The Wagelndicator Foundation and the Centre for Labour Research co-produced the first edition of the Labour Rights Index in 2020. The second edition was released in October 2022, and it included 135 countries. This is the third edition of the Labour Rights Index, covering 145 countries.
WageIndicator Foundation (Amsterdam), established in 2001, collects, compares and shares labour market information through online and offline surveys and research. Its national websites serve as always up-to-date online libraries featuring (living) wage information, labour law and career advice, for employees, employers and social partners. In this way, WageIndicator is a life changer for millions of people around the world. The WageIndicator works towards increased transparency in labour markets by providing access to minimum wages, living wages, and labour rights information.
The Centre for Labour Research, an independent non-profit registered in Pakistan, has a niche speciality in comparative labour research. Other than advising the federal and provincial government in Pakistan on labour issues, the Centre is the Wagelndicator's global Labour Law Office and maintains the Labour Law Database and Minimum Wages Database.
As explained in the first version, the Labour Rights Index is the culmination of more than 15 years of comparative labour law work by Iftikhar Ahmad, who has spearheaded this report. The work has benefited from valuable inputs from the Wagelndicator Foundation.
The team gratefully acknowledges Wagelndicator for their input and continuous support. Paulien Osse, Dirk Dragstra and Kea Tijdens reviewed the report and made valuable suggestions. In addition, feedback from Fiona Dragstra (Director Wagelndicator), Daniela Ceccon (Director Data, Wagelndicator), Professor Beryl ter Haar (University of Leiden), Professor Elena Sychenko (University of Bologna) and Asghar Jameel (Centre for Labour Research Board) helped refine the Index and its methodology. We are grateful to Diletta Porcheddu (ADAPT) and Michele Dalla Sega (ADAPT) for confirming labour law data for France and Italy. Shantanu Kishwar (WageIndicator) has supported simplifying the methodology for a better understanding of non-experts.
We are also grateful to all the organisations from which we source the key facts that are part of the country profiles.
These include the World Bank, the International Labour Organization and the Wagelndicator Foundation.
The scoring for country profiles under different indicators, though essentially hinged on the Decent Work Checks, have also been confirmed from other indices/reports, including the Women, Business and Law Database (World Bank), International Social Security Association (ISSA) Country Profiles, various ILO databases, the US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (USDOS CRHRP), the US ILAB Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, the ITUC Global Rights Index and the Centre for Global Workers' Rights. Our special thanks and appreciation go to the International Labour Organization, whose instruments (conventions and recommendations) are part of our scoring methodology: the country scoring has been based on these instruments as much as possible. The comments and observations of the ILO supervisory body, the Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) were considered while scoring the indicator on Freedom of Association. Similarly, the US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices have also been used to score freedom of Association questions.
Special thanks are due to the team members at the Centre for Labour Research who have worked long hours for months to produce this work. Iftikhar Ahmad has led the legal research, the methodology behind the Index, the scoring of countries and the drafting of the report. Seemab Haider has done outstanding work in designing heatmaps, country profiles and the 2024 report. Both Seemab Haider and Shanza Sohail have been part of the Labour Rights Index since its inception in 2020. Tasmeena Tahir has made exceptional contributions and has been involved in the entire process of the index, ranging from the collection of contextual indicators to legal research and reviewing the legal basis for countries.
We extend our sincere gratitude to our whole team for their tireless efforts to bring this report to fruition. In addition to their contributions to drafting, scoring, and conducting legal research, Ambreen Riaz and Razan Ayesha have provided invaluable support to all team members. Sobia Ahmad reviewed the scores and did a quality check of the data along with reviewing the report design. Ayesha Kiran and Ayesha Mir have supported the work by maintaining the Minimum Wages Database and Labour Rights Database, respectively.
Scoring is done by the Wagelndicator/Centre for Labour Research team comprising Iftikhar Ahmad, Shanza Sohail, Tasmeena Tahir, Ambreen Riaz and Razan Ayesha.
Sidharth Rath has created an informative video about the Labour Rights Index 2024, with a voiceover from Dirk Dragstra. The Labour Rights Index heat map has been developed by Seemab Haider. Special thanks to Paulien Osse and Gunjan Pandya for bringing the heat map and country profiles online.
The Index, heat map, and country profiles are available at: https://labourrightsindex.org.