International labour standards are a comprehensive set of legal instruments that establish basic principles and rights at work, with a goal to improve working conditions on a global scale.
The Conventions, Protocols and Recommendations of the ILO form the international labor standards. Conventions are legally binding international treaties that may be ratified by member states. Recommendations are non-binding guidelines. In many cases, a convention lays down the basic principles to be implemented by ratifying countries, while a related recommendation supplements the convention by providing more detailed guidelines on how it could be applied. Recommendations can also be autonomous, ie: not linked to a convention.
The standards are backed by a supervisory system designed to address their application at the national level.
For more information, visit International Labour Organisation (ILO) Labour Standards website which includes information on their benefits, how they are created, how they are used and a link to the Rules of the Game: a brief introduction to International Labour Standards (Revised edition 2014).
The ILO's Governing Body (the executive body of the International Labour Organisation) has identified 'fundamental' conventions, covering subjects that are considered as fundamental principles and rights at work. The fundamental conventions are:
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87)
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98)
The ILO NORMLEX International Standards and Instruments is the key database for International Labour Standards containing all Conventions, Protocols to Conventions, and Recommendations.
Key links:
For background and preparatory work for all ILO Conventions, including preparatory reports, discussions at the International Labour Conference, committee reports, votes and texts of the Convention, visit Labordoc. This database also includes all up-to-date Conventions and Protocols.
Under Australian law, ratification of a treaty does not give it binding force domestically - a treaty only becomes part of Australian law as a ‘direct source of individual rights and obligations’ when it is incorporated into domestic legislation (Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Ah Hin Teoh (1995)183 CLR 273 [25]).
Of the 7 fundamental ILO Conventions ratified by Australia, only one has been explicitly incorporated into Australian domestic legislation: the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 has been implemented by the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth) as Schedule 1.
However, when Australia is a party to a treaty but has not implemented this domestically by legislation, there is a presumption that when enacting legislation, Parliament, prima facie, intends to give effect to Australia's obligations under international law (High Court of Australia - Mason CJ and Deane J in Teoh (1995) 183 CLR 273 [26]). In addition to this judicial interpretation of Australian statutes, one of the explicit objects of Australia’s primary statute governing industrial relations, the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), is to ‘take into account Australia’s international labour obligations’ (s 3(a)).
To see if any ILO Conventions other than the Fundamental Conventions have been ratified by Australia and implemented by Australian Commonwealth legislation, use the Federal Register of Legislation:
Under Article 19 of the ILO Constitution, member States are required to report on non-ratified Conventions and on Recommendations at regular intervals, at the request of the Governing Body, indicating the extent to which effect has been given or is proposed to be given to those instruments. On the basis of article 19, the Committee of Experts publishes an in-depth annual General Survey on member States' national law and practice, on a subject chosen by the Governing Body. General Surveys are available from 1985 to current.
Member States must report regularly to the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) on the measures which they have taken to give effect to ratified ILO conventions (Article 22 of the ILO Constitution). Additionally, Member States have to present the state of domestic law and practice and possible steps of implementation with regard to non-ratified conventions and recommendations.
Reports of the Committee of Experts since 1932 – Links to pdf documents
To find detailed information concerning comments of the Committee of Experts by country or convention, use the advanced search on the NORMLEX database.
Use the Regular reporting: ratified conventions (Art.22/35) database on NORMLEX to see individual country information on Requested Reports and Replies to CEACR Comments by country and by Convention.
More on the reporting process.
Use the Supervising the Application of International Labour Standards - Supervision by Country on NORMLEX to find all documents regarding individual countries on Examination by the supervisory bodies, Complaints Procedure, Country situation on reporting obligations, Observations made by employers' and workers' organisations, Ratifications and National labour law.
More on the Supervisory system and process
The ILO Constitution provides for two grievance mechanisms for asserting that a Member State is not fulfilling its obligations under a particular ILO convention: the representation procedure and the complaints procedure.
Representations over the Application of Ratified Conventions
The representation procedure under Article 24 of the ILO Constitution allows employers and workers unions to make representations to the ILO Governing Body that a Member State has in some way failed to observe its obligations under an ILO convention. A three-member committee may be set up to review the allegation and Member State’s response, both of which may be published if the Governing Body determines that the State’s response was unsatisfactory (Article 25 of the ILO Constitution).
Complaints over the Application of Ratified Conventions
The complaints procedure (Articles 26 to 34 of the ILO Constitution) allows for the consideration of complaints against a Member State by: another Member State of the same convention, a delegate to the International Labour Conference (of Member States), or the ILO Governing Body. A Commission of Inquiry may be formed to investigate the allegation. This Commission carries out a full investigation of the complaint, reports on all questions of fact, and makes suggestions as to the steps to be taken. The Commission’s report is published, and the governments concerned must inform the Director-General whether they accept the Commission’s recommendations or intend to refer the complaint to the International Court of Justice.
To date, 14 Commissions of Inquiry have been established. See the full list of Commissions of Inquiry and Complaints under Article 26 on NORMLEX.
More on Complaints.
Independently of the Representation and Complaints procedures, the Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA) examines complaints about violations of freedom of association, whether or not the country concerned had ratified the relevant conventions. Complaints may be brought against a member state by employers' and workers' organisations. The Committee may issue a report and make recommendations to the State if it decides there has been a violation. To date, the CFA has examined over 3,000 cases. Search or browse all CFA cases on NORMLEX.
More on the Special Procedures
Freedom of Association: Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee of the Governing Body of the ILO. by