The Index in Text - Explanation

Labour Rights Index 2020

WageIndicator Foundation (Netherlands) and Centre for Labour Research (Pakistan)

Contents

• Acknowledgements
  
  • Significance
  • Linkage with SDGs
• About Labour Rights Index
• Key Findings
  
  • 1. Fair Wages
  • 2. Decent Working Hours
  • 3. Employment Security
  • 4. Family Responsibilities
  • 5. Maternity at Work
  • 6. Safe Work
  • 7. Social Security
  • 8. Fair Treatment
  • 9. Child and Forced Labour
  • 10. Trade Union
• Data Notes
• Methodology
• Description of the Ratings
• What is Next?
• Scored questions
  
  • Fair Wages
  • Decent Working Hours
  • Employment Security
  • Family Responsibilities
  • Maternity at Work
  • Safe Work
  • Social Security
  • Fair Treatment
  • Child and Forced Labour
  • Trade Union
• Country Profiles
  
  • How to Read the Country Profiles
  • Performance Overview
  • Indicators
• Appendices
  
  • Appendix I: Comparison of Indices on Labour Rights
  • Appendix II: Geographical Coverage
  • Appendix III: Labour Rights Index and International Conventions
  • Appendix IV: Tables of Key Findings (Countries)
  • 1. Fair Wages
  • 2. Decent Working Hours
  • 3. Employment Security
  • 4. Family Responsibilities
  • 5. Maternity at Work
  • 6. Safe Work
  • 7. Social Security
  • 8. Fair Treatment
  • 9. Child and Forced Labour
  • 10. Trade Union
  • Appendix V: Definitions
• References

Acknowledgements

The WageIndicator Foundation and the Centre for Labour Research co-produced the Labour Rights Index 2020. WageIndicator Foundation, a Dutch non-profit established in 2001, 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, works as the WageIndicator’s Labour Law Office and produces research on comparative labour issues. 

The Labour Rights Index is the culmination of a decade long work on comparative labour law by Iftikhar Ahmad¹ who has spearheaded this report. The work has benefited from valuable inputs from the WageIndicator Foundation. 

The team gratefully acknowledges WageIndicator for their input and continuous support. Paulien Osse, Dirk Dragstra and Kea Tijdens reviewed the report and made valuable suggestions. Feedback from Professor Rob van Tulder and Willy Wagenmans (WageIndicator Board), Katrin Schulz (World Bank), Professor Evert Verhulp and Rachel Rietveld (University of Amsterdam), Professor Beryl ter Haar (University of Leiden), and Asghar Jameel (Centre for Labour Research Board) helped refine the Index and its methodology.  

The idea of the Labour Rights Index was born as early as in 2013 and is based on the Decent Work Check, a tool developed by WageIndicator in 2008. Those who contributed to the development of the tool included Paulien Osse, Kea Tijdens, Dirk Dragstra, Leontine Bijleveld, Egidio G. Vaz Raposo and Lorena Ponce De Leon. Iftikhar Ahmad joined WageIndicator in 2010 and later expanded the work to new topics and detailed information on workplace rights in 2012. The Decent Work Checks have been updated annually for the last eight years and published in all national WageIndicator websites. 

We are also grateful to all the organizations 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 WageIndicator 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), Doing Business (World Bank), ISSA Country Profiles, various ILO databases, the US DOS Human Rights Report, the US ILAB Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, the ITUC Global Rights Index and the Center for Global Workers’ Rights. A special thanks is due 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 ILO supervisory body, the Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR), were taken into account while scoring trade union questions.  

Shanza Sohail, at the Centre for Labour Research, has assisted in the drafting process. Scoring is done by the WageIndicator/Centre for Labour Research team comprising Sehrish Irfan, Shanza Sohail, and Ayesha Kiran with Shaista Batool contributing in the scoring as well.  Sobia Ahmad reviewed the scores and did a quality check of data. The report and country profiles are designed by Zoya Waheed, with assistance from Zermina. Rogério Marques Benedito Júnior has created country-level videos, showcasing labour rights information for 115 countries. Daniela Ceccon has created data visualization through Tableau which allows comparative analysis at country and regional level. The Labour Rights Index Heat Map has been designed by Seemab Haider. The Index, data visualization, heat map, country profiles and videos are available on https://labourrightsindex.org.

Country Level Contributors 

Albania

Elvisa Drishti 

Argentina (and Latin America)

Lorena Ponce De Leon 

Bangladesh

Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS)

Belgium

Dirk Dragstra 

Brazil, Portugal and Angola

Ludmilla Caminha Barros 

Burundi (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, and Tunisia)

Liberat Bigirimana

Egypt

Hossam Hussein, Rana Medhat

Ethiopia

Birhanu Mekonnen, Hunde Gudeta

Greece

Stefani Kostagianni

Hungary

Szilvia Borbély

India

Khushi Mehta, Kapish Agrawal 

Indonesia

Nadia Pralitasari

Italy

Daniela Ceccon

Japan

Haruka Sasayama 

Malaysia

Nor Farah Ashikin binti Abdul Rahim

Mexico

Angelica Flores

Mozambique and Cape Verde

Egidio G. Vaz Raposo, Rogério Marques Benedito Júnior

Netherlands

Leontine Bijleveld

Fiona Dragstra

Niels Peuchen

Pakistan

Iftikhar Ahmad

Russia (plus Russian speaking Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine) 

Elena Golovko

South Africa (Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe)

Karen Rutter

Spain

Miquel Lóriz Toro

Tanzania

Oscar Mkude

Vietnam

Thuonghien Dong

Foreword

It was way back in 2009, when a Pakistani scholar from Cornell University reached me online. He identified himself as Iftikhar Ahmad, student of comparative labour law, and wanted to know why Pakistan was not among the 50-odd countries we were working in at the time. Well, simply because we have not yet found a suitable counterpart in the country, my standard answer must have been. Could he not qualify? Iftikhar wrote back. He liked what we were doing, he said, and he also wanted to dedicate his working life to the interests of the common working man, woman and family. He was studying at Cornell and would return home to Islamabad, where he would restart working as a career civil servant for the Pakistani Government. So, indeed, why not, I mused. Let’s give it a try. And that is how we embarked on an adventurous and truly rewarding partnership that, 10 years later, has culminated into the first comprehensive Labour Rights Index with global outreach, covering 115 countries in 2020 - and counting. 

Over the past decade, Iftikhar and I have had at least a thousand online conversations and - when travelling was still easy - at least a dozen meetings in Islamabad, Amsterdam, Geneva and some other places where and when our work brought us together. Iftikhar, a methodical and systematic thinker with a strong bent for research, had recognized that we, at WageIndicator, collected data on wages and labour rights in a highly structured way. Our common systems approach provided the framework and directed our mutual brain picking. This happy meeting of inquisitive minds is the second crucial strand in our enduring cooperation - next to our shared drive that the work we do should benefit the working man and woman of meagre means, who make up the public at large in any country.

It so happened that the Decent Work Check, a nascent tool, that we at WageIndicator had been experimenting with (online and in print) in rural Africa and Central America, became the hub of our intense and intensifying exchanges. After much initial tampering, sculpting and a lot of scrutinizing, it today stands as the legal backbone of our pioneering Labour Rights Index 2020 and would continue to do so for its future editions. Moreover, our mature Decent Work Check proves to be of great value for national WageIndicator websites in 115 countries, and also in WageIndicator projects at the factory and plantation level in Indonesia, Ethiopia and Uganda, empowering (female) garment workers and flower growers.

I look forward to our continued cooperation with Iftikhar and his team at the Centre for Labour Research, along the lines that have brought us - and many others - so much: professionally, intellectually and as friends.

Paulien Osse, 
Director 
WageIndicator Foundation 

Introduction

Significance 

The Labour Rights Index, while one of the many de jure indices, is arguably the most comprehensive one yet², as it encompasses every aspect of the working lifespan of a worker and identifies the presence of labour rights, or lack thereof, in national legal systems worldwide. The Index measures decent work and provides detailed information on rights at work as well as the local legal framework for regulating the labour market³. 

The Labour Rights Index is a wide-ranging assessment of the labour market regulations in 115 countries. It focuses on de jure (according to law) aspects of the labour market. The focus on implementation and actual practice is limited. The report scores 115 economies on 10 areas of labour market regulation. These are referred to as indicators. There is no other comparable project in terms of scope. The Index sheds light on a range of differences in laws/regulations on 46 topics across 115 countries.

While grounded in SDG 8⁴, the Labour Rights Index is a tool essentially directed at governments and international organizations. And even though the underlying document for this Index, i.e., the Decent Work Check, is aimed mainly at workers and trade unions, the Index targets national level organizations like government agencies, trade union federations and multilateral organizations such as the United Nations. This Index measures all labour right protections that have been referred to in Target 8.8⁵. The Labour Rights Index emphasizes the importance of a well-functioning legal and regulatory system in creating enabling conditions for achievement of Decent Work. As a corollary, it lays bare the adverse impact of lack of regulation or inadequate regulation on the smooth functioning of (a) labour market(s). 

As an international qualification standard, the primary focus of the Labour Rights Index on larger administrative bodies does not limit its usability for actors at multiple levels. National scores can be used as starting points of negotiations and reforms by civil society organizations. Ratings can be made prerequisites for international socio-economic agreements to ensure compliance with labour standards, similar to EU's GSP+ and USA’s GSP which require compliance in law and practice with specific labour standards in order to avail certain trade benefits through reduced tariffs. The Index provides meaningful input into policy discussions to improve labour market protections at country level. 

The Labour Rights Index is also a useful benchmarking tool that can be used in stimulating policy debate as it can help in exposing challenges and identifying best practices. The Index provides meaningful input into policy discussions to improve labour market protections at country level. The Labour Rights Index is a repository of “objective and actionable” data on labour market regulation along with the best practices which can be used by countries worldwide to initiate necessary reforms. The comparative tool can also be used by Labour Ministries for finding best practices within their own regions and around the world. 

The Labour Rights Index can work as an efficient aid for workers as well to gauge the labour rights protections in laws across countries. With increased internet use, availability of reliable and objective legal rights information is the first step towards compliance. The Labour Rights Index helps in achieving that step. The Index is similarly useful for national and transnational employers to gauge their statutory obligations in different workplaces and legal settings. 

It can be used as a benchmarking tool for policy making. While the Index does not promote “legislative transplants”, it shows the international recommended standard, based on UN or ILO Conventions and Recommendations. Similarly, the Index does not advocate the idea of “one size fits all”; rather countries may provide certain rights through statutory means or allow negotiation between the parties at a collective level. 

Linkage with SDGs

In September 2015, 193 states decided to adopt a set of 17 goals to end poverty and ensure decent work as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each goal has specific targets to be achieved over 15 years. There are 169 targets and 232 indicators listed under these 17 SDGs. The Labour Rights Index aims at an active contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, by providing necessary (complementary) insights into de jure provisions on issues covered in particular by SDG8 (Decent Jobs), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 16 (Strong Institutions).

The inextricable, yet dormant, link between decent work and economic growth has had a special trajectory with respect to the development goals. Unlike the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), where full employment and decent work were addressed through the inclusion of a new target (Target 1B⁶) in 2007 (six years after the start of the MDGs in 2001), Goal 8 under the SDGs focuses on the promotion of inclusive and sustainable economic growth that leads to employment and decent work for all⁷. This has not necessarily resulted in a positive response. The linking of economic growth and decent work under Goal 8 has been criticised as the relegation of decent work – a human rights concern – to being a mere dividend of economic growth⁸.

Despite this criticism, owing to the global financial crisis of 2008 and the current COVID-19-induced labour market crisis, employment and work has gained centre-stage. Employment and employment-related issues are also referred to in other goals⁹.

Target 8.8 refers explicitly to the protection of labour rights and promotion of safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment. While Target 8.8 talks about the protection of all labour rights, Indicator 8.8.2 is solely concerned with the national compliance with freedom of association and collective bargaining rights.

There is no doubt that the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are enabling rights. These not only have a direct bearing on labour and economic outcomes but also help in guaranteeing democracy in a country. The 2014 Nobel Prize to Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet, especially to The Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), was a testimony of labour support to democracy after the Jasmine Revolution¹⁰. The Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) was one of the four organisations that were awarded the Nobel Prize.

However, as required under Target 8.8, the protection of labour rights has to be holistically ensured, including for those in precarious employment, the most recent form of which is the gig economy. Instead of focusing only on trade union rights, all workplace rights can and should be measured and monitored both in law and practice.

Despite their unprecedented status,¹¹ SDGs indicators were not ascertained through the conventional global consultations. These were finalised by a select group of experts in March 2017¹². The implementation and achievement of Target 8.8 depends on the availability of data on labour laws and labour practices. Various indices have targeted the latter or a combination of the two. The Labour Rights Index attempts at making a distinctive contribution by being one of the few that focus on the former. 

Significant work in this sphere exists in the form of few ILO databases¹³ and some indices like the World Bank’s Doing Business Indicators (Employing Workers Index-EWI¹⁴), the Women, Business and Law Database¹⁵, the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index (Labour Market Efficiency Pillar¹⁶), the Harvard/NBER Global Labour Survey¹⁷, the Index of Economic Freedoms (Labour Freedom component)¹⁸ and the International Social Security Association (ISSA¹⁹), the OECD Indicators of Employment Protection²⁰, and the CBR-LRI (CBR Labour Regulation Index)²¹. While the International Labour Organisation is the lead agency for indicator 8.8.2, some work is already in progress on the issue. 

Appendix 1 of this report elaborates on the comparison between these indices through a table. 

Each of the mentioned surveys deal with specific aspects concerning labour rights. The ITUC²² Survey on Violations of Trade Union Rights covers trade union rights²³., the ITUC Global Rights Index, contrary to its name, measures only trade union rights using nearly 97 indicators²⁴. Similarly, The Centre for Global Workers’ Rights under Penn State University has worked on the Labour Rights Indicators measuring compliance both in law and practice for freedom of association and rights to collective bargaining through 108 indicators²⁵. The same indicators or evaluation criteria have been proposed by the ILO for measuring progress under SDG Indicator 8.8.2.

Despite this glut of indices on labour rights, experts at the WageIndicator Foundation and the Centre for Labour Research²⁶ have been working on the idea of a new de jure index, i.e., the Labour Rights Index. While various targets under SDG 8 focus on statistical data, none of those targets and indicators delves into the de jure labour rights protections as required under Target 8.8. The Index, based on 10 indicators and 46 evaluation criteria, compares labour legislation²⁷ in 115 countries. There is no other comparable work in scale and scope on labour market regulations. The details of covered regions and countries are given in Appendix II. 

The 10 indicators cover the following aspects: fundamental workers’ rights (the right to unionise and the elimination of employment discrimination, child labour and forced labour), fair wages, decent working hours, employment security, social protection (access to the living wage, unemployment, old age, disability and survivor benefits and health insurance), work-life balance for workers with family responsibilities and access to safe and healthy workplaces. All index components are grounded in and linked with a selected list of international conventions and covenants, the details of which are available in Appendix III. The work is essentially based on ten substantive elements which are closely linked to the four strategic pillars of the Decent Work Agenda, that is, (i) Core labour standards and fundamental principles and rights at work (ii) Employment creation (iii) Social protection and (iv) Social dialogue and tripartism. The ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization 2008 has emphasised that the four strategic objectives of the Decent Work Agenda are “inseparable, interrelated and mutually supportive. The failure to promote any one of them would harm progress towards the others”²⁸. Based on the recommendation of the 2008 ILO Declaration to establish appropriate indicators to monitor and evaluate the progress achieved, the ILO adopted a framework of statistical and legal Decent Work Indicators. 

The framework indicators cover the ten substantive elements of Decent Work Agenda. These elements are: ²⁹

1. employment opportunities
2. adequate earnings and productive work
3. decent working time
4. combining work, family and personal life
5. work that should be abolished (child labour and forced labour)
6. stability and security of work
7. equal opportunity and treatment in employment
8. safe work environment
9. social security
10. social dialogue, employers’ and workers’ representation

The Index is further built on the Decent Work Checks which have detailed explanations on de jure provisions on various workplace rights under national labour law. None of the above-referred indices is as comprehensive and detailed as the Labour Rights Index presented here.

While many would argue against building another index focusing only on de jure labour market institutions and provisions (namely due to the existence of large informal sectors in developing countries, non-compliance coupled with the tepid and lacklustre implementation of labour laws), well-drafted and inclusive laws are still a precondition for attaining decent work. Well-drafted laws provide clear and explicit answers to difficult and perplexing questions.

The 2010 World Social Security Report notes that even the widest and most expansive legal foundations cannot achieve the desired outcomes if these are not enforced and backed by sufficient resources. Nevertheless, strong legal foundations are a precondition for securing higher provisions and resources. There is not a single situation where a country provides generous benefits without a comprehensive legal basis³⁰.

Similar points have been raised by Botero et al.³¹ , that formal rules, although different from “on the ground” situations, still matter a lot. Botero’s work forms the basis of the Doing Business Indicators by the World Bank. Research indicates that in the absence of legislation, even the wealthiest country in the world, i.e., the United States of America, is unable to ensure decent working conditions for a majority of its citizens. As explained by Heymann and Earle³² , “laws indicate a state’s commitment to its people, lead to change by shaping public attitudes, encourage government follow-up through inspection and implementation of the law and allow court action for enforcement.”

The Labour Rights Index also covers the regulation of the gig economy as one of the evaluation criteria and gives a positive score to a country where gig workers are not treated as merely independent contractors. Other than California (USA), no country or state has enacted such a comprehensive legislation to protect the rights of these precarious workers. The scoring methodology however takes into account access to basic social protection, i.e., old age benefits, invalidity benefits and survivors’ benefits, for independent contractors. Majority of the countries give access to basic social protection to the independent contractors. 

The results and insights from the comparative Labour Rights Index can be used to bring much-needed labour legislation reforms in various countries. Universal labour guarantees or basic labour protections should be available to everyone. This essentially means that all workers, regardless of their contractual arrangement or employment status, should enjoy fundamental workers’ rights (freedom of association and right to collective bargaining, non-discrimination, no forced or child labour), an adequate living wage, maximum limits on working hours, safety and health at work, and access to the social protection system. The Index will not only help reform and develop missing legal provisions, but will also help in tracing the jurisprudential evolution of legal systems in one of the most impressionable legal spheres. 

Progress on Target 8.8, requiring protection of labour rights for all workers, including those in precarious employment, can be measured only through the comprehensive Labour Rights Index. In view of the labour market havoc wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic³³, this is the most opportune time to address the protection of all labour rights and measure the progress of member countries.

In the words of the California Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, “Sometimes it takes a pandemic to shake us into realising what that [lacking basic labour protections] really means and who suffers the consequences.”³⁴ It is time to measure every country’s progress on all labour protections instead of merely focusing on trade union rights under SDG Indicator 8.8.2. 

About the Labour Rights Index

The Labour Rights Index measures major aspects of labour law that affect a worker during the employment life cycle in 115 countries.

The Labour Rights Index covers 10 topics/indicators and 46 evaluation criteria. All of these are based on substantive elements of the Decent Work Agenda. The criteria are all grounded in UDHR, five UN Conventions, five ILO Declarations, 35 ILO Conventions, and four ILO Recommendations. 

The Labour Rights Index is based on more than a decade of research by WageIndicator and the Centre for Labour Research. More than 30 team members have contributed to the Index by providing relevant data informing various indicators under the Index.

Key Findings

This section addresses the findings of the Labour Rights Index 2020 by studying the national labour legislation of 115 countries. Please refer to Appendix IV for tables of Key findings with names of countries.

1. Fair Wages

A. Minimum Wage

At a global level, more than 85% (101 countries) of the countries considered in this Index have statutory provisions on setting and revising minimum wages. Nearly 8% (9 countries) in this Index fix their minimum wages through collective bargaining, either at the sectoral or national level. Most (6 out of 10) are in Europe. Around 4% (5 countries) have no provision on minimum wage. 

A vast majority of countries in Africa (29 countries – 85%) sets the minimum wages through legislation. Three countries in Africa, namely Chad, Namibia and Zimbabwe, set wages through collective bargaining. Ethiopia and Sudan have no provision on minimum wages. 

Similar is the case for Asia where 90% (27) countries have statutory minimum wages. None of the countries from Asia considered under this Index, has collectively negotiated minimum wages. There are three countries, Bahrain, Singapore and Yemen, with no provision on minimum wages. 

While most of the countries in Europe set wages through legislation (28 countries – 82%), the remaining countries fix and update wages through collective bargaining. These are Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Norway and Sweden. 

All 15 countries from the Americas fix their minimum wages through legislation. Similar is the case for Oceania.  

As regards the last update of minimum wages, a majority of countries (79%) have updated their minimum wages, whether statutory or collectively negotiated, during the last two years. Nearly 16% (18 countries, of which 11 in Africa) have not updated their wages during the last two years. There are six countries, with equal distribution in Africa and Asia, with no provision on minimum wage updates.  

B. Regular Wage

An overwhelming majority of countries (97%) require regular and timely payment of wages to the workers, with legislation requiring wage payment periods to be set at an hourly, daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly level. One country each from Americas (Peru), Europe (Greece) and Oceania (New Zealand) does not require regular payment of wages in its labour legislation. Instead of setting a wage payment period, the issue is left to mutual agreement between the parties.

C. Overtime Premium

More than 80% of the countries (96) require the wages for overtime hours to be at least 125% of the regular hourly rate. There are seven countries, mostly in Africa, which require an overtime rate of less than 125% of the regular hourly rate. Some countries determine the overtime rates through collective agreements, including Nigeria and Rwanda from Africa, and hence no rates have been specified. For countries where minimum wages are determined through collective agreements, overtime rates have been taken into account from the most representative sectoral collective agreement. A limited number of countries, i.e., Ghana, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have no provision on overtime premiums. 

D. Weekly Rest Work Compensation

More than 40% of the countries in this Index (51 out of 115) require a compensatory rest day or time-off, as well as a premium payment, for those workers working on weekly rest days.  The remaining countries either require a premium payment (28 countries), or workers are given a choice between time off and premium payment (21 countries). There are 15 countries, of which 9 in Africa and 4 in Asia, where there is no provision for weekly rest day work compensation. 

E. Night Work Premium

Nearly 60% (68) of the countries require additional monetary compensation or reduced working or a combination/option of both. The remaining 47 countries have no provision on monetary compensation or reduced working hours for night work. More than 70% of “No Provision” countries are from Africa and Asia. A limited number of countries from Europe (6 countries) and the Americas (Brazil, Honduras and Paraguay) require both the premium payment and reduced hours for night work. Italy, Romania and South Africa give an option to choose from reduced working hours and premium payment.

2. Decent Working Hours

A. General Weekly Working Hours

Nearly two-third of the countries in the Index have less than 48 general working hours per week, with the majority (around 64%) of countries following 40 working hours per week Other than Belgium, Cyprus, France and the Netherlands, Australia and Chad also have less than 40 working hours per week. Most of the countries in Asia have 48 working hours per week, while in Europe the most common working hours per week are 40. African countries are evenly distributed in all ranges, except the lower (Chad) and higher end (Kenya).

B. Maximum Weekly Working Hours

More than 40% of the countries have maximum weekly working hours, inclusive of overtime hours, in excess of 56 hours per week. More than half of the countries in Africa and Asia have more than 56 hours per week. Twelve of the 15 countries in the Americas have maximum working hours which are above 56 hours per week. The exceptions are Brazil (less than 48 hours), Canada (48 hours) and Argentina (49-56 hours). An overwhelming majority of European countries (32 of 34) have maximum working hours of 48 or less per week. Countries in Oceania, Australia and New Zealand have no provision on maximum weekly working hours.

C. Paid Weekly Rest Hours

More than 70% of the countries provide 24 hours of weekly rest. Sixteen countries each provide for 25-36 hours of weekly rest and more than 37 hours of weekly rest. Most (24 of 30) Asian countries provide 24 hours of weekly rest. Similarly, 14 of the 15 countries in the Americas provide for 24 hours of weekly rest. In Europe, countries are equally distributed in all three ranges. Albania, Mozambique, New Zealand and Singapore provide for a weekly rest, however unpaid. 

D. Paid Public Holidays

Most countries provide for 11-15 days of annual public holidays. There are nine countries which require 16 or more public holidays per year. Japan, Myanmar, the Netherlands, US and the UK do not require paid public holidays.

E. Annual Leave

Nearly 50% of the countries in the Americas have less than three working weeks of annual leave. The USA is the only exception in the 115 countries which has no statutory provision on annual leave. All European countries have annual leave of more than three working weeks. In Asia, while 13 countries have more than three working weeks of annual leave, a similar number has less than three working weeks of annual leave. Around 75% of the countries in the Index have three or more weeks of annual leave. The United States is the only country with no statutory provision on annual leave.

3. Employment Security

A. Written Employment Contract

Nearly 90% (102) of the 115 countries covered require either a written employment or employment particulars which must be given to a worker on commencement of employment. There are 13 countries, nine of which are in Africa, which have no statutory provision on written employment contracts or particulars. Argentina (Americas) and Australia (Oceania) as well as Lebanon and Thailand in Asia, do not have any legal requirement for written employment contracts or particulars.

B. Probation Period

More than 40% (52) countries have either no provision on probationary periods, or its duration is more than three months. Half of the countries in Europe have more than three months of probation while a similar percentage is observed for Africa. Half of the Asian countries provide for the probation period of three months. Twelve of the 15 countries in the Americas provide for a probationary period of three months or less. The USA is the only exception in the region: it has no statutory requirement on probationary period. 

C. Fixed Term Contracts

Nearly half of the countries examined under this Index, have either fixed contracts of more than 5-year duration or set no limits on the duration of fixed term contracts. Chile, Costa Rica, Iraq, and Morocco set the maximum limit at 12 months for fixed term contracts. Pakistan sets the lowest fixed term contract limit of 9 months. 54 (47%) countries require fixed term contracts of 13-60 months. 

D. Termination Notice Period

Around 60% of the countries in the Index provide for a requisite notice period of four weeks or 30 days. Cambodia (Asia), Nicaragua (Americas) and Spain (Europe) are the only countries in this range to provide a 15 days’ notice period. There are 10 countries which require a different notice period for workers and employers. Five of these countries are based in Europe. Iraq and Ukraine also require a different notice period for workers and employers. In Indonesia, Iran and Iraq, the notice period for the worker is 30 days while the employer does not have to observe any notice. In Ukraine, the minimum notice period for the worker is two weeks while for the employer it is two months. 

E. Severance Pay

More than 50% of the countries in this Index provide for a severance payment of 14 or more days per year of service. While 19 countries, 11 of which are in Africa, provide for less than 14 days’ wages as severance payment, there are 33 countries which have no provision on statutory severance payment of at least 14 days per year of service. 17 of the 33 such countries are in Europe. Eight of these 33 “No Provision” countries either have a fixed severance pay which remains the same irrespective of the years of service, or is not provided after the first year of service. In Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Russia, and Ukraine, the severance pay remains constant irrespective of the years of service. Guatemala does not provide any severance pay during the first year of service. 

4. Family Responsibilities

A. Parental Leave

Nearly 45% (52) countries provide for parental leave. Only Chile (Americas) and Singapore (Asia) require a parental leave of less than 4 months. 43 countries, of which 28 are in Europe and eight in Asia, require a parental leave of more than 4 months. 63 countries have no provision on parental leave, the majority of which are in Africa (31 of 34), the Americas (12 of 15) and Asia (20 of 30). 

B. Paternity Leave

Less than 40% (43) countries require a paternity leave of 7 calendar days or more. Of these, four countries, Azerbaijan, Belarus, New Zealand and Ukraine, provide for unpaid paternity leave of 14 calendar days. However, Europe still leads in the total number of days for leave provided to the father, making over 60% of countries providing over 7 days of leave.  Nearly one third of the countries provide for less than 7 days of paternity leave, of which the majority are in Africa.

C. Flexible Work Arrangements

Nearly 30% (33) of the countries require flexible work arrangements for workers, especially working parents. 23 of these 33 countries are from Europe, six in Asia, two in Africa (Angola and Tunisia), and one each in the Americas (Chile) and Oceania (Australia) each.

D. Paid Nursing Breaks

Other than Israel, which requires nursing breaks for less than 6 months of child’s age (4 months), 96 countries require paid nursing breaks until a child is at least 6 months old. Of these 96, 25 countries require nursing breaks until a child is over 12 months. 18 countries do not require employers to provide nursing breaks to women workers. In Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland and the UK, the length of maternity leave and parental leave is long enough to cover the requisite nursing period involving paid breaks for at least six months for mothers.

5. Maternity at Work

A. Pregnancy Inquiry during Recruitment

An equal number of countries have explicit and implicit prohibition on requiring a test for pregnancy or certificate of such a test when a woman is applying for employment. 11 countries each from Americas and Europe have an explicit prohibition on inquiry about pregnancy during recruitment, while most (16) of the countries having an implicit prohibition are situated in Europe. More than 20 countries, both in Africa and Asia, have no prohibition on inquiring about pregnancy or making a woman worker test for pregnancy during the recruitment process. 

B. Maternity Leave

More than 60% (74) countries require a maternity leave of at least 14 weeks. 14 countries require less than 12 weeks of maternity leave. Of these, nine are from Asia (eight from the Middle East region). 27 countries provide for maternity leave of 12-13 weeks. 13 of these countries are in Africa and seven each from the Americas and Asia. An overwhelming majority of European countries (30 of 34) provide more than 14 weeks of maternity leave.  

C. Maternity Benefits

Most countries (103 of 115) require maternity benefit, equivalent to at least two-thirds (66.67%) of the worker’s former wage. Five countries, Australia, Finland, Ireland, Malta and the UK, provide a flat rate benefit to a worker during maternity leave. Six countries, Botswana, Canada, Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, require a maternity benefit of less than two-thirds of the worker’s former wage. The US is the only country which has no statutory provision on paid maternity leave.

D. Source of Maternity Benefits

Nearly 70% (76) countries provide maternity benefits either as a universal benefit or through the social insurance system. 14 countries provide maternity benefits through a mixed system where the employer pays a certain part of the former wage and the remainder is paid through social insurance or public funds. 24 countries, 12 each from Africa and Asia, follow an employer liability system where the employer is required to pay the workers’ wages during the term of maternity leave. The US is the only country, under this Index, which has unpaid maternity leave.

E. Prohibition on Dismissals during Pregnancy

There are only 10 countries which do not prohibit dismissal of a woman worker’s employment during or on account of pregnancy. Bangladesh, Botswana, Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Qatar, Singapore, and Yemen have no statutory provision prohibiting employers from dismissing workers on account of pregnancy. 

6. Safe Work

A. Free Personal Protective Equipment

Most of the countries require provision of free personal protective equipment (PPE) to a worker when the hazards at a workplace cannot be reduced through other means. Argentina, Burundi, Chad and Mali have no statutory provision requiring employers to provide PPE, at no cost to the worker. 

B. Training on OSH

An overwhelming majority of countries (111 of 115) requires employers to inform workers about workplace hazards and train on health and safety issues. Only four countries, Cape Verde, Israel, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, have no provision on training with regard to occupational safety and health issues at the workplace.

C. Restriction on Work (for Pregnant workers)

More than 70% (82 of 115) restrict work that is prejudicial to the health of mother or child. 33 countries, with 16 and 14 countries in Africa and Asia respectively, do not prohibit engagement of women in work which is prejudicial to the health of mother or child. Three countries from the Americas, Colombia, El Salvador and Honduras, also do not restrict employment of pregnant or nursing women in work prejudicial to their or their child’s health.

D. Employment Injury Benefit

Most countries (85 of 115) provide employment injury benefits, in the event of an occupational injury or disease, through the social insurance system. 27 countries provide employment injury benefits through insurance providers, public or private carriers. Three Asian countries, Bangladesh, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, make employment injury benefit an employer liability.

7. Social Security

A. Old Age Pension

Over 85% (100 of 115) countries provide old age pension through a contributory social insurance system. Five countries, Bangladesh, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and South Africa, provide a non-contributory (universal or social assistance based) old age pension. Eight countries provide a state administered provident fund or a mandatory individual account system for old age pensions. Malawi and Nigeria have a non-state administered provident fund and/or mandatory individual account system for old age pensions.  

B. Dependants’/Survivors’ Pension

More than 100 countries require a social insurance-based dependants/survivors’ pension system. There is a provision of a non-contributory survivors’ pension in four countries, Bangladesh, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Norway have a non-contributory (universal or social assistance) survivors’ pension.  El Salvador, Malawi and Nigeria provide a non-state administered provident fund or mandatory individual account system for survivors’ pension. 

C. Unemployment Benefits

More than 50% (62 of 115) countries provide for a state administered unemployment benefit. Australia, Brazil and Romania have a state administered system which is means-tested. While 40 countries have severance pay in the event of contract termination or loss of employment, Burundi, Ghana and Singapore have neither severance pay nor unemployment benefit.

D. Sickness Benefit

Nearly 65% (75 of 115) countries require a sickness benefit of at least 6 months. A similar number of countries provide state administered sickness benefits. 36 countries require sickness benefit to last less than six months and make it an employer liability i.e., require the employer to pay wages during the period of sickness. It must be emphasised however that though the number of countries remains the same in above referred cases, the actual countries might be different. Burkina Faso, Ghana, Korea Rep., and Senegal do not provide any statutory sickness benefit. In provision of sickness benefit, waiting periods were also considered. 17 countries have waiting periods of over 10 days to access sickness benefits. 13 of these countries are in Europe. Azerbaijan, Brazil, Namibia and New Zealand also require a waiting period of more than 10 days to access sickness benefits. 

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E. Invalidity Pension

Similar to old age pension and survivors’ pension, most of the countries (100 of 115) provide for a contributory social insurance invalidity pension. Four countries, Bangladesh, Botswana, New Zealand, and South Africa have a non-contributory (universal or social assistance based) invalidity pension. Bolivia, Kenya, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Uganda provide for a state administered provident fund or a mandatory individual account-based invalidity pension. El Salvador, Malawi and Nigeria have a non-state administered invalidity pension.  Angola, Lesotho, and the United Arab Emirates have no provision for invalidity pension. 

8. Fair Treatment

A. Discrimination in Employment

As explained in the methodology part, a country must  in all employment related matters have the prohibited discrimination on seven of the following 10 grounds “race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, age, disability and trade union membership”. Three-fourth (86 of 115) prohibit discrimination on at least seven of the above referred ten grounds. 29 countries, of which 19 in Asia, do not prohibit discrimination in employment related matters.

B. Equal Remuneration

In line with the provisions of ILO Convention 100, nearly 70% (79 of 115) countries require equal remuneration for work of equal value. On the other hand, 36 countries of which half are in Asia, have no provision on equal remuneration for work of equal value. Only one country from Europe, Ukraine, has no clear provision on equal remuneration for work of equal value. 

C. Sexual Harassment in Employment

More than 80% (96 of 115) countries counteract sexual harassment at work with criminal penalties and/or civil remedies. There are ten countries which have a general prohibition on sexual harassment. Either it is not work related or no penalties were envisaged under the legislation. These are Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Lesotho, Myanmar, Qatar, Russian Federation, Sudan, and Yemen. There are nine countries which have no provision on sexual harassment at work whatsoever. These are Argentina, Belarus, Botswana, Chile, Guatemala, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, and Mali. 

D. Access to same Jobs as Men

In 47% (54 of 115) of the countries, women have access to the same jobs as men without any restriction on type of work. Most African (23 of 34) and Asian (26 of 30) countries prohibit women to engage in similar jobs as men. Most European (28) countries do not have any restriction in their legislation prohibiting women from working in the same jobs as men.

E. Gig Workers

Nearly 80% (91) of countries in the Index provide basic social protection (old age, survivors’ and disability pensions) to self-employed workers. Since gig economy workers are considered self-employed independent contractors, provision of basic social protection to self-employed workers is taken positively. Compulsory³⁵ coverage (over 30%) and voluntary³⁶ coverage (nearly 30%) of social security for gig workers are mostly spread over Europe (54%) and Africa (over 35%) respectively. Other systems for the self-employed workers have also been identified in countries. South Africa is the only African country to provide conditional³⁷ coverage of social security for gig workers, while for mixed³⁸ coverage, Kenya and Singapore are the only African and Asian country providing it. Special systems³⁹ for self-employed are provided in Europe (Belgium, Finland, Germany, Spain) and Africa (Egypt). There exist only three countries in the Index which provide universal coverage of social security to all their residents; Botswana (Africa), Israel (Asia) and New Zealand (Oceania). However, the US is the only country to enact legislation granting gig workers the same access to fundamental workers’ rights, social protection, adequate living wages, decent working hours, and safe and healthy workplaces, as standard workers enjoy.

9. Child and Forced Labour

A. Employment Age of Children

An overwhelming majority (114 of 115) of countries set the minimum age for employment at 14 years or above. The minimum age for employment is 14 years for 21 countries, 15 years for 53 countries and 16 years and above for 39 countries. Nigeria sets the minimum age for employment at 12 years while Australia has 17 years as its minimum age for employment. 

B. Compulsory Schooling Age

Nearly 70% (79 of 115) of the countries either set the employment age equal to the compulsory education age or set it at a level higher than the schooling age. Employment entry age is set at a level lower than the compulsory education age in 36 countries. These are from Africa (6 countries), the Americas (10 countries), Asia (12 countries), and Europe (8 countries). 

C. Age for Hazardous Work

ILO Convention 138 prescribes the minimum age for hazardous work as 18 years (16 years where it is specified in consultation with the social partners). Only two countries set the minimum age for hazardous work as 16 years. These are Denmark and Singapore. On the other hand, the United Arab Emirates has no provision on minimum age for hazardous work.

D. Forced Labour

Other than the three countries Congo, El Salvador and Vietnam which have a general prohibition on forced labour, 97% of the countries treat forced labour as a criminal act and impose sanctions including fine and/or imprisonment on those who engage workers under forced labour. 

10. Trade Union

A. Freedom of Association

Nearly 60% (68 of 115) of the countries in the Index have requisite provisions on freedom of association as required under ILO Convention 87. Of the remaining 47 countries, 17 from Africa, 22 from Asia, six in the Americas, have limited access to freedom of association and so do not have legal provisions allowing workers to form and join unions of their own choice. 

B. Collective Bargaining

More than 50% (60 of 115) countries require access to collective bargaining to workers and their unions to negotiate on working conditions with the employers. The remaining 55 countries, of which 16 are in Africa, seven in the Americas and 22 in Asia, have limited access to collective bargaining. 

C. Right to Strike

One third (38 of 115) of the countries grant workers the right to strike. However, a majority of countries (77 of 115) limit access to the right to strike, including 25 countries in Africa and 27 in Asia.

D. Replacing Workers on Strike

While around 60% (71 of 115) prohibit employers from replacing those workers who are on strike, more than 40 countries do not have any such provision, with most (18) of these countries found in Asia. 

Data Notes

The WageIndicator Foundation and the Centre for Labour Research have developed a Labour Rights Index which looks at the status of countries in terms of providing laws related to decent work for the labour force. The data set covers 10 indicators for 115 countries. The Index aims to provide a snapshot of the labour rights present in the legislation of countries covered.

The following assumptions have been used while constructing the Labour Rights Index. The worker in question

• Is skilled;⁴⁰
• Is a minimum wage worker;
• Resides in the economy’s most populous province/state/area;
• Is a lawful citizen or a legal immigrant⁴¹ of the economy; 
• Is a full-time employee with a permanent contract in a medium-sized enterprise with 60 employees;
• Has work experience of one year or more;
• Is assumed to be registered with the relevant social security institution and for a long enough time to accrue various monetary benefits (maternity, sickness, work injury, old age pension, survivors’, and invalidity benefit); and 
• Is assumed to have been working long enough to access leaves (maternity, paternity, paternal, sick, and annual leave).

Methodology

The subtopics in a Decent Work Check (DWC)⁴² have been used to structure 46 questions under the indicators in constructing this Index. 46 data points are obtained across 10 indicators, each of which contains four to five binary questions. Each indicator represents an aspect of work which is considered important for achieving decent work⁴³ (Table 1). The scores for each indicator are obtained by computing the unweighted average of the answers under that indicator and scaling the result to 100. The final scores for the countries are then determined by taking each indicator’s average, where 100 is the maximum score to achieve. Each sub-component with four questions has a score of 25. For sub-components with five questions, the individual score is 20. A Labour Rights Index score of 100 would indicate that there are no statutory decent work deficits in the areas covered by the database. 

To illustrate the scoring process in the Index, the Netherlands, for example, receives a score of 100 under the indicator of Safe Work. This signifies that the country legally provides a safe working environment to workers. However, under the indicator of Fair Treatment, the Netherlands scores 80 since legislation does not guarantee basic rights for platform (gig) workers. 

Scoring along these lines for a country as above, the overall score of the Netherlands is determined by taking the unweighted average of the scores for all 10 indicators on a 0-100 scale, where 0 represents the worst regulatory performance and 100 the best regulatory performance in the labour market. The Netherlands scores 88 overall. For a comparison with other countries, please refer to the scores table at the end of this report. 

The labour legislation of the 115 countries, applicable on 1 January 2020, is the source of information used to answer questions in the Labour Rights Index. The Index does not take into account COVID-19 related labour market measures, initiated by countries⁴⁴. Strengths and limitations exist with this approach (Table 2). While the Labour Rights Index has been designed to be an easily replicable tool to benchmark countries, there are certain advantages and limitations. In order to ensure comparability of data across 115 economies, specific assumptions have been made. The indicators in the Index are based on standardised assumptions to make the laws comparable across countries. For instance, an assumption used for this Index is that the worker in question who is affected by the labour laws has experience of one year or more at a workplace, as questions on annual leave and severance pay can only apply to this kind of worker. Hence, the workers with temporary contracts of a duration less than one year may not have access to such rights.  

Another assumption underlying the Index is that the focus is on the labour legislation, which applies to the most populous province/state/area of a country. This allows the Index to give a more accurate depiction of a country’s labour rights as the labour laws affect most of its population, even though the legislation affecting workers in areas with lower populations may be different.

Furthermore, the Index is also based on labour legislation which applies to the formal economy in the private sector. Despite more than 60 per cent of the global workforce in need of transitioning from informal to formal economy⁴⁵, focusing on the labour laws affecting the formal sector retains attention on the sector since the labour laws in the formal economy are more applicable and that is the ultimate goal. ILO Recommendation 204 also recommends gradual transition from the informal to the formal economy through enactment of necessary legislation and reduction of barriers for transition. Focusing on the formal economy and its applicable legislation also indicates the kind of rights that will be available to the informal economy workers on successful transition to the formal economy. Other than statutes, the Labour Rights Index also takes into account general or inter-professional collective agreements, applicable at the national level. For countries where minimum wages are determined through collective bargaining, sectoral agreements (for major economic sectors) can also be taken into account for responding to questions on compensation for overtime and night work.

Moreover, this report acknowledges the presence of gaps between legislation and its practice. For instance, gaps could stem from the lack of implementation of laws because of, either poor enforcement, weak design, or limited capacity. Still, observing differences in legislation helps give a clearer understanding of where labour rights may be limited in practice. 

This study also recognises the presence of social, economic and cultural factors affecting the practice of legal rights. For example, women may not be working at night although legally allowed, as social and cultural norms could restrain such options. Poverty-stricken areas may have children under the minimum working age being employed for long hours and not in light work.  Workers may be doing overtime exceeding the weekly hour limit because the culture at their organisations may view such workers as harder working and thus more deserving of a reward. The Labour Rights Index 2020 acknowledges the restraints of its standardised assumptions and focus on codified law. Even if these assumptions do not cover all the labour force in the country, they ensure the comparability of data.

Unlike other indices, the Labour Rights Index does not consider ratification of international conventions in its scoring or rating system, since mere ratification is not a good indicator of actual implementation of international labour standards. It uses the standards prescribed in these Conventions (e.g. 14 weeks of maternity leave or minimum age for hazardous work as 18 years) and scores countries on that basis. 

All the 10 indicators and 46 evaluation criteria of the Labour Rights Index are grounded in substantive elements of the Decent Work Agenda. The legal basis for all components (regulatory standards) emanates from the UN or ILO Conventions. Tables 3 explains in detail these legal sources. 

In summary, the Labour Rights Index methodology has various useful features. The methodology;

• Is transparent and based on facts taken directly from codified laws.
• Uses standardised assumptions for data collection, thereby making logical comparisons across countries.
• Allows data to identify the labour rights and their presence (or lack of) in the legislation of 115 countries. 

Weights

The Labour Rights Index does not use weights. Each indicator features either four or five underlying components framed as questions. Every component contributes equally to the indicator and every indicator contributes equally to the overall score. The overall score (from 0-100) is calculated from a simple unweighted average of scores from 10 indicators.

As pointed out  at the outset, the indicators and components of the Labour Rights Index cover the employment lifecycle of a person. Consider the example of annual leave and sick leave. While annual leave is accessed by a greater percentage of workers every year compared with sick leave, giving them weights (whether equal or unequal) would be arbitrary and would not serve the purpose. 

Similarly, consider the example of child labour and forced labour questions. While the majority of workers may not have to experience these menaces, it is a harsh reality for many, at least in  developing countries. Giving weights would mean prioritizing one component over the other. 

Countries at different stages of development may also have different legal provisions. For example, as is evident throughout the study, work-life balance and gender equality related legislation is also linked with economic development. With certain exceptions, mostly high-income countries have instituted provisions on paternity leave and parental leave. If these components are given higher weightage than the other, developing countries’ scores will be comparatively much lower.

Greater weightage to certain areas of labour law can create an inherent bias and also lead to the agents’ skewed efforts to initiate reforms in areas with higher weights. Countries will inherently target laws with greater weightage. 

If giving weights would be an option, fundamental principles and rights at work would be given higher weights. These are freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour; the effective abolition of child labour; and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. However, the ILO has also started giving importance to other workplace rights. The 2019 Declaration notes that “all workers should enjoy adequate protection in accordance with the Decent Work Agenda, taking into account: 

1. respect for their fundamental rights; 
2. an adequate minimum wage, statutory or negotiated; 
3. maximum limits on working time; and 
4. safety and health at work.” 

Similarly, social protection, or social security (both terms are used interchangeably), is enshrined as such in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966). ILO Recommendation 202 suggests that member States should establish and maintain national social protection floors as a nationally defined set of basic social security guarantees which secure protection aimed at preventing or alleviating poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion.

Hence, instead of preferring one component or indicator over the other, the Labour Rights Index has been developed without assigning weights. 

Ranking

Similarly, the Labour Rights Index does not “rank” countries. 

The ordinal ranking method (for example, “first”, “second” and “third”) is problematic as it leads to naming and shaming of countries at the bottom of the list. Moreover, as argued by the Doing Business Report 2016, rankings may encourage the agents (being ranked) to “game the system”.⁵⁰ There is a risk that the agents may divert a disproportionate amount of resources and efforts to the areas which are measured/scored, while leaving aside areas which are equally important but not scored. To deal with this issue, the Labour Rights Index does not use ordinal ranking, although it covers the whole gamut of labour rights. 

The Index does not aim at producing a single number in the form of ranking. Rather it gives a run down on the local labour legislation, supported by detailed Decent Work Checks, updated annually.  

The Labour Rights Index however does place 115 countries into 6 categories and rates these from “Decent Work” to “Total Lack of Decent Work”.⁵¹  

Description of the Ratings

 

1. Decent Work

Almost all labour rights, as covered by the Index, are provided under the legislation in countries with a ranking of 1 (Decent Work). Workers have regular access to decent work in nearly every aspect of working life. Reforms in labour legislation in a couple of areas can improve the statutory rights further.  

2. Approaching Decent Work

Countries with a rating of 2 (Approaching to Decent Work) have generally a lower level of labour rights than those with a rating of 1. Countries with this rating have scored Yes on at least 37 of the 46 evaluation criteria. Most labour rights are provided under the legislation. Workers have frequent access to decent work in most aspects of working life.

3. Reasonable Access to Decent Work

Generally, labour rights are reasonably provided under the legislation in Countries with a rating of 3 (Reasonable Access to Decent Work). Workers have fair access to decent work in some aspects of working life. The countries with this rating have scored Yes on at least 33 of the 46 evaluation criteria.  

4. Limited Access to Decent Work

Restricted labour rights are provided under the legislation in countries with a rating of 4 (Limited Access to Decent Work). Workers have access to decent work in limited aspects of working life only. The national/local legislation does not meet the international standard on nearly 18 of the 46 evaluation criteria.

5. Basic Access to Decent Work

Minimal labour rights are provided under the legislation in countries with a rating of 5 (Basic Access to Decent Work). There are systematic violations of workplace rights through statutory means. Workers have nominal access to decent work in a few aspects of working life only. The national/local legislation does not meet the international standard on nearly 20 of the 46 evaluation criteria. 

6. Total Lack of Decent Work

Decent work deficits are rife in countries with a rating of 6 (Total Lack of Decent Work). The national/local legislation barely meets the international standard on even half of the 46 evaluation criteria. There is an absence of minimal labour rights under the legislation. Workers are deprived of access to decent work in nearly every aspect of working life.

What is Next?

In the upcoming editions of the Labour Rights Index, we plan to include the following components: provision of day care/childcare centres at the workplace; fair treatment of part-time workers equivalent to comparable full-time workers with respect to different aspects of employment; the labour inspection system; prohibition of worst forms of child labour; establishment of social dialogue or tripartite mechanism to discuss labour market issues at economy level.

Establishment of a vibrant labour inspection system and social dialogue mechanism with due representation from all relevant stakeholders is important from a governance viewpoint. While these are not directly associated with workers’ rights, these make the attainment of workers’ rights easier by simplifying the processes and removing any institutional hurdles.

It is also planned to extend the coverage to 140 countries. These mainly include countries from Central Asia, North Africa, and some South American countries. Any future legal updates which lead to changes in the scores, as well as near misses will also be included.

Scored questions

This section focuses on the 46 scored binary questions, grouped by indicators. While recognising the fact that there will always be a divergence between “what is on the books” and “what happens in practice”, the Index does not consider the implementation of legislation; the scoring is based on statutory law only.

Fair Wages

The Fair Wages indicator measures whether the law requires payment of minimum wages and regular as well as timely disbursement of wages. The indicator also refers to additional compensation for overtime work, night work and work on weekly rest days.  This indicator has five components that measure: 

• Whether labour legislation sets the minimum wage. A score of 1 is assigned if labour legislation sets the minimum wage or if the minimum wage is set through negotiation between the parties or through sectoral bargaining at the sectoral or even national level. In order to be assigned a score of 1, a country must have updated their minimum wage at least once during the past two years. A score of 0 is assigned if there is no provision in legislation on minimum wage or in the absence of statutory minimum wage, there is no sectoral bargaining. A score of 0 is assigned if the minimum wage has not been updated at least once during the last two years. 
• Whether labour legislation requires regular payment of wages.  A score of 1 is assigned if labour legislation requires employers to ensure regular and timely payment of wages. Wage payment periods can be set at the hourly, daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly level. A score of 0 is assigned if labour legislation does not require employers to ensure regular and timely payment of wages on completion of a wage period. 
• Whether overtime compensation is at least 125% of the regular rate. A score of 1 is assigned if monetary compensation for overtime is 125% or more of the regular hourly rate or where paid time-off is given as compensation for overtime. A score of 0 is assigned if overtime compensation is less than 125% of the regular hourly rate. 
• Whether there is additional compensation for working on a weekly rest day. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation requires provision of compensatory rest day. A score of 1 is also assigned if workers are given both the substitute day-off and a premium payment. A score of 0 is assigned if working on a weekly rest day is compensated with only a premium payment or workers have the option to choose between either. 
• Whether there is additional compensation for work during night hours. A score of 1 is assigned if monetary compensation (premium, additional or extra pay) is awarded to those who work during night hours or if working hours for night workers are reduced. A score of 0 is assigned if night work does not lead to premium payment or reduction in working hours. For scoring this question, other than legislation, general/inter-professional collective agreements are taken into account.

Decent Working Hours

The Decent Working Hours indicator measures whether workers' health and well-being are preserved while ensuring their productiveness and motivation. The indicator considers daily and weekly maximum hours of work in excess of which any time worked is remunerated at overtime rates. This indicator also considers weekly rest periods, public holidays, and annual leave. Paid rest days, whether in the form of weekly rest, public holidays or annual leave, are periods during which a worker is off work while continuing to receive an income and being entitled to social protection. 

This indicator has five components that measure:  

• Whether labour legislation limits general working hours to 48 hours per week. A score of 1 is assigned if general working hours do not exceed 48 hours per week. A score of 0 is assigned if there is no restriction on weekly working hours or if general working hours are more than 48 hours per week. 
• Whether labour legislation limits maximum working hours to 56 hours per week. A score of 1 is assigned if total working hours inclusive of overtime do not exceed 56 hours per week. A score of 0 is assigned in all such cases where total working hours are more than 56 hours per week. 
• Whether labour legislation requires a weekly rest of at least 24 hours. A score of 1 is assigned if workers have the right to a weekly rest of a minimum of 24 consecutive hours. A score of 0 is assigned if labour legislation does not require a weekly rest day, as specified above. 
• Whether there are paid public holidays. A score of 1 is assigned if workers are allowed fully paid public holidays. A score of 0 is assigned if labour legislation does not require employers to grant a fully paid day-off on public holidays. 
• Whether there is paid annual leave. A score of 1 is assigned if labour legislation requires employers to grant workers at least three working weeks of paid annual leave⁵² after completion of one year of service. A score of 0 is assigned if the length of paid annual leave is less than three working weeks. 

Employment Security

The Employment Security indicator measures whether labour legislation ensures that workers' jobs are characterised by a degree of permanence and reliability. The indicator considers various aspects of employment security and stability like a written employment contract, indefinite vs fixed-term contracts for tasks of a permanent nature, a probation period, a notice period before termination of contract and severance pay. 

This indicator has five components that measure: 

• Whether employers are required to provide written employment contracts to workers. A score of 1 is assigned if labour legislation requires employers to provide written employment contracts or at least written employment particulars to workers on commencement of employment. A score of 0 is assigned if there is no requirement on the part of the employer to provide any such written document. 
• Whether labour legislation restricts the hiring of fixed-term contract workers. A score of 1 is assigned if the maximum length of fixed contacts including renewals is less than 5 years.  A score of 0 is assigned in all such cases where labour legislation does not specify the maximum length of fixed-term contracts or allows the maximum length of fixed-term contracts including renewals to exceed five years. 
• Whether labour legislation limits the length of the probation period to three months. A score of 1 is assigned if labour legislation limits the maximum length of the probation period, including renewals to three months. A score of 0 is assigned if labour legislation does not refer to probation or trial period or allows it to exceed three months. 
• Whether there is a 30-day notice before contract termination. A score of 1 is assigned if both parties can terminate an indefinite term contract after serving a 30-day⁵³  written notice or paying in lieu of notice, except in cases of gross misconduct. A score of 1 is also assigned where a termination notice required from employees is 30 days, but is still less than what is required of employers or where the notice period required from employers is 30 days, but for employees ranges between 14 to 30 days. A score of 0 is assigned if the contract termination notice is less than 30 days or more than 30 days. 
• Whether there is severance pay on contract termination. A score of 1 is assigned if labour legislation requires employers to provide severance pay (gratuity or end of service allowance) at the rate of two weeks wages for every year of service on contract termination in the event of individual dismissal or economic dismissals (redundancy) or on expiry of a fixed-term contract, except in cases of gross misconduct. A score of 0 is assigned if severance pay is not required under the law or is provided at a rate lower than two weeks wages for every year of service or if the rate is not clearly specified under the law. 

Family Responsibilities

Family responsibilities are responsibilities in relation to dependent children and other immediate family members who need care (sick, elder, infirm). The Family Responsibilities indicator measures whether labour legislation ensures that workers get paternity leave, parental leave and flexible work options while tending to their family responsibilities. 

This indicator has four components that measure:

• Whether parental leave is available to parents. A score of 1 is assigned if workers have the right to paid or unpaid parental leave of at least four months, on exhaustion of paternity and maternity leave. A score of 0 is assigned if labour legislation does not provide for the right to parental leave⁵⁴.  
• Whether fathers have the right to take paid paternity leave. A score of 1 is assigned if labour legislation requires employers to grant paid paternity leave of at least one week on the birth of a child. Paternity leave might be an employer liability or paid by the social security system or general tax financing. A score of 0 is assigned if there is no provision for paid paternity leave of at least one week. 
• Whether flexible working arrangements are available to workers with family responsibilities. A score of 1 is assigned if labour legislation allows flexible work arrangements (flextime or part-time work option or work from home options, etc) for workers with family responsibilities. A score of 0 is assigned if labour legislation provides access to part-time work or flextime generally to all workers without mandating it for workers with family responsibilities. 
• Whether there are paid nursing breaks. A score of 1 is assigned if labour legislation requires the provision of paid nursing breaks to workers (mainly mothers) until the infant is six months old.  A score of 0 is assigned if labour legislation does not require employers to grant fully paid nursing breaks to workers until the infant is six months old. These nursing breaks can either be during the working day or can also take the form of reduced working hours. 

Maternity at Work

Maternity protection allows women to successfully combine their productive and reproductive roles without compromising one at the cost of another. Similarly, it protects women from discrimination in the labour market due to their reproductive roles. The Maternity at Work indicator measures whether labour legislation ensures that workers get paid maternity leave and are protected from dismissal during and on account of pregnancy. 

This indicator has four components that measure:

• Whether law prohibits inquiring about pregnancy during recruitment. A score of 1 is assigned if labour legislation prohibits employers from inquiring about pregnancy (through pregnancy testing or other means) during recruitment. A score of 0 is assigned if there is no prohibition in law on inquiring about pregnancy/family planning during recruitment or making it a recruitment condition.  
• Whether maternity leave is available for 14 weeks. A score of 1 is assigned if pregnant workers have the right to maternity leave of at least 14 weeks. A score of 0 is assigned if the length of maternity leave is less than 14 weeks. 
• Whether maternity leave benefit is at least 66.67% of the worker's former wage. A score of 1 is assigned if maternity leave benefit is 66.67% or higher than the pregnant worker's former wage. In cases where the maternity leave is over and above 14 weeks, the score will remain 1 if the payment for maternity leave through social insurance or universal benefits is at least 66.67% of the former wage for at least the first 14 weeks. In cases where workers are paid flat rate maternity benefits, these must be at least 66.67% of the applicable minimum wage. A score of 0 is assigned if maternity leave benefit is less than the above threshold. 
• Whether maternity benefit is employer liability. A score of 1 is assigned if maternity benefit is paid through a contributory social insurance system or through a non-contributory universal benefits system financed through general taxation. A score of 0 is assigned if maternity benefit is only employer liability and employers are required to pay workers their wages during maternity leave. 
• Whether law protects workers from dismissal during pregnancy. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation prohibits employers from terminating workers during or on account of pregnancy (e.g. certified sickness related to pregnancy) except in cases of gross misconduct. A score of 0 is assigned if legislation does not protect workers from dismissal during or on account of pregnancy. 

Safe Work 

Decent work, in essence, is safe work. The Safe Work indicator measures whether labour legislation ensures that workers are trained about health and safety issues before the commencement of work and whether the employer provides free protective equipment to workers. 

This indicator has four components that measure: 

• Whether the law requires employers to provide free personal protective equipment to workers. A score of 1 is assigned if labour legislation requires employers to provide free personal protective equipment to the workers. A score of 0 is assigned if there is no requirement for the provision of free personal protective equipment.  
• Whether law requires training on health and safety issues. A score of 1 is assigned if the law requires employers to provide health and safety training while they join work or where they are assigned on some new work. A score of 0 is assigned if legislation does not require training on health and safety issues. 
• Whether law restricts work that is determined to be prejudicial to the health of the mother or the child. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation restricts pregnant or nursing women from being obliged to perform arduous work that is prejudicial to the health of the mother or the child. Based on the workplace assessment and medical certificate, legislation should require elimination of risk, adaptation of working conditions, transfer to another post without loss of pay and access to paid leave when neither of the above are possible. A score of 1 is also assigned if legislation prohibits night work where a medical certificate declares such work as incompatible with a woman’s pregnancy or nursing. A score of 0 is assigned if arduous work and any of its other forms, as noted in Paragraph 6(3) of the ILO Recommendation 191, are not restricted for pregnant or nursing workers and/or there is a general prohibition only.
• Whether legislation provides for employment injury benefit. A score of 1 is assigned if employment injury or disease benefit is provided under the law and is paid through social insurance or where the employer pays a monthly premium to the private or public carrier (insurance provider) to provide employment injury benefits. A score of 0 is assigned if employment injury benefit is not financed through the social insurance system (employer liability program only) or is not provided under the law. 

Social Security

Adequate social protection is an important aspect of decent work. Protection from the major risks in life through social protection helps keep people out of poverty and prevents them from being thrown into poverty when unforeseen catastrophes occur, such as an accident, an illness or the loss of a job or in old age when work is impossible or very difficult.

Social security covers a broad range of benefits which, depending on the country, may include:

(i) old-age pensions; (ii) health care; (ii) dependants’/survivors’ benefit; (iv) disability/invalidity insurance; (v) paid sick leave; and (vi) unemployment insurance.

This indicator has five components that measure: 

• Whether law provides for old-age pension. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation creates a contributory old-age pension or if old-age pension is paid through a non-contributory universal benefits system (both administered by state). A score of 0 is assigned if there is no explicit provision for state administered old age pension or is employer liability or if the old age pension is means-tested. 
• Whether law provides for survivors'/dependants' pension. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation provides for a contributory social insurance survivors' or dependants' pension, or it is paid through a non-contributory universal benefits system in the event of workers' or pensioners' death once they are eligible for old-age pension or disability pension (both administered by the state). A score of 0 is assigned if there is no explicit provision for state administered survivors’ pension or is employer liability or if survivors' pension is means-tested. 
• Whether law provides for unemployment benefits. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation provides for unemployment benefit if a worker loses employment either through a contributory social insurance system or non-contributory universal benefits system. A score of 0 is assigned if there is no explicit provision for a state administered unemployment benefits system or where unemployment benefits are means-tested or where only severance pay is provided. 
• Whether law provides for paid sick leave for the first six months of sickness. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation allows paid sick leave or sickness benefits for a minimum of the first six months of illness. The paid sick leave/sickness benefits must have been funded through a contributory social insurance system or universally accessible system. A score of 0 is assigned if paid sick leave/sickness benefit is less than six months or if it is paid after a more than 10-day waiting period, or if it is only employer liability.  
• Whether legislation provides for invalidity benefits. A score of 1 is assigned if the non-occupational disability or invalidity benefit is provided under the law and is paid through a contributory social insurance system or through a non-contributory universal benefits system financed through general taxation (both administered by the state). A score of 0 is assigned if the invalidity benefit is only employer liability or means-tested, or if there is no explicit provision for a state administered invalidity pension.

Fair Treatment

The Fair Treatment indicator measures legislation causing wage gap, discrimination in employment matters, sexual harassment at work, employment segregation and unequal access to basic labour protection for gig workers. Equal remuneration for all workers, referring to the rates of remuneration without discrimination on the basis of gender and any other discriminatory grounds, is the fundamental requirement for promoting non-discrimination at the workplace. 

This indicator has five components that assess: 

• Whether the law prohibits discrimination in employment. A score of 1 is assigned if the law prohibits employers from discrimination or mandates equal treatment of all workers in employment matters. A score of 0 is assigned if the law does not prohibit such discrimination or only prohibits such in one aspect of employment, such as pay or dismissal. The prohibited grounds for discrimination are "race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, age, disability and trade union membership". A score of 1 is assigned only if a country has prohibited discrimination on at least 7 of the above 10 grounds. 
• Whether the law requires equal remuneration for work of equal value. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation mandates equal remuneration for male and female workers for work of equal value without any discrimination on the grounds of sex. A score of 0 is assigned if the law limits the principle of equal remuneration to the same work, similar work, equal work or work of a similar nature. 
• Whether law prohibits sexual harassment at work. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation protects against workplace sexual harassment. A score of 0 is assigned if there is no such legislation or if it addresses harassment in general or has a general prohibition on harassment only without any criminal penalties (fines and/or imprisonment) or civil remedies (monetary compensation for victims and recovery of damages). 
• Whether the law allows women to do the same jobs as men. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation does not restrict non-pregnant and non-nursing women from working in the same jobs as men. A score of 0 is assigned if the law prohibits or restricts women from working in jobs deemed hazardous, arduous, or morally inappropriate. A score of 0 is also assigned if women workers are prohibited from working during night hours. 
• Whether the law guarantees basic labour protections to the gig economy workers. Considering the new phenomenon of gig economy, a score of 1 is currently assigned to all such countries which provide at least the basic social protection⁵⁵ (old age pension, survivors’ benefits and invalidity benefits) to the self-employed workers.  A score of 0 is assigned if the basic social protection is not afforded to the self-employed workers or where access to these benefits is linked to citizenship.  

Child and Forced Labour

The Child and Forced Labour indicator measures legislation regulating employment of children and linking this employment to their compulsory education. The indicator also measures whether legislation prohibits forced labour.  

This indicator has four components that assess:

• Whether the law prohibits the employment of children. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15 years (14 years in the case of developing countries). A score of 0 is assigned if the employment entry age is lower than 14 or 15 years except in case of light work. 
• Whether employment entry age is similar or higher than the compulsory education age. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation sets the employment entry age similar to or higher than the compulsory education age. A score of 0 is assigned if the employment entry age is lower than the compulsory education age or if compulsory schooling age is not defined under the law. 
• Whether the law prohibits the employment of adolescents in hazardous work. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation prohibits employment of children under the age of 18 years in hazardous work⁵⁶ . A score of 0 is assigned if the employment entry age for hazardous work is lower than 18 years or is not specified. 
• Whether the law prohibits forced labour. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation prohibits forced labour except in certain extraordinary circumstances. A score of 0 is assigned if the law does not prohibit forced labour or has only a general prohibition without any sanctions. 

Trade Union

The Trade Union indicator measures legislation regulating freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining as well as the right to strike. 

This indicator has four components that assess:

• Whether the law allows freedom of association. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation allows workers to form and join organisations of their own choice with the exception of armed forces, police, prison services, intelligence agencies, judges, firefighting, those engaged in the administration of the state, and managerial employees. A score of 0 is assigned in the following cases: 
  • There is an explicit general prohibition in law of the right to establish and join organisations or the law prohibits more than one trade union in a single enterprise or there is state monopoly through the imposition of a single organisation to which workers must belong. 
  • There are restrictions or exclusions from the right to freedom of association, other than those referred above.
  • Workers are excluded from the right to form and join organisations of their own choice based on exclusionary criteria like race, political opinion, nationality, age or on the grounds of occupational categories (public or private sector)⁵⁷.   
• Whether the law allows workers to bargain collectively. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation allows workers - with the exception of armed forces, police, prison services, intelligence agencies, firefighting, judges, those engaged in the administration of the state, and managerial employees - and their representative organisations to negotiate and conclude collective agreements with employers to determine terms and conditions of employment. A score of 0 is assigned in the following cases:
  • There is an explicit general prohibition in law of the right to collective bargaining.
  • Workers are excluded from the right to form and join organisations of their own choice based on exclusionary criteria like race, political opinion, nationality or on the grounds of occupational categories (public or private sector) except those referred above.
  • There are excessive requirements and/or there is a lack of objective, pre-established and precise criteria for the determination/recognition of trade unions entitled to collective bargaining.
  • There are excessively high representation thresholds (higher than 20%) for trade unions for collective bargaining purposes.⁵⁸ 
• Whether the law allows the right to strike. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation provides for the right to strike to workers. A score of 0 is assigned in the following cases:
• The right to strike is not provided in law or if there is an explicit general prohibition on strikes. 
• There are excessive exclusions based on race, political opinion, nationality or occupational categories (public or private sector).
• The right is jeopardised through many restrictions or where the list of essential services is broader than the list provided in the definitions.
• Requirement for more than 50% workers to be in favour of a strike.
• Legislation sets too lengthy a period of time (greater than 14 days) for previous negotiation, conciliation and mediation or unreasonable period of notice/cooling-off periods before calling a strike⁵⁹.  
• Whether the law prohibits replacing workers on strike. A score of 1 is assigned if legislation prohibits the replacement of striking workers. A score of 0 is assigned if the law does not prohibit replacement of those workers who are on legitimate and peaceful strike and/or if there are excessive sanctions in case of legitimate strikes including dismissals of workers.⁶⁰

Country Profiles

How to Read the Country Profiles

The Country Profiles section shows a two-page profile for each of the 115 countries covered in the Labour Rights Index 2020. The country profiles are informative about the major aspects of labour legislation in an economy.

Performance Overview

In this section, a two-page profile illustrates the performance of a country in the Labour Rights Index. On the first page, the overall score (out of 100) and rating (out of six categories) at the top give a snapshot of a country’s standing in the Labour Rights Index. 

The overall scores benchmark countries with respect to regulatory best practice, as identified in the relevant ILO Conventions, thereby indicating the proximity to the regulatory standard on each component. Each country is allocated ratings according to its overall score. The ratings follow a certain coding (refer to footnotes on second page of profile); [90.5-100] Decent Work (Blue), [80.5-90] Approaching Decent Work (Green), [70.5-80] Reasonable Access to Decent Work (Yellow), [60.5-70] Limited Access to Decent Work (Orange), [50.5-60] Basic Access to Decent Work (Peach), [0-50] Total Lack of Decent Work (Red).

Below, the shared Key Facts of the country provide a picture of the economy and its labour force at a glance. These facts include Region, Income Group, Population, Labour Force, Female Labour Force, Total Fertility Rate, Informal Employment, GDP per Capita, Minimum Wage and Living Wage (standard family), with both wages in local currency and US dollars, Non-Standard Employment (Part-Time Employment-A and Temporary Employment-B), and Poverty Headcount. While other Key Facts are taken from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, the minimum wage and living wage numbers are accessed through WageIndicator’s Minimum Wage and Living Wages databases, while the informal sector and Non-standard Employment rates have been taken from the International Labour Organization.  

The end of the first page showcases the legislative performance of the country in a bar graph according to the 10 indicators of decent work. The overall score of the country in labour rights is also displayed alongside its scores for each indicator in the graph. The first bar shows the overall score of the country in the index. The following different coloured bars represent each of the 10 indicators, with the scores for each country in that specific indicator stated at the top and that indicator’s icon displayed below. 

The overall score and each of the indicators are denoted by different colours; Overall score (Grey), Fair Wages (Teal), Decent Working Hours (Blue), Employment Security (Violet), Family Responsibilities (Purple), Maternity at Work (Red), Safe Work (Pink), Social Security (Orange), Fair Treatment (Brown), Child & Forced Labour (Yellow), Trade Union (Green). To read about the scoring methodology, refer to the section on Data Notes. Additional information about the Index can be found at the end of the page.

Indicators

The second page of a country profile also shows the overall score (average score) and the rating of the country at the top. This page looks at the decent work indicators of the Labour Rights Index, and the composite score (out of 100) for each indicator. The ticks (✓) and crosses (🗴) signify scores of 1 and 0 respectively. The ✓ and 🗴 demonstrate whether or not a country fulfils the scoring conditions (refer to Data Notes) of each component under an indicator. Indicators with four components give each component a score of 25 which amounts to the composite score of 100. Similarly, where indicators have five components, each component has a score of 20 leading to the composite score of 100.  Using asterisks, added notes for clearer understanding of the information shared on the page have been provided at the end of that page.

Appendices

Appendix I: Comparison of Indices on Labour Rights

 

Appendix II: Geographical Coverage

 

Appendix III: Labour Rights Index and International Conventions

 

Appendix IV: Tables of Key Findings (Countries)

1. Fair Wages,

A. Minimum wage

 

B. Regular Wage

C. Overtime Premium

D. Weekly Rest Work Compensation,

E. Night Work Premium

2. Decent Working Hours,

A. General Weekly Working Hours,

B. Maximum Weekly Working Hours,

C. Paid Weekly Rest Hours

D. Paid Public Holidays,

E. Annual Leave

3. Employment Security,

A. Written Employment Contract

B. Fixed Term Contracts

C. Probation Period

D. Termination Notice Period,

E. Severance Pay

4. Family Responsibilities,

A. Parental Leave

B. Paternity Leave

C. Flexible Work Arrangements

D. Paid Nursing Breaks

5. Maternity at Work,

A. Pregnancy Inquiry during Recruitment

B. Maternity Leave

C. Maternity Benefits

D. Source of Maternity Benefits

E. Prohibition on Dismissals during Pregnancy

6. Safe Work,

A. Free Personal Protective Equipment

B. Training on OSH

C. Restriction on Work (for Pregnant workers)

D. Employment Injury Benefit

7. Social Security,

A. Old Age Pension

B. Dependants’/Survivors’ Pension

C. Unemployment Benefits

D. Sickness Benefit

i)

ii)

iii)

E. Invalidity Pension

8. Fair Treatment,

A. Discrimination in Employment 

B. Equal Remuneration

C. Sexual Harassment in Employment 

D. Access to same Jobs as Men 

E. Gig Workers

9. Child and Forced Labour,

A. Employment Age of Children 

B. Compulsory Schooling Age

C. Age for Hazardous Work

D. Forced Labour

10. Trade Union,

A. Freedom of Association

B. Collective Bargaining

C. Right to Strike

D. Replacing Workers on Strike

Appendix V: Definitions

• Annual Leave: Paid time off from work to which all employees are entitled during each working year.,
• Child: Any young person under 15 years of age (14 years in developing countries), or who is still subject to compulsory full-time schooling under national law.
• Collective Agreement:  All agreements in writing regarding working conditions and terms of employment concluded between an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers' organisations, on the one hand, and one or more representative workers' organisations, or, in the absence of such organisations, the representatives of the workers duly elected and authorised by them in accordance with national laws and regulations, on the other. (Para. 2(1) of the R91)
• Collective Bargaining: A process of negotiation between unions and employers regarding the terms and conditions of employment of employees, and about the rights and responsibilities of trade unions.,
• Compensation: Compensation is a form of recompense, both in the form of monetary reparation or time-off, for those working “unsocial hours” i.e., those working overtime, at night, weekly rest days and public holidays.  
• Contributory Benefits System:  Benefits the grant of which depends on direct financial participation by the persons protected or their employer or on a qualifying period of occupational activity. (Art. 1(j) of the C128),
• De jure: All such practices and actions which are legally recognised, irrespective of whether they exist in practice. De jure (based on law) is used in contrast to de facto (in practice). 
• Discrimination: Any distinction, exclusion or preference based on race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, age, disability and trade union membership that has the effect of nullifying or impairing equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation. 
• Employment Segregation: The concentration of women and men in different types and levels of activity and employment, with women being confined to a narrower range of occupations than men (horizontal segregation), and to lower grades of work (vertical segregation).
• Equal remuneration for work of equal value: Rates of remuneration which are established without discrimination based on sex.
• Essential services: Services, the interruption of which may endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. However, the concept is not absolute. A non-essential service may become essential if a strike lasts beyond a certain time or extends beyond a certain scope. The following may be considered to be essential services in the strict sense of the term: the hospital sector; electricity services; water supply services; the telephone service; the police and the armed forces; the firefighting services; the public or private prison services; the provision of food to pupils of school age and the cleaning of schools; air traffic control. (ILO CFA Digest of decisions and principles, Para. 840)
• Fixed-term Contract: An employment contract entered into directly between an employer and a worker, where the end of the employment contract or relationship is determined by objective conditions such as reaching a specific date, completing a specific task, or the occurrence of a specific event.
• Forced Labour:  All work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily. Exceptions include compulsory military service; certain civic obligations; prison labour; work exacted in cases of emergency; and minor communal services.
• Gig Economy: The gig economy is a combination of online/digital marketplaces for engaging individuals for short-term tasks. These mini marketplaces are also referred to as digital labour platforms. The platform economy distinguishes between two major forms of work: crowd work and work on demand via apps. Crowd work is performed online and is location-independent. ‘Work on demand via apps’, on the other hand, matches the worker and the client digitally and the work is performed locally. Activities include transportation, food delivery and home services. 
• Fundamental workers' rights: Freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, freedom from forced labour, child labour and discrimination.
• Invalidity Benefit: Cash payments on account of complete or partial inability to participate gainfully in the labour market due to disability. The invalidity may be congenital, or be the result of an accident or illness during the victim's lifetime. Invalidity is also referred to as disability. 
• Light Work: All work that is not likely to be harmful to the safety, health or development of children on account of the inherent nature of the tasks involved and the particular conditions under which they are performed.
• Living Wage: The level of wages sufficient to meet the basic living needs of an average-sized family in a particular economy.
• Maternity Leave: Leave to which a woman is entitled for a continuous period, allocated before and/or after giving birth in accordance with national legislation and practice.
• Minimum Wage: A wage level, defined in law or agreement, which is the lowest possible rate an employer is permitted to pay.
• Night Time: Any period of not less than seven hours, as defined by national law, and which must include in any case the period between midnight and 5 a.m.
• Night Worker: A worker who works at least three hours of his/her daily working time during night time as a normal course.
• Overtime: The working hours of a worker in excess of the standard established by law, a collective bargaining agreement, an individual employment contract or company policy. Such hours are generally paid for at "penalty" or overtime rates.
• Occupational Accident: An Occupational accident is an unexpected and unplanned occurrence, including acts of violence, arising out of or in connection with work which results in one or more workers incurring a personal injury, disease or death. The occupational accidents are to be considered as travel, transport or road traffic accidents in which workers are injured and which arise out of or in the course of work, i.e. while engaged in economic activity, or at work, or carrying on the business of the employer.
• Parental Leave: The individual right to leave, in principle on a non-transferable basis, for all male and female workers following the birth or adoption of a child, to enable them to take care of that child. There is usually a fixed amount of leave or fixed amounts of time in any year or period of years that may be taken for reasons concerning care responsibilities.
• Part-time Work: Work arrangement implying working hours that are shorter than normal or standard full-time hours.
• Paternity Leave: Employment-protected leave of absence for employed fathers at or in the first few months after childbirth. 
• Permanent worker: A worker with an employment contract or relationship of an indefinite duration.,
• Probationary Period: A fixed-length monitoring period allowed by law for new employees to determine whether they have the skills and abilities needed to perform the assignment in their employment contract. 
• Remuneration: Ordinary, basic or minimum wage or salary and any additional emoluments whatsoever payable directly or indirectly, whether in cash or in kind, by the employer to the worker and arising out of the worker's employment.
• Sexual Harassment Sanctions: Legislation may provide for civil remedies and/or criminal penalties. The aim of civil remedies is to restore the victim to the position they were in before the sexual harassment occurred. These include recovery of monetary or emotional damages or compensation to the victims even after they have left employment. Criminal penalties penalise the perpetrator of harassment for committing sexual harassment. These include monetary fines and imprisonment. 
• Severance Payment: The final payment made to a worker when his/her employment is terminated. 
• Social protection: Used interchangeably with ‘social security’, it is the set of policies and programmes designed to reduce and prevent poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion throughout the life cycle. It includes nine main areas, as identified in C102: child and family benefits, maternity protection, unemployment support, employment injury benefits, sickness benefits, health protection (medical care), old-age benefits, invalidity/disability benefits, and survivors’ benefits. Social protection systems address all these policy areas by a mix of contributory schemes (social insurance) and non-contributory tax-financed benefits (including social assistance).
• Strike: A concerted temporary stoppage of or withdrawal from work by a group of workers of an establishment or several establishments to express a concern or to enforce demands affecting wages, working hours and/or working conditions.,
• Violence and Harassment: A range of unacceptable behaviours and practices, or threats thereof, whether a single occurrence or repeated, that aim at, result in, or are likely to result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm. 
• Gender-based Violence and Harassment: Violence and harassment directed at persons because of their sex or gender, or affecting persons of a particular sex or gender disproportionately, and includes sexual harassment. 
• Trade Union: An association of workers organised to project and promote their common interests.,
• Wage: The payment in exchange for labour provided under a contract of employment. Wages are calculated according to time-rate or piece-rate systems. The gross wage is the wage before deduction of taxes and other authorised deductions.
• Work Injury Benefit: Cash payments on account of complete or partial inability to participate gainfully in the labour market due to disability or fatality caused by an occupational accident.

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29. World Bank. (2016). Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency. Washington D.C.: World Bank. doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-0667-4
30. World Bank. (2019). WOMEN, BUSINESS AND THE LAW 2019. Washington D.C.: World Bank. Retrieved from https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/31327/WBL2019.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y
31. World Bank. (2020). Doing Business 2020: Comparing Business Regulation in 190 Economies. Washington D.C.: World Bank. DOI:10.1596/978-1-4648-1440-2.
32. World Economic Forum. (2016). The Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017. Geneva: World Economic Forum. Retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2016-2017/05FullReport/TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2016-2017_FINAL.pdf
33. Yang, L. (2014). An Inventory of Composite Measures of Human Progress. United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report Office.

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Footnote

1. Comparative Labour Law Expert at the WageIndicator Foundation and Founder of the Centre for Labour Research 

2. A 2014 UN report provides an inventory of 101 composite measures of well-being and progress, covering a broad range of themes from governance to gender disparity and poverty to economic progress. http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/inventory-composite-measures-human-progress

3. The Labour Rights Index 2020 is based on national labour legislation, applicable on 01 January 2020. It does not take into account COVID-19 related labour market measures.  

4. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

5. Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment.

6. MDGs included 8 Goals, 21 Targets and 60 indicators. 

https://www.unicef.org/statistics/index_24304.html ; https://www.cepal.org/cgi-bin/getProd.asp?xml=/mdg/noticias/paginas/7/35557/P35557.xml&xsl=/mdg/tpl/p18f-st.xsl&base=/mdg/tpl-i/top-bottom.xsl

7. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg8

8. Frey and MacNaughton, 2016. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244016649580

9. Including SDGs 2,3,4,5,9,10,11,12 & 16. https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/Global%20Indicator%20Framework_A.RES.71.313%20Annex.pdf

10. Anner, Kucera and Sari, 2017

11. UN, 2014. http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/reports/SG_Synthesis_Report_Road_to_Dignity_by_2030.pdf

12. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244016649580

13. These include Working Conditions Laws Database (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/travail/travmain.home), Global Database on Occupational Safety and Health Legislation (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/legosh/en/f?p=14100:1:::NO:: ), Employment protection legislation database (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/eplex/termmain.home?p_lang=en), Industrial Relations Database (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/irlex/en/f?p=14100:1:0::NO::: ), and Labour Inspection Country Profiles (http://ilo.org/labadmin/info/WCMS_DOC_LAB_INF_CTR_EN/lang--en/index.htm)

14. Now referred to as Labour Market Regulation http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/employing-workers

15. http://wbl.worldbank.org/

16. https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-competitiveness-report-2016-2017-1

17. http://www.nber.org/papers/w11598

18. https://www.heritage.org/index/pdf/2020/book/index_2020.pdf As explained in the Methodology, the Labour Freedom component considers seven quantitative sub factors and is part of Regulatory Efficiency, one of the four major aspects of economic and entrepreneurial environment.

19. http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/ssptw/index.html

20. https://www.oecd.org/employment/emp/oecdindicatorsofemploymentprotection.htm

21. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/256566

22. International Trade Union Congress

23. While violations in law are identified through legal document analysis, violations in practice are identified through questionnaires sent to the 325 ITUC affiliates in 161 countries and territories representing 176 million workers as well as the Global Union Federations.

24. https://survey.ituc-csi.org/ITUC-Global-Rights-Index.html

25. http://labour-rights-indicators.la.psu.edu/

26. Centre for Labour Research is a non-profit organization based in Pakistan. For details of contributions, please refer to acknowledgements. 

27. Doing Business 2004 report defines labour law to include the following four types of regulations: “employment regulation, social security laws, industrial relations, and workplace safety and health laws”. https://www.doingbusiness.org/content/dam/doingBusiness/media/Annual-Reports/English/DB04-FullReport.pdf (p.30)

28. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---cabinet/documents/genericdocument/wcms_371208.pdf

29. https://www.ilo.org/integration/themes/mdw/WCMS_189392/lang--en/index.htm

30. https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/ilo-bookstore/order-online/books/WCMS_146566/lang--en/index.htm  (page 101)

31. Botero, J. Djankov, S., La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F. and Shliefer, A. 2004. “The Regulation of Labour” Quarterly Journal of Economics 119(4), pp. 1339-1382

32. Heymann, J., and Earle, A. 2009. Raising the global floor: dismantling the myth that we can't afford good working conditions for everyone. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Politics and Policy.

33. ILO estimates that the large-scale workplace closures around the world in response to COVID-19 have led to a reduction in hours worked of 10.7% worldwide in the second quarter of 2020. Based on 48-hour working week, this translates into the loss of 305 million jobs. Moreover, of the 3.5 billion global labour force, 60% are engaged in the informal economy. ILO estimates that 1.6 billion of these 2 billion workers face an imminent threat to their livelihoods as average income in the informal economy shrunk by 60 per cent in the first month of the pandemic.  https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/coronavirus/events/WCMS_747476/lang--en/index.htm

34. https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/7/21250955/uber-ab5-california-lawsuit-driver-misclassification-future-ny-nj-analysis

35. Mandatory statutory access to social security (old age, survivors’ and disability pensions) for self-employed workers.

36. Non-compulsory statutory access to social security (old age, survivors’ and disability pensions) for self-employed workers.

37. Conditional statutory access to social security (old age, survivors’ and disability pensions) for self-employed workers.

38. Statutory access to more than one type of coverage to social security (old age, survivors’ and disability pensions) for self-employed workers.

39. Statutory access to special systems (such as schemes) relevant to social security (old age, survivors’ and disability pensions) for self-employed workers.

40. For the minimum wage question, the Index considers lowest rates, notified by the governments, to ensure comparability of data. These may include minimum wage rates for unskilled work. 

41. Includes foreign workers which comprise most of the labour force in some countries

42. Decent Work Check is a WageIndicator concept which has been developed over more than a decade to inform workers about their workplace rights on a global level.

43. https://wageindicator.org/

44. WHO defines COVID-19 as an infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. The virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. COVID-19 is now a pandemic affecting many countries globally. (https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses) 

The Coronavirus Resource Centre at the John Hopkins University reports more than 30 million cases and 0.94 million deaths from the deadly pandemic since its outbreak in December 2019.  

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

45. https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_627189/lang--en/index.htm

46. Since the focus of Labour Rights Index has been the labour force, it was decided to cover most populous areas in federal states where local legislation is considerably different from the federal legislation. The following federal states with the most populous areas were chosen: Australia (New South Wales), Canada (Ontario), India (Uttar Pradesh), Pakistan (Punjab), and the United States of America (California) 

47. This includes rules and regulations issued by the administrative departments. 

48. Although these conventions provide for compensatory rest days for those workers engaged on a weekly rest holiday, these can be used as a model to provide compensatory rest days to workers working on public holidays. 

49. The Global Commission on the Future of Work 2019 recommended the development of an “international governance system for digital labour platforms” requiring platforms (and clients) to respect certain minimum rights and protections. The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006) can be used as an example.

50. https://www.doingbusiness.org/content/dam/doingBusiness/media/Annual-Reports/English/DB16-Full-Report.pdf

51. A similar approach has been used by the International Trade Union Confederation under its ITUC Global Rights Index 2020. https://www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-global-rights-index-2020

52. To make data comparable at the global level, a five-day work week is assumed and hence the required days of leave is at least 15 working days.

53. For data comparability, 4-week notice period is also considered equivalent to 30-day notice period. 

54. Taking into account the fact that the first six months are vital for the healthy development of a child (UNICEF, 2019), the Labour Rights Index considers four-month parental leave along with compulsory post-natal leave of 6 weeks. It is just 18 days short of 180 days!

55. To give equal treatment to workers, labour legislation must regulate the gig economy and provide the following universal labour guarantees or basic labour protections to the gig workers: access to fundamental workers' rights, social protection, adequate living wages, decent working hours, and safe and healthy workplaces.

56. Work which by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out is likely to jeopardise the health, safety or morals of young persons

57. Scoring of this question also takes into account the evaluation criteria number 23 and 25 and country responses under SDG indicator 8.8.2 on labour rights. The details of evaluation criteria are given at UN Stats, ILO and Centre for Global Workers’ Rights. For country responses, please refer to Labour Rights Indicators at Centre for Global Workers’ Rights.

58. Scoring of this question also takes into account the evaluation criteria number 62, 65 and 68 as well as country responses under SDG indicator 8.8.2 on labour rights. The details of evaluation criteria are given at UN Stats, ILO and Centre for Global Workers’ Rights. For country responses, please refer to Labour Rights Indicators at Centre for Global Workers’ Rights.

59. Scoring of this question also takes into account the evaluation criteria number 84, 86 and 92 as well as country responses under SDG indicator 8.8.2 on labour rights. The details of evaluation criteria are given at UN Stats, ILO and Center for Global Workers’ Rights. For country responses, please refer to Labour Rights Indicators at Center for Global Workers’ Rights.

60. Scoring of this question also takes into account the evaluation criteria number 30 and 94, and country responses under SDG indicator 8.8.2 on labour rights. The details of evaluation criteria are given at UN Stats, ILO and Center for Global Workers’ Rights. For country responses, please refer to Labour Rights Indicators at Center for Global Workers’ Rights.

Related Links

• Full text of the Index
• 115 Country profiles - Graphs
• All legal text behind the Graphs
• All Minimum Wages related
• The team behind the Index