Acceptable Conditions of Work
Because acceptable conditions of work is a construct of U.S. law, rather
than a core international labor standard, measuring compliance has a somewhat different meaning. This is the list of indicators to assess compliance with the committee's proposed definition of acceptable conditions of work.
Legal Framework
The committee proposes 19 indicators on the legal framework governing wages, hours, and health and safety:
A-1 ratification of ILO Convention No. 131 on minimum wage fixing machinery;
A-2 national constitution or law establishing one or more minimum wages;
A-3 application of the minimum wage law or laws (To whom do the minimum wage law/laws apply? Do the legal minimums vary by geographic region, economic sector and/or by establishment size?);
A-4 minimum wage level (s) specified in the law (in local currency and in U.S. dollars and, if possible, adjusted using the World Bank's Purchasing Power Parity exchange rate for the local currency);
A-5 ratification of ILO Convention Nos. 1, 30, or 47, limiting the regular workweek to 48 hours or less;
A-6 national constitutional or legal provision for a regular workweek of 48 hours or less;
A-7 the coverage of laws limiting the regular workweek (e.g., only stablishments of a certain size, only those in certain industrial sectors or regions);
A-8 provision in national laws or regulations for overtime beyond the regular workweek;
A-9 ratification of ILO Convention No.14, providing a weekly day of rest;
A-10 provision in the national constitution or law for a weekly day of rest;
A-11 ratification of ILO Convention No.101, providing paid holidays for workers in agriculture;
A-12 provision in the national constitution or laws for paid holidays for agricultural workers;
A-13 ratification of ILO Convention No. 52, providing for an annual paid holiday of at least six days;
A-14 ratification of ILO Convention No. 132, providing for an annual paid holiday of at least three weeks (supercedes C. 52);
A-15 provision in national laws/constitution for a specified number of paid holidays for employed workers;
A-16 ratification of ILO Convention No. 81 on labor inspection;
A-17 provision in national laws for inspection of workplaces;
A-18 ratification of ILO Convention No.155 on a mechanism to provide health and safety; and A-19 provision in the national constitution or laws for workplace health and safety.
Government Performance
The committee proposes 13 indicators of government performance. Government performance is indicated based on the presence (or absence) of the following:
B-1 a mechanism for fixing minimum wages;
B-2 an agency to promote and enforce laws governing hours of work;
B-3 an agency to promote and enforce laws protecting occupational safety and health;
B-4. a labor inspectorate;
B-5 the breadth of labor inspections in the country (number and frequency of visits, geographic regions, or industry sectors inspected);
B-6 the level of resources (e.g., personnel, pay, or budget) devoted to the labor inspectorate;
B-7 a labor inspectorate trained to and focused on wages, hours, and occupational safety and health standards;
B-8 an administrative or judicial complaint mechanism;
B-9 effectiveness of the complaint mechanism (in such terms as number of complaints brought compared with number of complaints heard, number of prosecutions, fines, or arrests, and length of time for complaint resolution);
B-10 government programs to combat problems in the areas of wages, hours, and occupational safety and health;
B-11 government-sponsored education programs focusing on wages, hours, and occupational safety and health;
B-12 government receipt of international technical assistance in the areas of wages, hours, and occupational safety and health; and
B-13 government support for NGO activities designed to improve compliance with wage, hour, and occupational safety and health laws.
Overall Outcomes
The committee proposes five indicators of outcomes:
C-1 average and median manufacturing wages compared with minimum wage(s) in local currency and in U.S. dollars;
C-2 average earnings in industries that export to the United States;
C-3 average hours worked per week;
C-4 number of work-related fatalities per 100,000 workers, both overall and by industry sector; and.
C-5 number of occupational injuries, both absolute and as a fraction of the total workforce and the workforce covered by health and safety laws
