This book is an exploration of arguments about the economic and social effects of the regulation of labour, and whether it is likely to be helpful or harmful to development. Authored by contributors from a variety of fields, primarily legal as well as development studies, economics and regulatory studies, the book presents both empirical and theoretical analyses of the issues. With authors from several continents, this collection is unique in that it focuses on labour regulation in poor and middle-income countries rather than industrialised ones, therefore making it a significant contribution to the field.
Labour Law and Sustainable Development is a detailed reconstruction of the regulatory framework and jurisprudential findings of sustainable development at the international, European and national level. The global crisis of the past decade has underlined the social unsustainability of the ultra-liberalistic theories through which the labour law deregulation represents the precondition for social and economic development coherent with the globalization imperatives. It is no exaggeration to assert that the existing foundations of labour law have been irreversibly compromised. It is essential to find a way out of the crisis, at the same time defining the founding values of new sustainable labour law. In linking labour law with the sustainability paradigm, this provocative book promises to widen the scope and terms of the reconciliation of interests, taking into account the multiplicity of the stakeholders interested in economic, social and environmental issues and, in particular, to practise an approach that achieves intergenerational equity. What’s in this book: In an unprecedented comparative study, including case law, of the network of principles, agreements, practices and norms concerning sustainable development and its different economic and social implications, the author examines such facets as the following: sustaining solidarity and equality of opportunity in current and emerging work situations; enhancing individual autonomy in the current world of (subordinate but independent) labour; reconciling personal needs, flexible organization of companies and reduction of external and internal costs to companies; collective action for the regulation of labour relations allowing for the exercise of individual autonomy; involving entire populations that have been so far excluded in the world scene; developing a sustainable pension system to promote intergenerational solidarity; implementing flexicurity policies positively; social clauses of international trade treaties; undoing the profound contradiction of gender and wage inequalities; and promoting corporate social responsibility. The objective of this book is to provide the reader with a reasoning basis to assess whether the choice to elect sustainable development as a new paradigm of reference for labour law is feasible, and if, in particular, this choice can be useful in order to define the founding values of a new ‘sustainable’ labour law. How this will help you: Using an interdisciplinary approach, the author emphasizes the need to consider the various dimensions of sustainability together, not only the original environmental but also the economic and social dimensions. This book offers a real strategic leap for both legislators and social actors, in particular leading the way to avoiding a fracture of the generational pact that has held together modern societies. Although the book presents a profound academic contribution to the analysis of labour law realities and trends, it will also be welcomed by corporate lawyers, judges, human rights experts, trade unionists, business managers, entrepreneurs and consultants interested in the issues of labour, sustainable development and social rights.
This book offers a critical reflection on the operation and effects of labour regulation. It articulates the broad goals and extensive potential for it to contribute to inclusive development, while also considering the limits of some areas of regulation and governance.
The aim of this book is to explore labour law's conceptual and normative narrative. If labour law is informed by the wider political and economic landscape within which it operates, then given the declining prevalence of the post-war model of full employment within a formal welfare state regime, what shape does or should labour law assume in response to the transformation of the political economy in countries of the global North? Correspondingly, what is the proper role to be played by labour law and labour relations institutions in the development process within industrialising countries of the global South, where informal employment has long been, and remains, the predominant form? Drawing on the expertise of leading labour law scholars, this collection addresses those questions by examining the growth and continued prevalence of informality. Offering research that is both empirically grounded and doctrinally astute, the book explores the changing character of labour law in the global North and South.
How are national and international labour laws responding to the challenge of globalization as it re-shapes the workplaces of the world? This collection of essays by leading legal scholars and lawyers from Europe and the Americas was first published in 2006. It addresses the implications of globalization for the legal regulation of the workplace. It examines the role of international labour standards and the contribution of the International Labour Organization, and assesses the success of the European experiment with continental employment standards. It explores the prospects for hemispheric co-operation on labour standards in the Americas, and deals with the impact of international labour standards on the rights of women and migrant workers. As the nature and organization of work around the world is being decisively transformed, new regional and international institutions are emerging that may provide the platform for new labour standards, and for protecting existing ones.
No one will deny that labour standards comprise a necessary framework for balanced economic and social development. Yet on a global level such balanced development has not occurred, despite the existence of a rigorous body of international labour law that has been active and growing for almost one hundred years. The implementation of this law devolves upon states; yet many states have failed to honour it. If we are to take serious steps toward a remedy for this situation, there is no better place to start than a thorough, well-researched survey and analysis of existing international labour law - its sources, its content, its historical development, and an informed consideration of the barriers to its full effectiveness. This book is exactly such a resource. It provides in-depth interpretation of the crucial International Labour Organisation (ILO) instruments - Constitution, conventions, declarations, resolutions, and recommendations - as well as such other sources of law as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and various model and actual corporate codes of conduct. Among the substantive areas of labour law covered in this book are the following: • the relationship between international labour law and economic competition • standards on industrial relations • collective bargaining and dispute settlement procedures • protection of trade unions • prohibitions on enforced and child labour • promotion of equal opportunity and treatment • time and rest provisions • wage determination and protection • occupational health and safety provisions • special issues on non-standard forms of employment • foreign and migrant workers • social security provisions • privacy protection The presentation demonstrates that these rules and standards offer invaluable benchmarks to governments, judiciaries, employers, and trade unions. The book's combination of detailed commentary and an overarching social policy will make it especially valuable to legislators, human resources managers, employers ́ organizations, trade unions, jurists, and academics concerned with the role of work in our globalized social system. This fifth edition of the book by Jean-Michel Servais analyses the potential of those standards in a globalized world, and the necessary evolution. It examines the actual implementation of those rules in the national context, comparing different experiences. It integrates the latest instruments. It examines the most recent public debates on labour regulation (dealing with health and security at work, personal data, minimum wages, social security, strikes, etc.), updates the bibliography and opens some perspectives for the future work of the global institutions.
Regulating for Decent Work is a response to the dominant deregulatory approaches that have shaped labour market regulation in recent years. The inter-disciplinary and international approach invigorates current debates through the identification of new challenges, subjects and perspectives.
This discerning book provides a wide-ranging comparative analysis of the legal and social policy challenges posed by the spread of different forms of precarious work in Europe, with various social models in force and a growing ‘gig economy’ workforce. It not only considers the theoretical foundations of the concept of precarious work, but also offers invaluable insight into the potential methods of addressing this phenomenon through labour regulation and case law at EU and national level.
This book considers the previously neglected intersection between work and development and considers how protection of labour standards may be understood in development terms. Examples are given of concrete achievement in anti-discrimination, child labour, trade relations and social dialogue.
