Factsheets and briefs

2020

  1. Policy Brief

    Working from Home: Estimating the worldwide potential

    07 May 2020

    Staying in one’s job but performing work remotely is an excellent strategy for mitigating job losses and allowing for the continuation of many of our economies’ functions, but also for keeping the population safe. The objective of this brief is to estimate the potential share of workers across the different regions of the world who could perform their activities from home, if needed, as well as to discuss some of the policy issues associated with working from home.

  2. Brief

    COVID-19 crisis and the informal economy: Immediate responses and policy challenges

    05 May 2020

    This policy brief focuses on the immediate responses that countries can take to address the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on the informal economy at its early stages, while pointing to areas that will need sustained investment in the future in order to ensure well-being and decent work for workers and economic undertakings in the informal economy. This brief will be followed by another on mid- to long-term responses, once the rapid propagation phase of the virus has passed.

  3. Factsheet

    Beyond contagion or starvation: Giving domestic workers another way forward

    05 May 2020

    In the wake of COVID-19, governments around the world have called on people to take one most important action: to stay home. But for many workers, staying home has meant losing their jobs, or worse still, losing their livelihoods.

  4. Factsheet

    Impact of lockdown measures on the informal economy - A summary

    05 May 2020

    As of April 2020, it is estimated that almost 1.6 billion informal economy workers are significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a 60 per cent decline in their earnings.

  5. Brief

    Impact of lockdown measures on the informal economy

    05 May 2020

    As of April 2020, it is estimated that almost 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to an estimated decline in their earnings of 60 per cent.

2019

  1. Issue Brief no. 5 - Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining

    Negotiating for decent working time - a review of practice

    10 December 2019

    This Issue Brief gives an overview of the regulation of working time through collective agreements in different regions of the world and outlines innovative solutions by the bargaining partners. It presents practices from various countries, which can advance a human-centered approach to the regulation of working time through collective bargaining.

  2. Publication

    Women and men in the informal economy: a statistical brief

    28 June 2019

    This is a joint publication by WIEGO and the ILO. It is a brief version of the 3rd edition of Women and Men in the Informal Economy: A Statistical Picture (ILO 2018).

2018

  1. Factsheet no. 5 - Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining

    Grievance handling

    19 March 2018

    Workers have rights and entitlements that are established in laws, employment contracts, collective agreements and workplace rules, as well as in custom and practice (the way things are normally done – and have been done for a long time – in a particular workplace, industry or occupation). We say that workers have a grievance when they believe that some aspect of these is not being respected by their employer. Grievances are usually described as ‘individual’ when only one worker is involved and ‘collective’ when a group of workers all believe they are suffering from the same breach of the rules. Grievances relate to addressing infringements of existing rights and entitlements, from bullying or harassment, to underpayment of wages, refusal to grant rest periods, weekly rest days or public holidays, discrimination or underpayment of bonuses or other entitlements.

2017

  1. Issue Brief no. 1 - Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining

    Trends in collective bargaining coverage: stability, erosion or decline?

    01 November 2017

    Collective bargaining over wages and other working conditions between unions and employers is a key labour market institution in democratic societies. The coverage and impact of this institution varies over time and across countries. This policy brief examines differences in collective bargaining coverage for 75 countries.

  2. Domestic Work Policy Brief no. 10

    Formalizing domestic work

    23 June 2017

    This document is part of a series of briefs on issues and approaches to promoting decent work for domestic workers.

  3. INWORK Policy Brief No. 10

    Purchasing practices and working conditions in global supply chains: Global Survey results

    09 June 2017

  4. INWORK Policy Brief No. 9

    Women in Non-standard Employment

    31 May 2017

2016

  1. Issue Brief no. 4 - Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining

    Negotiating for gender equality

    27 September 2016

    Inequality of opportunity, treatment and outcomes between women and men still persists in global labour markets. Achieving gender equality in the workplace remains one of the biggest challenges for governments, social partners and management at enterprise level. Gender-based discrimination often occurs at the recruitment stage on grounds of pregnancy, or potential child bearing and rearing and the gender pay gap remains high across the world. In addition, women are more likely to be affected by violence at work, whether physical, psychological or sexual. This Issue Brief focuses on the obstacles to gender equality at work and how collective bargaining can be used as an effective tool to overcome these challenges.

  2. Factsheet - Working Conditions

    Rest Periods: Definitions and dimensions

    16 June 2016

  3. Briefing note

    Decent work for domestic workers: Achievements since the adoption of Convention C189

    14 June 2016

    On 16 June 2011, workers, employers and governments came together to adopt ILO Convention No. 189 on decent work for domestic workers. In the last five years since its adoption, some 70 countries around the world have taken action to advance decent work for domestic workers. These measures represent the first steps in a long path to redress a history of exclusion; making decent work a reality for domestic workers though will require sustained attention to ensure real progress.

  4. INWORK Policy Brief No. 8

    Employment Protection Legislation: New Approaches to Measuring the Institution

    11 January 2016

2015

  1. Domestic Work Policy Brief no. 9

    Making decent work a reality for migrant domestic workers

    17 December 2015

    This document is part of a series of briefs on issues and approaches to promoting decent work for domestic workers.

  2. Domestic Work Policy Brief no. 8

    Domestic work voice and representation through organizing

    15 December 2015

    This document is part of a series of briefs on issues and approaches to promoting decent work for domestic workers.

  3. Factsheet no. 4 - Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining

    The application of collective agreements

    14 December 2015

    Ideally, workers and managers will ensure that collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) are applied. Managers will make sure that workers are paid the agreed rates and that working conditions are as specified in the latest agreement. Trade union officers will communicate with workers, explaining what has been agreed and discussing how to approach the implementation of any changes. Managers and trade union representatives together will monitor the application of the agreement and work together within agreed procedures to resolve any problems that arise with putting it into practice. In many circumstances, however, the application of agreements is not so straightforward.

  4. Factsheet no. 3 - Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining

    Subjects for collective bargaining

    14 December 2015