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equity. The key to success is to link employmentcreation with protection. This requires buildingbroad societal consensus for coordinated reformsacross a variety of labour market institutions andprovision for support to workers in re-entering thelabour market following investments in educationand training, in incentives that would encouragemobility, and in job creation, among othermeasures.Lessons from national reform practiceThere are lessons to be learned from countrieswhich recently have introduced policies aimedat empowering workers and entrepreneurs in theinformal economy.Legal identityLegal identity, as worker or entrepreneur, isof fundamental importance for legal empowerment.Some countries have tried to establishthese identities and make the employmentrelationships explicit (in labour laws or in theirextensions). Thailand provides an example of howthe labour law has been extended to home workersthrough a ministerial regulation. In this case,home workers are considered ‘employees’ thosewho use raw materials and tools that come fromthe employer. The Ministerial Regulation also affirmsthe application of the Fundamental principlesand rights at work to these workers (SeeCase 1, Annex 2). Employment relationships havealso been determined through judicial decisions.In the Philippines, the Supreme Court has applieda four-fold test in determining the existenceof an employer-employee relationship: 76 ‘(1) theselection and engagement of the employee; (2)the payment of wages; (3) the power of dismissal;and (4) the power to control the employee’sconduct.’ Furthermore, the evidence of payment— through a pay slip — has been accepted asproof of employer-employee relationship (SeeCase 2, Annex 2). India offers an example of awelfare fund where the trade unions provide acertification of the eligibility of the worker. Theidentity therefore comes from membership in atrade union (See Case 3).Voice and representationThe right to voice and representation is as importantas legal identity. Throughout the world, tradeunions are launching and supporting campaignsfor the representation and protection of informalworkers. For example, the Inter-American RegionalOrganisation of Workers has issued guidelinesand manuals to enhance organisation and representationof workers in the informal economy. TheAlliance for Zambia Informal Economy Associationswas launched in 2002 in partnership withthe Zambia Congress of Trade Unions. 77The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA),India, is the well-known and very promising tradeunion of women informal workers who actively engagein collective bargaining and otherwise leverageinfluence over the environment in which theywork (See Case 4). Over the past two decades,SEWA has co-founded and inspired a number oforganisations of informal workers which individuallyand collectively are gaining voice and representationin relevant policymaking fora.In Ghana, the ILO’s Decent Work programme hasworked with local government to promote socialdialogue by creating District Assembly Sub-Committeeson Productive and Gainful Employmentthat include representatives of informal enterprises,informal workers, the private sector, andgovernment. In the Philippines, local developmentcouncils are mandated on the regional,provincial, municipal and village-level wheredifferent interest groups, including registered andaccredited local organisations, are represented.167