ITUC Policy Brief: a new social contract for migrant workers

Decent Work deficits, xenophobia, racism and discrimination, conflicts, insufficient mitigation and adaptation to Climate Change mean many people have no choice but to accept substandard employment or undignified working conditions.

A New Social Contract is more urgent than ever to create more inclusive societies and economies, where migrants and their families can work and live with dignity. Workers call for a rights-based governance of migration that is designed, implemented and monitored through social dialogue and with international labour standards – such as freedom of association and collective bargaining rights – at the forefront.

Conceptualizing the role of intermediaries in formalizing domestic work

Domestic workers have long provided a range of services for families from cleaning and cooking to caring for children, the elderly and disabled, to driving household members and tending gardens. Despite the crucial services they provide, in many countries, domestic work is characterised by a high incidence of informal arrangements and contributes significantly to informality especially among women. The level of organization of the domestic work sector varies dramatically from country to country. In some countries, domestic workers are hired informally, by word of mouth, through social networks. In other countries, intermediaries – such as agencies, digital platforms, coops and others – play a role in recruiting, placing, and employing domestic workers. As the role of these intermediaries increases, questions arise about the impact intermediaries have on formalizing domestic work and providing decent work for domestic workers.

Frequently asked questions by migrant garment workers in qualified industrial zones

This handbook is a compilation of the frequently asked questions posed by migrant workers in qualified industrial zones (QIZs) on their employment conditions, employer–employee relationships, and their rights and entitlements while working in Jordan as migrant garment workers.

The Work in Freedom Handbook: A critical glossary of terms relating to freedom and unfreedom in the world of work

The purpose of this critical glossary is to deconstruct some of these commonly used concepts related forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking in order to flag their blind spots, merits and other characteristics.

Most of us would agree that we should take action against forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) refer to eradicating forced labour and ending modern slavery and human trafficking (SDG Target 8.7). However, each one of these conceptual constructs implies a different way of seeing the world, a different history of understanding and a very different framework of action.

Gender sensitivity in labour migration agreements and MOUs

Global Action Programme on Migrant Domestic Workers - Research series in support of June 2016 project report release.

The invisible workers: Bangladeshi women in Oman

The purpose of this ethnography is to follow the lives of working women from Bangladesh and document and analyse the diversity of their individual and collective experiences. The findings reveal a reality that contrasts from the usual characterisations of migrant women.

This study explores the work and lives of women from Bangladesh in Oman. It is meant to be an exploratory study about the working and living conditions of women domestic workers from Bangladesh. The study lays out the context of women’s migration from Bangladesh to Oman, it’s relationship with the migration of men, the types of work and living arrangements that were encountered, the social networks of migrant women and other considerations that Bangladeshi women reflected on. This ethnographic study fills a gap on research regarding migrant workers from Bangladesh in Oman.

Migration and gender in Bangladesh: An irregular landscape

This survey is part of a series of studies commissioned by the Work in Freedom Programme of the ILO in order to document the motives and trajectories of migrant women workers. The survey explores the local and regional gendered specificities of migration and work-seeking in selected localities of Bangladesh by collecting gender disaggregated data and analysing contrasting patterns that inform women and men’s migration.

This report presents the result of a survey conducted in five districts of Bangladesh to document international labour migration. The districts were selected for their contrasting features. Two districts, Barguna and Patuakhali, are relatively new to women’s migration, whereas three districts, Manikganj, Narayanganj and Brahmanbaria, have a long history of such movement. The extent of women’s participation in migration was a major criteria for the selection of districts aimed to capture a range of situations. In all, 8,437 migrant workers were recorded in 125 villages. The analysis brings out important consideration that challenge common assumptions on women’s migration. For example, the survey brings out hard evidence that questions policy assumptions that women migrate homogenously from around the country or that their cost of recruitment is high. In that sense, this survey’s findings have important implications on local, national and regional policy making related to safe migration, anti-trafficking and labour policies.

Fair recruitment and access to justice for migrant workers

Over 169 million men and women today live and work outside their country of origin in pursuit of decent work and better livelihoods. Public employment services and private employment agencies, when appropriately regulated, play an important role in the efficient and equitable functioning of labour markets by matching available jobs with suitably qualified workers. However, it is during the recruitment phase that migrant workers, especially low-wage workers, are particularly at risk of entering a cycle of abuse and exploitation.

Access to justice is central to making human rights, including labour rights, a reality for all workers and individuals. It is premised upon the central tenet of non-discrimination – that every person is entitled, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, to equal treatment and protection under the law.1 In addition, a number of international Conventions and instruments guarantee the right to a fair and public hearing and process2 as well as the right to an effective remedy.3 For a remedy to be considered effective, it must:

• be accessible, affordable, adequate and timely;

• combine preventive, redressive and deterrent elements; and

• include the right to be treated “equally in all stages of procedure”, regardless of personal characteristics such as gender, race, or ethnicity, among others.

To this end, this working paper focuses on good practices concerning the migrant workers’ right to access to justice in the context of their labour recruitment, where recruitment is understood to include the advertising, information dissemination, selection, transport, placement into employment and – for migrant workers – return to the country of origin where applicable. The paper first gives an overview of current gaps in rights protection throughout the labour migration cycle and then outlines the sources of the right to access to justice under international human rights law, international labour standards and instruments, bilateral agreements, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). It also briefly sets out the processes that may be available for seeking redress, as well as the structural factors that obstruct migrant workers from accessing these processes and provides examples of good practices from around the world that are constructively addressing these barriers to accessing justice.

Master class on fair recruitment

Within the context of exacerbated challenges created by COVID 19 pandemic, the ILO’s General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment and Definition of Recruitment Fees and Related Costs (GP&OG) provides invaluable guidance on how to ensure the recruitment process of workers, especially migrant workers. The GP&OG are organized in a way that respects the rights of those involved, the needs of communities of origin and destination, and takes into account the legitimate needs of employers and recruiters.

Based on the ILO Fair Recruitment Initiative Strategy, the ILO and ITC-ILO have developed a series of Master class on fair recruitment, to explain what can be done to reduce the risk of abusive and fraudulent recruitment of workers. The Masterclass on fair recruitment is divided into six modules:

1. 1. Why fair recruitment matters
2. 2. Legal and normative framework
3. 3. Public and private employment services
4. 4. Monitoring and enforcement, 
5. 5. Business and private sector engagement
6. 6. Union's Role