Global Trends in Labour Rights

Global Trends in Labour Rights

The Labour Rights Index tracks the changes in workplace rights during the past two years.

However, some countries have enacted regressive and repressive labour legislation, undermining and frustrating workers' rights.

The section describes some major trends before delving into detail at the country level.

Minimum Wage

Our data, under the Labour Rights Index, shows that minimum wages, statutory or negotiated, exist in more than 90 per cent of the 135 countries. While three countries have no provision for minimum wages, there are seven countries which stipulate minimum wages either for nationals or for public sector workers only. Seven of these ten countries either have no minimum wage or no minimum wage for private sector workers are from the Middle East and North Africa region. Given this background, Qatar announced a minimum wage that applies to workers in all sectors and does not discriminate between nationals and migrant workers.

Qatar is the first country in the Gulf region to introduce a non-discriminatory minimum wage for all workers, irrespective of their nationality. Other countries in the region may wish to emulate it.

Paternity Leave

In 2022, 58 of 135 countries covered under the Labour Rights Index 2022 provide for a statutory right to paid paternity leave of at least seven calendar days to fathers in the event of childbirth Many countries (36) stipulate a right to paid paternity leave of 1-4 working days. Others provide for unpaid paternity leave. In the last two years, six countries (Greece, Malawi, Mongolia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates) have enacted legislation providing a paid paternity leave of more than seven calendar days..

These countries are from different regions and can serve as trendsetters within their regions. For instance, in the MENA region, only two countries have legislative provisions for paid paternity leave. Iran has had the necessary provisions since 2013, while the United Arab Emirates started offering paid paternity leave in 2020. Malawi is one of the five countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region to have a paternity leave of at least one calendar week.

Women’s Access to Same Jobs as Men

One of the components of the Labour Rights Index measures whether women can get the same jobs as men. Labour legislation in nearly half of the countries assessed under the Index prohibits women’s access to the same jobs as men on the pretext of protection. This happens by setting prohibitions on night work, creating an extensive list of jobs considered dangerous or hazardous for women, and prohibiting women’s employment in mining, construction, certain factories, and the transport sector. These legislative provisions limit employment options for women leading to women’s concentration in low-income and low- productivity jobs. Bahrain, Bolivia, Montenegro, Togo and Viet Nam have enacted necessary legislation allowing women to have access to the same jobs as men and allowing for greater women workforce participation.

Pregnancy Testing

Though international regulatory standards (C183) prohibit requiring women workers to take pregnancy tests, with a few exceptions related to occupational risks to the worker’s or child’s health, there are 62 countries where the practice is not prohibited under legislation. Since 2021, Kuwait and Viet Nam implicitly prohibit pregnancy testing or inquiring about pregnancy during recruitment. This allows women to join the workforce rather than being stopped at the door.

Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value

The gender wage gap, the difference between their earnings, expressed as a percentage of men’s earnings, is a useful measure to indicate how far behind women are in terms of wages. Women earn, on average, significantly less than men. Globally, the gender wage gap currently stands on average at 23 per cent – meaning that women earn 77 per cent of what men earn for each hour worked. The pay gap is even wider for mothers, women of colour, immigrant women, and disabled women. Legislation requiring equal pay for work of equal value and mandating minimum living wages can help narrow the gender pay gap in a country. Four countries, Bahrain, Burundi, Mongolia, and United Arab Emirates, now mandate equal pay for work of equal value.

*The list of countries in the tables on best and worst countries for workers are alphabetical. For detailed scores, please refer to the scores table at the start of this report.