International labour law / Jean-Michel Servais

This book was originally published as a monograph in International Encyclopedia of Laws/Labour Law and Industrial Relations.

No one will deny that international labour standards comprise a necessary framework for balanced economic and social development. Yet on a global level such balanced development has not occured, despite the existence of a rigorous body of international labour law that has been active and growing for 80 years. The implementation of this law devolves upon states; yet many states have failed to honour it. If we are to take serious steps toward a remedy for this situation, there is no better place to start than a thorough, well-researched survey and analysis of existing international labour law - its sources, its content, its historical development, and an informed consideration of the barries to its full effectiveness. This book is exactly such a resource. It provides in-depth interpretation of international labour law and the crucial International Labour Organisation (ILO) instruments - constitutions, conventions, declarations, resolutions, and recommendations - as well as such other sources of law as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and various model and actual corporate codes of conduct. Among the substantive areas of labour law covered in this book are the following: standards on industrial relations; the relationship between international labour law and economic competition; collective bargaining; protection of trade unions; prohibitions on enforced and child labour; promotion of equal opportunity and treatment; dispute settlement procedures; time and rest provisions; wage determination and protection; occupational health and safety provisions; special issues on non-standard forms of employment; foreign and migrant workers; and social security provisions.