International Labor Standards and their Impact on Business

This article discusses the International Labor Organization (ILO) and its role in setting international labor standards. It explores the impact of these standards on businesses, including their influence on national legislation and their use as a source of supervision in areas not covered by collective agreements or national laws. The article also addresses common arguments against international labor standards, such as concerns about international competitiveness, erosion of domestic policy, child labor, and discrimination at the workplace. Overall, it emphasizes the importance of international labor standards in promoting fair and ethical work practices.

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International labor organization (ILO) is the United Nations Agency with 185 member stated and
was started in the year 1919, which deals with the labor related problems and issues (Hughes &
Haworth, 2013). It sets international labor standards, inspires employment opportunities, and
endorses rights at work. ILO records complaints against any person who disturbs international
standards or rules, but do not execute any approvals on governments.
International Labor Standards refer to the legal instruments, which are drawn by the components
of ILO such as employers, workers and government who sets the basic rights and principles at
work. They are officially binding international treaties that are sanctioned by the members of
ILO or the references, which serves as the non-binding guiding principles. Many times, an
agreement lays down the basic ethics or rules to be executed by approving countries, while a
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related reference can be independent (not related to the agreements) (Thomann, 2011).
International labor standards are accepted at the International Labor Conferences (ILC). ILC is
also known as parliament of labor which held in Geneva every year in the month of June. It
makes decision on the general policies of ILO and the representative of the conference presents
the voting session. It is necessary for the member states to submit them to their experienced
authority for approval. In case of the conventions, these approvals refer to ratification
(Organization, 2019).
By the end of June 2018, the ILO has adopted nearly 200 conventions, 6 protocols and 205
recommendations casing a wide range of work disputes (Gött, 2018). If these conventions are
signed and agreed by governments they can become action whereas ratification can create legal
compulsions for the governments in order to apply to its provisions.
International labor standards are labeled to the governments. Nonetheless, when the countries
have their own labor standards International Labor Organization Standards were needed by
the business for the following reasons:
 ILS affects the business through national legislation. When conventions are ratified by
the country, this appliance sets the agenda for national practice and law on a particular
subject. If the prevailing practice or law does not meet the convention then it can result
in new labor laws, new implementation advices and changes in the existing laws
(Berliner et al., 2015). Thus, the consequences can lead to changes in the labor practices,
which can include the important administrative cost and measures.
 International labor standards can be an appropriate source of supervision for business in
the areas, which are not enclosed by the collective settlements or national laws. Many
companies who operate internationally consider ILS, or the declaration of international
labor organization in 1998 for the growth of their code of conduct or other occupational
conduct enterprises (Maupain, 2013). Global enterprises for controlled business meeting,
such as UN Global Compact, rely on these sources while following the labor principles
whereas the global compact business shareholders involve to work towards their
understanding in their day-to-day activities of business plans.
 Even if the national law does not adopt international labor standards (ILS), it may inspire
the content of the collective agreements.

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In addition to the disagreements about the applicable manner of execution of the International
Labor Standards, there are uncooperative options regarding the legitimacy of their presence. The
four most common disagreements elevated in contrast to international labor standards are:
o Undermine international competitiveness:
The analysis of international labor standards traditionally lift up by the economists of
Right-of-Centre is that they prevent the income and employment and thus, change the
market forces. According to economists, Countries were approved by the global free
trade in order to get specialize in the activities, which include the comparative advantage
and who gather the mutual gains with the help of exchange (Popova & Özel, 2018). The
international competitiveness of the countries have huge amount of untrained labor that
are highly based on the ability of providing the low cost workforces. Therefore, raise in
the cost of labor can lead to the damage in the comparative advantage by the international
labor standards. According to a traditional dispute, ILS left evolving the nations with the
decreasing frugality of export.
The economists recommended that higher international standards could not damage the
competitiveness. The evidence provided by Berik and Rodgers (2006) proposes that
advanced labor standards can easily be balanced by incentives reassuring exports and
foreign direct investments. This dispute shows that advanced labor standards not only
recover the political and social steadiness that motivates further foreign investment, but
also deliver appreciated investments in personnel capital that can lead to competence
gains.
o Erode domestic policy
Another noticeable quarrel in opposite of international labor standards is the idea that any
effort to coordinate set standards for satisfactory operational situations, disregards to
some degree of the current state of separate country’s exclusive social and economic
environment (Servais, 2011). It is recommended that autonomous federations are better
off parting workforce market rules to national policy rather than embracing
internationally approved group of labor. In 1996, the study of Alan Deardorff, Robert
Stern and Drusilla Brown used the variety of hypothetical workforce models to examine
the efficiency of ILS to coordinate. However, failures of market are not constant across

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countries and so it can considered as the reason of not raising the labor standards in
international mode.
o Child labor
According to ILO, child labor is a practice, which dispossesses children from their
potential, dignity and childhood that is injurious to mental and physical development.
Child labor was against in adopting the international labor standards, as children’s are not
worthy of doing work at younger age. ILO exposed that around168 million children are
involved in child labor out of which 85 million are involved in the dangerous work. To
reduce child labor in the country the Minimum Age Convention was formed, which
defines that children above 18 years are allowed to work but children’s below this age
cannot work (Nogler & Pertile, 2016). This will help, not to interfere in the education and
grooming childhood of the child.
o Discrimination at workplace
International labor organization explains discrimination as “handling individuals in a
different way because of definite appearances such as race, color, age, sex, gender etc.,
which effects in the weakening of impartiality of treatment an opportunity. Job security is
another field where discrimination at workplace can be seen. In some emerging nations
like Bangladesh, job security replicates male-controlled societies that have reduced
selection of women’s. In Bangladesh, currently there are 1.8 million workers in garment
factories, out of which 1.5 million are women. From the owners point of view of the
factory, the benefit of signing women is the “compliance that comes with drawback”. ILS
cannot be followed at such places but companies can reduce this discrimination between
the male and female. For which international labor organization identifies all the forms of
discrimination as destructions of international labor standards (Valticos, 2013). ILO
intends that there are several benefits to diminish and eradicate the gender gap, at present,
slow rates of gender pay reduction, the ILO evaluates that to bridge the gap, and another
75 years will be required.
The above study concludes that international labor standards has given a new life to important
conventions, ratified by member states and turn out to be a law for the nation who endorse them.
The advanced nations should motivate emerging nations in the form of franchises in order to
expand their labor standards and duties contribute for the improvement of labor standards of a

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precise country. The emerging states are not in a situation to generate profit from globalization
where there is shift of trade from major resources to producers. ILO is playing a significant role
in expanding the labor standards in emerging nations and debated that the advanced nations with
high labor standards are facing poor labor standards. They must eliminate child labor, unfair
trade practices and all the other discriminations. It might consume some time to improve the
domestic environment, but for sure, they will achieve the target of developing high labor
standards. This is the reason for which international labor organization offers extensive
moderation labor standards for the evolving world.
Bibliography
Berliner, et al., 2015. Labor Standards in International Supply Chains: Aligning Rights and Incentives.
Edward Elgar Publishing.
Gött, , 2018. Labour Standards in International Economic Law. Springer.
Hughes, S. & Haworth, N., 2013. International Labour Organization (ILO): Coming in from the Cold.
Routledge.
Maupain, , 2013. The Future of the International Labour Organization in the Global Economy.
Bloomsbury Publishing.
Nogler, & Pertile, M., 2016. Child Labour in a Globalized World: A Legal Analysis of ILO Action. Routledge.

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Organization, I.L., 2019. International Labour Conference. [Online] Available at:
https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/how-the-ilo-works/international-labour-conference/lang--en/
index.htm [Accessed 13 June 2019].
Popova, & Özel, M.l., 2018. ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers. International Labour
Office.
Servais, J., 2011. International Labour Law. 3rd ed. Kluwer Law International.
Thomann, , 2011. Steps to Compliance with International Labour Standards: The International Labour
Organization (ILO) and the Abolition of Forced Labour. Springer Science & Business Media.
Valticos, N., 2013. International Labour Law. Springer Science & Business Media.