its importance in today’s society. Decent work refers to employment that is productive, provides a fair income, offers social protection, and respects workers’ rights. It is a fundamental human right, essential for promoting economic growth, reducing poverty, and achieving sustainable development. It is featured in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 8 and is linked to many more, including quality education, the elimination of poverty, and gender equality.

Research on decent work has accelerated over the past decade, drawing attention to its importance beyond disciplinary boundaries, and across various geographic, economic, and social contexts. Academic researchers have operationalised the concept (Duffy, et al, 2016; Ferraro, et al, 2018) and scrutinised its applicability in different contexts and for various workers across the globe (e.g., Blustein, et al, 2016; Duffy, et al, 2020). Beyond all this scrutiny, what has emerged is a compelling case for decent work as a means to promote social justice and well-being and create a more equitable and sustainable society.

These sessions offer a unique and engaging opportunity to delve into the latest decent work research. The accompanying book showcases diverse perspectives on decent work from multiple disciplines, including sociology, economics, work and organisational psychology, vocational psychology, and employment relations, underscoring the complementarity of these different lenses in understanding decent work. Contributions are geographically diverse, combining established and emerging scholars’ voices and integrating perspectives from practitioners such as unions about their experience implementing decent work on the ground.

To reflect the richness and breadth of this research, each session addresses a distinct but complementary aspect of decent work:

1. Conceptualising decent work across disciplines, geographies and perspectives: This session critically examines how decent work is defined, theorised, and operationalised across disciplines, highlighting how regional and contextual factors shape its meaning and implementation. The session brings together theoretical debates, interdisciplinary perspectives and discussions on measurement challenges, providing a robust foundation for understanding decent work’s evolving role in contemporary labour markets.

2. Emerging challenges and future directions for decent work: This session shifts focus to the challenges that threaten decent work in the 21st century. It explores how technological changes, AI-driven employment transformations, gig work, migration, and climate change are reshaping traditional labour protections and worker experiences. By addressing contemporary threats and potential policy solutions, this session highlights how the decent work agenda must evolve to remain relevant in a rapidly changing global economy.

A strength of this two-part session is the diversity of voices and perspectives. We have speakers from across the globe sharing their research. Recognising the importance of a cross-stakeholder approach to decent work, we ensure that this session addresses the needs of policymakers, organisational decision-makers, unions, employees, and academics.

Session 1: Conceptualising Decent Work Across Disciplines, Geographies and Perspectives

This session critically examines how theoretical frameworks and empirical approaches have been used to define, measure, and critique decent work. It will address key questions such as:

● How do different disciplines conceptualise and assess decent work?

● What role does culture, governance, and economic structure play in shaping how decent work is understood globally?

● To what extent do existing decent work models account for social inequalities, precarity, and informal labour?

Session Co-Chairs:

● Ishbel McWha-Hermann, University of Edinburgh Business School, Edinburgh, United Kingdom & Director, Project Fair

● Christian Yao, School of Management, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

● Noelle Donnelly, School of Management, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

Speakers:

● Annamaria Di Fabio, School of Psychology, University of Florence, Italy

● David L Blustein, Department of Counselling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology, Boston College, USA

● Ines Meyer, School of Management Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa

● Esther Garcia-Buades, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain

● Kantha Dayaram, School of Management and Marketing, Curtin University, Australia

Discussant: Prof Deirdre McCann, Durham Law School, Durham University

References

Blustein, D. L., Olle, C., Connors-Kellgren, A., & Diamonti, A. J. (2016). Decent work: A psychological perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 407.

Duffy, R. D., Blustein, D. L., Diemer, M. A., & Autin, K. L. (2016). The psychology of working theory. Journal of counseling psychology, 63(2), 127.

Duffy, R. D., Kim, H. J., Allan, B. A., & Prieto, C. G. (2020). Predictors of decent work across time: Testing propositions from Psychology of Working Theory. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 123, 103507.

Ferraro, T., Pais, L., Rebelo Dos Santos, N., & Moreira, J. M. (2018). The Decent Work Questionnaire: Development and validation in two samples of knowledge workers. International Labour Review, 157(2), 243-265.

Violence and harassment in the world of work is a widespread, persistent, and recurrent phenomenon, with more than one in five persons in employment having experienced it during their working life (ILO and LRF, 2022). Yet, research and statistics on violence and harassment remain scarce and sporadic, limiting our comprehensive understanding and policy action to prevent and address this scourge. To fill this gap, the ILO and France have launched a technical cooperation project on "Combating violence and harassment in the world of work & Equal remuneration and career opportunities for men and women" (2020-25), with a focus on West Africa.

This Special Session will showcase the innovative, interdisciplinary research initiated by the project to advance knowledge and measurement of violence and harassment in the world of work across West African countries. The session will bring together academics, statisticians and practitioners to present and discuss cutting-edge research and its policy implications for preventing and addressing violence and harassment in the world of work in line with the ILO Violence and Harassment in the World of Work Convention, 2019 (No. 190).

The session will feature presentations of key findings from four major research projects that explore the complex dynamics of violence and harassment in the world of work in West Africa. These projects provide new insights into the socio-cultural, organizational, and legal factors influencing violence and harassment at work, as well as novel data and evidence on the extent and impact of the phenomena. Following the presentations, participants will engage in a lively discussion on the policy implications of these findings, specifically focusing on their relevance to the ratification and implementation of Convention 190 in the region.

Through this exchange of knowledge and experiences, the session aims to highlight innovative measurement approaches of violence and harassment in the world of work, as well as practical steps for strengthening the country approach to preventing and eliminating violence and harassment in the world of work.

Session proposal

Mathieu Dupuis, Laval University

Mélanie Laroche, University of Montréal

Multiple disruptions are reshaping the world of work. These disruptions - such as the acceleration of climate change, the rise of digital technologies and major demographic changes, flexibilization and fissuring strategies – are deepening asymmetries of power between workers and their representatives, on the one hand, and firms and supply chains, on the other.

In this polycrisis context, world-of-work actors experiment a variety of actions and strategies. Approaches vary with national, industry, and organizational contexts as well as the political orientations and resources of the actors themselves. Within this context, the “better work’ framework focuses on the dimensions of risk, autonomy, and expressiveness to capture these multiple dimensions and levels of better and worse work.

Negotiated, co-constructed or imposed, experimentation stems from the various initiatives and strategies that actors put forward. While in some cases experimentation may have a positive impact on one or more dimensions of work quality, others produce no tangible results, or even lead to a general deterioration in work quality. Some experiments also produce contradictory effects, with some aspects of work improving while others deteriorate.

For example, for some employers, experimentation will be driven by the urge to increase productivity, their flexibility or even reduce their dependency on labour. For unions, experimentation for better work is a way of broadening bargaining and policy agendas and connecting with the concerns of those they represent or seek to represent. For policy makers, preoccupied by labour shortages and the impact of growing inequalities on populism and democracy, such experimentation offers an opportunity to embrace favourable working conditions as more than just an economic trickle-down effect.

The aim of this session is to better understand the effects of different disruptions the world-of-work is facing and the challenges they pose, as well as the actions and experiments deployed by actors to address them. The key is to gain a better understanding of how these strategies or any other approach to these disruptions develop and, when applicable, are institutionalized. It is also crucial to comprehend why these actions and strategies sometimes make work better and sometimes make work worse, on one or more of its dimensions.

This session will build on the CRIMT International Partnership Project on Institutional Experimentation for Better or Worse Work, which is an interuniversity, inter-disciplinary and international collaborative research network bringing together researchers from around the world to look at the challenges of institutional experimentation and renewal for work and employment.

This session aims to contribute to the debate on the capacity of institutions to deal with the polycrisis context facing labour market actors (track 3). More specifically, we are analysing the resilience of actors in the face of various crises and their ability to implement innovative solutions to enable a more equitable and inclusive world of work. We are proposing 4 papers in this session, which will address various crises, including the climate crisis, the digital revolution, Covid-19, labour shortages and even the public finance crisis. Our aim is to gain a better understanding of the factors that enable actors to better respond to these crises and ensure better work.

Abstract

Abstract

Technological shifts, particularly the rise of digitalisation, present formidable challenges for the future work landscape and its workers. The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) coupled with the rapid shift to automation has led to widespread job losses, dramatically impacting the construction, ready-made garment and shoe industries in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and those still evolving.

Specific job categories are steadily disappearing, threatening to become relics of the past, displacing countless workers who may find it challenging to adapt and embrace new skills. With the winds of change blowing strongly, the International Labour Organization (ILO) (2018) highlights an already troubling scenario: a scarcity of employment opportunities for women and young people. As we look ahead, the looming advent of automation and robotics may further complicate the quest for decent and fulfilling work for all.

Job loss has hit hardest in countries positioned at the lower tiers of the global supply chain. In emerging economies, particularly throughout the vibrant Asia-Pacific region, the rapid integration of robotics between 2005 and 2014 sparked a staggering 14% decline in jobs across traditional industries. Comparatively, developed nations saw a mere 1% reduction in employment during the same timeframe (Carbonero et al., 2018).

Moreover, the wave of automation has intensified the challenges women workers face, paving the way for precarious work and eroding wages. The labour landscape shifts dramatically as informal and casual work arrangements become the norm. In such an environment, workers' fundamental rights to organise, represent their interests and engage in collective bargaining risk being undermined or entirely obliterated. As a result, many women workers find themselves at the mercy of powerful corporations, stripped of protection and vulnerable to the relentless forces of capital and corporate dominance.

The rise of digitalisation has negatively impacted the lives of women workers, intensifying issues such as discrimination, exploitation, violence, and intrusive monitoring. A notable illustration of this is automation—the shift where machines and robots assume roles previously held by humans. In a broader, concerning pattern, major multinational corporations (MNCs) have closed their Asian factories and opted to move production to other regions. There, the production landscape is quickly evolving, as tasks once handled by skilled workers are progressively assigned to efficient robots and advanced 3D printers, jeopardising jobs and the very foundation of communities closely linked to these sectors. This special session aims to share women workers narratives from women workers in the construction, Ready-Made Garment and shoe industries across Bangladesh, India, and Indonesia. It raises critical questions about the effects of automation on these women: How does the shift towards automation hinder decent work opportunities for grassroots women workers? In what ways do current neoliberal policies and global frameworks exacerbate the challenges and potential issues posed by automation? Furthermore, how can we develop new policies that address these emerging challenges and structural barriers, ensuring the protection of women's rights and the pursuit of decent work for all, including the rights to organise, Freedom of Association (FoA) and Collective Bargaining?

Introduction: The ILO’s labour standards affirm workers' rights to organize and engage in collective bargaining and social dialogue. However, ensuring meaningful participation, especially for workers in the informal economy who fall outside traditional labour laws, remains a challenge. Even when inclusive dialogue spaces exist, translating discussions into concrete policy changes is difficult. Despite these barriers, organisations of workers in the informal economy continue to push for social dialogue to drive policy reforms. Previous studies, such as those by Schmidt et al. (2023) and Alfers & Moussié (2022), document such efforts. This paper presents initial findings from a study in Southeast Asia - an under-research region in this respect, which builds on existing research by exploring the connection between social dialogue and the extension of social protection to workers in the informal economy.

Research Questions: What are the challenges encountered by workers in the informal economy in accessing existing institutionalised social dialogue spaces in Southeast Asia? What strategic and policy lessons can we learn from the ways in which workers in the informal economy are engaging in social dialogue for social protection - through both formal and informal mechanisms - across the region?

How does gender shape inclusion and participation in social dialogue and what implications does this have for the above?

Methodology: This study was built off a structured national-level survey conducted with the support of ASEAN’s Senior Labour Officials Meeting (SLOM), to which five of the ten member states responded, and four exploratory, qualitative case studies conducted in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and at the regional level of ASEAN. To guide analysis it draws on a hybrid framework including ILO norms and standards, the ILO framework for inclusive and effective social dialogue, and insights from the power resources framework.

Findings and contribution to literature: The study reveals that social dialogue in Southeast Asia varies by country and official mechanisms generally fail to meet ILO’s inclusivity standards, though some trade unions have successfully engaged workers in the informal economy. Despite these challenges, organisations of workers strategically harness their power to advocate for more inclusive social dialogue and policy change. Case studies show that sectors with high female participation, such as domestic and home-based work, can leverage their collective strength to push for gender-responsive social protection. These findings offer insights into effective strategies for building worker power and advancing policy changes in the informal economy.

Informal employment remains a persistent structural challenge in Latin America, affecting nearly half of the workforce and limiting access to labour rights and social protection. This vulnerability became particularly evident during the COVID-19 crisis, when informal workers faced severe economic shocks with little institutional support. In response, several Latin American countries have implemented policies to extend social protection to informal workers and facilitate transitions to formality.

This paper examines: (1) What policy mechanisms have been used in Latin America to extend social protection to informal workers? (2) To what extent have these policies improved workers' security and facilitated formalisation? (3) What challenges remain in designing inclusive and sustainable social protection systems?

The study employs a comparative policy analysis of selected Latin American experiences, drawing on secondary data, institutional reports, and microdata from household and employment surveys. We analyse (1) Tax and contribution integration schemes. For instance, Argentina’s Monotributo and Brazil’s SIMPLES Nacional have aimed at integrating small entrepreneurs and self-employed workers into tax and social security systems, lowering entry barriers to formalization, (2) Emergency income support and social protection expansion: During the COVID-19 crisis, countries such as Colombia and Peru implemented direct cash transfers (Ingreso Solidario and Bono Universal, respectively), covering informal workers excluded from traditional social security schemes. Mexico expanded access to health insurance for informal workers through IMSS Bienestar, and Chile’s Ingreso Familiar de Emergencia provided temporary financial relief while expanding the reach of social assistance programs, (3) Hybrid approaches combining contributory and non-contributory schemes: Uruguay’s social security reform strengthened both universal benefits and contributory incentives, achieving one of the highest coverage rates in the region. Costa Rica has experimented with differentiated social security contributions to gradually incorporate informal workers into the system.

This study provides a systematic analysis of policy innovations in Latin America, highlighting their impact on social protection expansion and transitions to formal employment. The cases analysed demonstrate that well-designed policies can improve protection for informal workers and encourage transitions to formality, though challenges remain. Tax and contribution integration schemes have expanded coverage but struggle with retention and contribution adequacy. Emergency income support measures provided critical relief during the pandemic but raised concerns about long-term sustainability. Hybrid approaches, as seen in Uruguay and Costa Rica, suggest promising avenues for balancing coverage expansion with financial sustainability. The paper concludes with policy lessons and recommendations for broader reforms in the region.

Introduction

Self-employment in the European Union encompasses a wide range of individuals, from highly skilled professionals and independent entrepreneurs to precarious workers with minimal autonomy. While self-employment offers flexibility, many self-employed individuals face significant economic vulnerabilities, including income instability and restricted access to social protection. Despite these challenges, they are often excluded from labour rights, except in cases where a "third category" of workers has been recognized at the national level. Additionally, the issue of bogus self-employment—where individuals are falsely classified as self-employed while working under conditions akin to regular employment—further complicates this landscape.

Research Question(s)

This study aims to address the following key questions:

• How do different EU Member States approach social security for vulnerable self-employed workers?

• To what extent do existing European policies support social inclusion for these workers?

• What are the specific challenges faced by platform workers in accessing social security?

• How can the EU framework be improved to better protect self-employed individuals?

Methodology

This research employs a comparative legal and policy analysis, focusing on EU-level initiatives and national policies in Germany, Italy, and Denmark. Primary sources include EU regulations, directives, and recommendations, as well as national legislation and policy reports. Secondary sources include academic literature and empirical studies on social security systems.

Contribution to Literature

This study contributes to the growing body of research on social security and labour rights by specifically focusing on vulnerable self-employed workers. By comparing different national approaches and evaluating EU-level responses, this study highlights the gaps in existing frameworks and suggests pathways for enhancing social inclusion.

Findings

The analysis reveals significant disparities in how EU Member States protect self-employed. Although Denmark provides a relatively comprehensive social security system for self-employed, it also presents, together with Germany and Italy, significant limitations, particularly in terms of accessibility. Additionally, the EU’s soft law instruments, such as the European Pillar of Social Rights and the 2019 Recommendation on Access to Social Protection, offer guidance but lack enforcement mechanisms. The study also finds that platform workers face further barriers due to the non-traditional nature of their employment, necessitating innovative policy solutions.

Ultimately, this study argues that social inclusion, as articulated in the EU’s social rights framework, should guide the reform of social security systems for vulnerable self-employed. Policy proposals are explored to enhance their protection across Europe.

Climate change and frequent extreme weather events increasingly endanger the workforce, with forestry workers being no exception, particularly in developing regions. Many are employed in the informal economy, where access to social protection is more precarious than in the formal sector. Despite some progress, several forestry workers remain at high risk of accidents, injuries, and health issues. As a fundamental pillar of decent work, access to social security is particularly relevant for forestry workers, which can lead to multiple benefits, such as alleviating poverty and reducing inequalities. Effective policy formulation requires a comprehensive understanding of the current status of social security coverage at the sectoral level and its relationship to legal instruments for the governance of work. However, the existing literature on social security in the forestry sector remains limited, partly due to the difficulty of measuring social security coverage at the disaggregate level, especially when the sector is characterised by a high degree of informality. To fill this gap, this study examines the state of social security contributions among people employed in forestry, focusing on low to upper-middle-income countries of the Global South. It further examines whether correlations exist between the social security contribution of forestry workers and ratifying International Labour Standards, notably the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102). Employment share with social security contribution in total forestry employment, derived from the harmonised microdata collection of the International Labour Organization, is used as a proxy indicator. Results reveal that less than a quarter of forestry workers were affiliated with at least one social security scheme. Low-income economies have the lowest average share of employees, with social security contributions at 5% of forestry employment. Middle and upper-middle-income countries, in comparison, show a larger share, with approximately 17 and 20% of forestry employment, respectively. A seemingly unrelated cross-country regression analysis reveals that the proportion of forestry workers covered by at least one social security scheme is significantly associated with ratifying Convention No. 102. Findings also show that disparity in social security coverage is explicitly related to the widespread informality in this sector. The lower proportion of employment with social security contributions underscores the need for sustained efforts to ensure the minimum social security standards. Although ratification of Convention No. 102 may enable an extension of social security through national legislation, its effectiveness depends to a large extent on sound implementation with the support of national labour market institutions.

Activation policies aim to increase the amount of paid work that people do, and this can involve compromises between providing social protection and introducing requirements for people to engage in paid employment or skill development (Immervoll and Knotz, 2018). Arguing that there is a need to closely examine the nature of these compromises to understand how far activation policies may be normalising more precarious forms of employment and contributing to the emergence of protective gaps for workers, this paper turns the focus on the work search and availability requirements that are embedded in conditional activation policies. The paper adopts a novel ‘time demands’ approach to examine how far work-related requirements might be compatible with people’s wider obligations, acknowledging the interdependencies between paid work and processes of social reproduction. To do this, the paper revisits and extends a conceptual framework for describing the control that people might have over different types of time, or their ‘discretionary time’ (Burchardt, 2008; Goodin et al., 2008). It draws on national time-use survey data relating to adults in working-age households in the UK (the UK Time Use Survey, n=3,884) alongside analysis of the requirements that are embedded in the design of Universal Credit, the main means-tested working-age benefit in the UK.

First, the paper simulates how the time demands associated with activation requirements vary under different working conditions. It shows that an expectation for ‘full time minimum wage work’, translates into different time demands depending on the pay and working hour arrangements of different jobs. Second, it estimates a set of wider ‘minimum time obligations’ based on national time-use data for the UK. Here the paper revisits previous work examining inequalities in discretionary time to define a set of ‘minimum time obligations’ relating to basic social reproduction processes. An illustrative specification of these obligations is put forward, based on trends in average time-use across core activities. Comparing the two sets of time demands, the paper demonstrates the potential infeasibility of the ‘default’ time demands embedded in activation policies when weighing ‘minimum time’ for social reproduction, particularly for those with childcare responsibilities and people entering low-paid, and more fragmented forms of paid work. The paper argues that there is a need for new approaches and recognition of the ways that activation requirements may conflict with wider policy goals, including ambitions to promote decent work and support working parents.

Laws and policies play a critical role in shaping fair, safe, and decent working conditions. However, their effectiveness often depends on how individuals, businesses, and institutions interpret and respond to them in practice. Indeed, while barriers relating to a lack of resources or institutional capacity of public authorities like labour inspectorates certainly contribute to a lack of compliance, other barriers that are more firmly rooted in behaviours, practices and social norms also play a substantial influence on the relative effectiveness of laws and policies. Labour and social security laws and regulations can, for example, can be difficult to understand and comply with, particularly for workers and economic units in the informal economy. In other cases, social norms related to informality may predominate in a certain region, economy or sector, both in the global North and South. Labour inspectorates and other public authorities are not always equipped to address these barriers, which require going beyond the traditional “carrots and sticks” to promote compliance.

In light of these challenges, behavioural science has proven to be a valuable tool to generate insights into human behaviour, offering strategies to promote compliance, encourage formalization, and tackle violence and harassment. Governments around the world are increasingly turning to behavioural science for that reason. Moreover, in 2021, the UN Secretary-General identified behavioural science as one of five levers of change that were essential to ensure that the UN was able to accelerate progress to the SDGs and meet the challenges of the future. By understanding cognitive biases, social norms, and structural barriers, policymakers can design interventions that align the implementation of labour and social security laws with the realities of human behaviour, making these more impactful and sustainable. When applied through experimentation, the impact of behavioural interventions is also measurable, allowing policy-makers to evaluate their interventions and adapt them as necessary.

As such, this panel will examine the application of behavioural science to labour law and policy, with a focus on advancing decent work. The discussion will highlight three key areas: tackling violence and harassment and discrimination in the world of work; promoting fair recruitment of migrant workers; and promoting formal employment, with a focus on registration to social security. Each presentation will showcase real-world examples where behavioural interventions have been carried out and evaluated to improve outcomes and drive meaningful change.

The first presentation will review experimental evidence of interventions to address violence and harassment and discrimination in the world of work. While legal frameworks exist to prevent and respond to unacceptable behaviours that cause harm, underreporting, fear of retaliation, and discriminatory norms often undermine their effectiveness. By understanding the social and psychological dynamics that underpin violence and harassment and discrimination, interventions can be designed to foster safer environments and ensure accountability. This presentation will highlight successful initiatives that have applied behavioural principles to combat these issues.

The second presentation will explore how behavioural experiments have been used to inform the design of campaigns to promote fair recruitment of migrant domestic workers. In some countries, household members must hire domestic workers through employment agencies. Yet, private employment and recruitment agencies are often inadequately regulated, and their practices sometimes expose domestic workers to risks of forced labour. When household employers select agencies, there is little to no information as to their recruitment practices, making it difficult for them to exercise due diligence. This presentation will share findings from a behavioural experiment to encourage household employers to seek information that may help them in selecting fair recruitment agencies.

The third presentation will share comparative evidence on the behavioural determinants of formalizing domestic work. The ILO estimates that domestic workers are twice as likely as other workers to be informally employed. Many domestic workers may not fully understand their rights or the benefits of participating in social security systems. Likewise, employers may fail to meet their obligations due to complexity, social norms, or competing financial priorities. The presentation will share evidence from behavioural diagnostics across countries that have been used to inform policy interventions to simplify registration and contribution procedures, improve communication, and leverage social norms, as a means of increasing registration to social security.

Together, these presentations will illustrate how behavioural science can make labour and social security laws more effective. Attendees will gain practical insights into how behavioural interventions can support legal implementation, leading to more effective protection. The session will conclude with a discussion on the broader implications of integrating behavioural science into labour governance. By bringing together experts in behavioural science, labour law, and policy implementation, this panel will provide valuable perspectives on how to enhance compliance, promote formalization, and tackle workplace violence and harassment. The session aims to inspire policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to adopt evidence-based approaches that translate legal principles into tangible improvements in the world of work.

Introduction

The regulation of platform work has become a key issue in labor law, with countries adopting divergent approaches. Latin America presents a unique landscape, as it includes both pioneering regulations and jurisdictions that have relied on judicial intervention in the absence of specific legislation. Chile was the first country in the region to enact a platform work law (Law 21.431, 2022), recognizing both independent and dependent platform workers. In contrast, Uruguay lacked regulation until February 2025, during which time its labor courts overwhelmingly classified platform workers as employees, granting them labor protections. This study examines whether these regulatory and judicial approaches have effectively ensured decent work for platform workers and explores ways to enhance their impact.

Research Questions

1. To what extent has Chile’s regulation achieved its objectives, and what enforcement challenges have emerged?

2. How has Uruguay’s judicial approach shaped labor protections, and what changes does the recent regulatory intervention introduce?

3. What lessons can be drawn from these cases to improve platform work regulation in Latin America and beyond?

Methodology

This study employs a comparative legal analysis of Chile and Uruguay, focusing on their regulatory trajectories and enforcement mechanisms. It examines legislation, judicial rulings, and administrative decisions, alongside reports from labor institutions and policy debates. By comparing a country with a formal regulatory framework to one where protections were primarily shaped by the judiciary, the study assesses the effectiveness of both approaches. It also identifies implementation challenges and broader implications for labor law.

Contribution to Literature

While much research has examined the legal classification of platform workers, little has assessed the effectiveness of existing regulations. This study fills that gap by systematically evaluating whether Chile’s regulatory model and Uruguay’s judicial approach have met their objectives. It also builds on prior research advocating for an international regulatory framework through the International Labour Organization (ILO), arguing that national enforcement challenges highlight the need for transnational solutions.

Findings and Policy Proposals

Preliminary findings indicate that while Chile’s law establishes clear rights, it faces enforcement challenges, particularly in ensuring compliance by platform companies. Meanwhile, Uruguay’s judicial approach provided strong protections but led to fragmented enforcement and uncertainty. These cases highlight the need for an international regulatory framework that sets minimum protections while allowing local adaptability. Drawing on previous research, this study outlines key elements such a framework should include, addressing worker classification, social protection, and enforcement mechanisms.

The rise of gig work and the platform economy is reshaping how we view work, blurring the lines between employment and entrepreneurship, while challenging traditional labour protections and regulatory frameworks. Despite employment policy and employment generation programmes, the majority of India’s workforce is informal. Recent advancements of the sharing economy and gig work reinforce informality in many occupations. This phenomenon goes beyond India wherein advancements in technology and artificial intelligence have led to a surge in gig and platform-based work. Thus, digital production sites have become key spaces, redefining employer-employee relationships, particularly in terms of control (both spatial and temporal), supervision, feedback mechanisms, and working conditions.

This paper borrows ideas from Labour Process Theory (LPT) (Braverman, 1974) to analyse these transformations but argues that the reality of gig work in the Indian context goes beyond LPT. The geographically tethered model as well as the cloudwork model (Woodcock and Graham, 2020) better explain these shifts. The changing labour process dilutes the employer-employee relationship and commodifies labour, raising critical questions about worker protections, regulatory oversight, and worker autonomy.

At the heart of these transformations is worker agency, since the platform economy has a conflicting promise of autonomy. Platforms categorise workers as independent contractors but exercise significant control similar to a more standard form of employment. However, unlike standard employment where labour protections and benefits are embedded in contracts, gig workers often lack access to basic entitlements like health insurance, pensions and workplace protections. Although the Government of India introduced four labour codes in 2020 to help create a more effective regulatory environment, addressing the gig-workspace is not straightforward owing to the complexities of identification and codification of occupations and employment relationships.

Drawing on examples from primary, secondary and tertiary sectors in India within the gig workspace, this paper focuses on: (a) disaggregating labour through definitions, (b) digital production sites and commodification of labour, (c) dilution of the typical employer-employee relationship and its role in labour protections, (d) algorithmic control and their connection to worker well-being, and (e) the dynamic movement between self-employment and gig work in the platform economy and the role of worker agency.

References

Braverman, H. (1974). Labor and Monopoly Capital. The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century (New York: Monthly Review Press)

Woodcock, Jamie and Graham, Mark. (2020). The Gig Economy: A Critical Introduction, Cambridge: Polity

Digital platform work, characterized by on-demand labour, piece-rate wages, an asset-light model, network effects and algorithmic management, is now a feature of the global labour market. Based on these characteristics, some argue that platform work is but a continuation of traditional on-demand gig work models. Others suggest it is a very different work model due to the primacy of algorithmic management, and therefore necessitates new regulatory approaches. Avoiding this binary distinction, this paper identifies sectors where gig work predates platform work, but shares some of its characteristics. It examines the regulation of gig work in those sectors in order to trace the continuity and the novelty of digital platform work and the regulatory lessons from past practices.

Research Questions:

1. To what extent do digital labour platforms represent a continuation of gig work in other sectors, and how do the regulatory approaches for those sectors inform contemporary platform regulations?

2. How does algorithmic management in platform work compare with the management of gig work in older sectors, and what new regulatory challenges does it pose?

Methodology:

India, with its large and rapidly growing digital platform economy and a diverse unorganised sector, provides a compelling case study. This paper will compare gig work, and its regulation, in sectors in India including dock work, headload work, beedi (local cigarettes) and cigar production, rickshaw pulling, and street-taxi driving with contemporary digital platform work. The analysis will focus on the following aspects: the location of production, the source of capital, the organization of work, work skills, worker organisation, and the implantation of the legal framework and its outcomes. This paper will analyse how labour legislation passed by the central and the state governments on digital platforms draws on regulation of gig work in the older sectors. This paper will also examine how the gap between the intent and outcome of current digital labour-platform-related by examining the support and opposition from workers and platforms. Specifically, the paper will draw on interviews with 1369 platform workers between 2021 and 2024 in India and interactions with 13 platforms.

Contribution to literature and findings:

The paper contributes to the growing body of work on regulating the digital platform economy. By situating the Indian platform economy within its historical and legal context, it will illustrate how regulation of the platform economy can gain by looking to previous legislation regulating gig work, while clarifying where new initiatives will be required.

Introduction

Digital micro-task labor platforms have transformed global employment by offering on-demand, location-independent work. However, workers’ ability to receive fair and timely payments remains a critical regulatory challenge. Platform-dependent earnings, fluctuating pay structures, and opaque financial mechanisms expose workers to income volatility (Rani and Furrer, 2019), high transaction costs (Posada, 2024), and financial exclusion (Jian et al, 2024). While some regulatory measures have been proposed—including minimum pay thresholds, fee transparency requirements, and platform accountability mechanisms—their effectiveness remains limited due to weak enforcement, lack of international coordination, and platform circumvention strategies.

Research Question

This study investigates the structural barriers to fair payment in digital labor platforms and evaluates why existing regulatory approaches fail to ensure financial security for micro-task platform workers in Egypt. It asks:

1. How do digital payment structures (e.g., commissions, exchange rates, payment delays) shape Egyptian microworkers’ earnings and financial security?

2; What policy interventions could improve fairness, transparency, and protection for platform microworkers’ income? Would these be on the national level, institutional or platform level?

Methodology

This research employs a mixed-methods approach:

• Survey Data: Quantitative analysis of 600+ Egyptian microworkers’ earnings, payment methods, and financial constraints (Microworkers & Clickworkers platforms).

• Focus Groups: Qualitative insights from digital platform Egyptian workers on payment challenges, fee structures, and workarounds (conducted Jan 2025).

• Comparative Policy Analysis: Examination of existing regulations.

Findings & Contribution

Preliminary findings indicate that platform payment systems create structural disadvantages for workers, including:

• Opaque fee structures: High commission fees, hidden costs, and unpredictable exchange rate fluctuations.

• Delayed disbursements & restrictions: Payment holds, withdrawal limits, and cross-border transfer barriers.

These findings expose critical limitations of existing regulations, which fail to address the unique financial precarity of digital platform workers. This study contributes by highlighting specific financial failures and proposing actionable reforms.

Conclusion

By uncovering why good regulatory ideas fail to ensure fair digital labor payments, this study bridges the gap between policy intentions and real-world impact—offering evidence-based recommendations for more effective regulation of platform-based work.

References:

Jiang, L., Deng, X. N., & Wagner, C. (2024). Understanding the individual labor supply and wages on digital labor platforms: A microworker perspective. International Journal of Information Management, 79, 102823.

Posada, J. (2024). Deeply embedded wages: Navigating digital payments in data work. Big Data & Society, 11(2), 20539517241242446.

Rani, U., & Furrer, M. (2019). On-demand digital economy: Can experience ensure work and income security for microtask workers?. Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, 239(3), 565-597.

Session 2: Emerging challenges and future directions for decent work

Across two special sessions we showcase ten chapters from the forthcoming Research Handbook of Decent Work, which is being finalised for publication by Edward Elgar Publishing. The book takes an interdisciplinary and international approach to explore the concept of decent work and its importance in today’s society. Decent work refers to employment that is productive, provides a fair income, offers social protection, and respects workers’ rights. It is a fundamental human right, essential for promoting economic growth, reducing poverty, and achieving sustainable development. It is featured in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 8 and is linked to many more, including quality education, the elimination of poverty, and gender equality.

Research on decent work has accelerated over the past decade, drawing attention to its importance beyond disciplinary boundaries, and across various geographic, economic, and social contexts. Academic researchers have operationalised the concept (Duffy, et al, 2016; Ferraro, et al, 2018) and scrutinised its applicability in different contexts and for various workers across the globe (e.g., Blustein, et al, 2016; Duffy, et al, 2020). Beyond all this scrutiny, what has emerged is a compelling case for decent work as a means to promote social justice and well-being and create a more equitable and sustainable society.

These sessions offer a unique and engaging opportunity to delve into the latest decent work research. The accompanying book showcases diverse perspectives on decent work from multiple disciplines, including sociology, economics, work and organisational psychology, vocational psychology, and employment relations, underscoring the complementarity of these different lenses in understanding decent work. Contributions are geographically diverse, combining established and emerging scholars’ voices and integrating perspectives from practitioners such as unions about their experience implementing decent work on the ground.

To reflect the richness and breadth of this research, each session addresses a distinct but complementary aspect of decent work:

1. Conceptualising decent work across disciplines, geographies and perspectives: This session critically examines how decent work is defined, theorised, and operationalised across disciplines, highlighting how regional and contextual factors shape its meaning and implementation. The session brings together theoretical debates, interdisciplinary perspectives and discussions on measurement challenges, providing a robust foundation for understanding decent work’s evolving role in contemporary labour markets.

2. Emerging challenges and future directions for decent work: This session shifts focus to the challenges that threaten decent work in the 21st century. It explores how technological changes, AI-driven employment transformations, gig work, migrant work, and climate change are reshaping traditional labour protections and worker experiences. By addressing contemporary threats and potential policy solutions, this session highlights how the decent work agenda must evolve to remain relevant in a rapidly changing global economy.

A strength of this two-part session is the diversity of voices and perspectives. We have speakers from across the globe sharing their research. Recognising the importance of a cross-stakeholder approach to decent work, we ensure that this session addresses the needs of policymakers, organisational decision-makers, unions, employees, and academics.

Session 2 brings together insights from labour policy, technology studies, and sustainability research to explore how the decent work agenda must evolve to remain relevant in a rapidly changing world. It critically examines the ways in which contemporary labour challenges are reshaping the future of work by addressing key questions, including:

● How do algorithmic management and AI influence worker autonomy, job security, and labour protections?

● How are workers in gig and platform economies navigating precarious employment conditions while advocating for new forms of social protections?

● What are the implications of climate change for decent work, particularly in industries vulnerable to environmental disruptions?

●How do migrant workers experience decent work, and what shapes their work experiences?

Session Co-Chairs:

● Ishbel McWha-Hermann, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

● Christian Yao, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

● Noelle Donnelly, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

Speakers:

● Penny Williams, School of Management, Queensland University of Technology, Australia

● Uma Rani, Research Department, ILO Geneva, Switzerland

● Stuart C. Carr, School of Psychology, Massey University, New Zealand

● Maha Yomn Sbaa, Radboud University, Netherlands

Discussant: Prof Deirdre McCann, Durham University

Blustein, D. L., Olle, C., Connors-Kellgren, A., & Diamonti, A. J. (2016). Decent work: A psychological perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 407.

Duffy, R. D., Blustein, D. L., Diemer, M. A., & Autin, K. L. (2016). The psychology of working theory. Journal of counseling psychology, 63(2), 127.

Duffy, R. D., Kim, H. J., Allan, B. A., & Prieto, C. G. (2020). Predictors of decent work across time: Testing propositions from Psychology of Working Theory. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 123, 103507.

Ferraro, T., Pais, L., Rebelo Dos Santos, N., & Moreira, J. M. (2018). The Decent Work Questionnaire: Development and validation in two samples of knowledge workers. International Labour Review, 157(2), 243-265.

Drawing on a thematic analysis of six country case studies, our cross-sectional analysis suggests that while the concept of SSE might be a new addition to the vocabulary of policy makers, its practice is deeply rooted in community action. This is particularly the case in the informal sector where indigenous forms of economic activity that draw on solidarity and reciprocity, form the backbone of many communities. This study supports findings that indigenous practice, specifically solidarity, collectivism and communitarian approaches determine how business is done. It identifies a dissonance between the ‘elite’ SSE narrative and local practice, and supports recommendations for greater recognition of indigenous approaches, to build institutional trust.

Background

Understanding the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) in the African context is problematic for several reasons. Research is fragmented and uncoordinated resulting in a disparate knowledge-building process, that leans into western frameworks and definitions, at the expense of contextual understanding (Alenda-Demoutiez, 2022; Calvo & Morales Pachón, 2017; Farhoud et al., 2023). Despite substantial efforts from different research communities and professional, national and supra-national bodies to study SSE organizations on the African continent, our current knowledge of the SSE remains wanting.

Methodology

Our thematic analysis interrogates the SSE in six countries – Egypt, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar – selected for their geographic and ethnic diversity. It draws on qualitative reports commissioned by the International Labour Organization in 2023, to scope the extent and nature of the SSE. These studies adopted an “inside out” approach as advocated by Morris et al. (2023, p. 3) to answer what is the SSE? with consideration to contextual, institutional and cultural diversity.

Results (preliminary)

The preliminary results of the study show how the SSE, in all six countries, is embedded in culture, recognised as the foundation for exchange and collaboration, before the contribution of money was adopted. A delegitimising of the SSE is attributed to colonialism, and the financialization of households, where money rather than social ties underpinned transactions. African indigenous practices are inherently collective, captured in philosophies of ubuntu and harambee, and applied through SSE activities such as ajo (pooled contributions) and ebiombe (communal working). That the SSE as a phrase is not well understood or internalised in formal institutional mechanisms, yet the philosophies are embedded in language, exposes its institutional dissonance. Consequently, the SSE cannot be understood in the African context, without consideration of its indigeneity.

Implications of the study

A consequence of colonialism is a de-legitimising of indigenous processes, a valorising of the western perspective, and consequent breakdowns in institutional trust (Lounsbury, 2023). It emphasises the critical nature of systems of exchange that are not price-led, amplifying the importance of moral, collective and associative transactions (Biggart & Delbridge, 2004). This study supports findings that indigenous practice, specifically solidarity, collectivism and communitarian approaches determine how business is done (Amoako, 2019) and supports recommendations by Dia (1996) and for greater recognition of indigenous approaches, to build institutional trust.

The special session proposal – dedicated to the research project “SUNRISE – Sustainable solutions for social and work inclusion in case of chronic illness and transplantation” – aims to explore the complex relationship between health and work. Indeed, the profound demographic changes have led to the progressive aging of the population and increasing life expectancy, which in turn results in a natural decline in overall health, leading to a higher likelihood of developing chronic diseases or requiring transplants.

International organizations, such as the ILO, OECD, WHO, and EU-OSHA, have highlighted the growing prevalence of chronic diseases as a significant challenge for healthcare and welfare systems. Indeed, chronic diseases – which originate from a pathologically irreversible alteration and require prolonged periods of observation and treatment, as well as special forms of rehabilitation – are identified by WHO as the foremost cause of mortality globally.

Acknowledging the gravity of this issue, UN member states have committed to reducing premature mortality from chronic diseases by one-third by 2030, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. Moreover, in December 2023, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on chronic diseases, recognizing them as a paramount public health challenge within the EU. Chronic illnesses constitute the largest component of healthcare expenditure among member states, significantly impacting the quality of life for individuals, their families, and caregivers. The resolution urges member states to invest in healthcare innovation to reduce morbidity and mortality rates associated with these conditions.

Although managing the increase in the number of people affected by chronic illnesses or undergoing transplants may initially appear to be a matter of long-term care, focused on addressing the needs of an aging population through adequate public and private healthcare services, this perspective overlooks a broader challenge: (re)integrating people with chronic conditions and transplanted into the labor market. The increasing retirement age – exceeding 65 in many jurisdictions – along with the significant presence of people with disabilities or chronic illnesses below this threshold, calls for an urgent response from labor law and industrial relations. Major statistical surveys reveal that a growing number of working-age individuals, often too young to be excluded from the labor market, must manage chronic health conditions daily. The rising number of economically active individuals with precarious health, who are partially or wholly unable to work, tests the sustainability of welfare systems and challenges labor law institutions. This phenomenon impacts employment levels, income, career opportunities for long-term illness sufferers, and company organizational structures, demanding changes in work environments and conditions for labor inclusion. Moreover, returning to work after a transplant or prolonged treatment is particularly delicate and challenging, often inadequately supported. Individuals with transplants or chronic illnesses, especially progressive ones, require ongoing therapies and periodic examinations, and can no longer perform as before.

The present special session aims to discuss the state of the art at the international level and within the European Union legal framework – focusing on the Italian case – concerning the inclusion of workers with chronic illnesses and transplant recipients in the labor market. The discussion will center on the legal instruments designed to ensure sustainable and decent employment. The contributions from the speakers will examine the legal frameworks developed at the international and European levels to guarantee the effective and equal participation of these workers in professional life. Special attention will be given to international and European regulations (i.e., the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; Directive 2000/78/EC), the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the role of collective bargaining and industrial relations systems.

The session will also explore how these frameworks can be enhanced from an evolutionary legal perspective. Through dialogue, it aims to identify strategies to implement policies, best practices, and methods of social dialogue that effectively promote workforce reintegration and social inclusion for individuals affected by chronic illnesses and transplant recipients.