Employers' Handbook on ILO Standards-related Activities

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EMPLOYERS’ HANDBOOK ON ILO STANDARDS-RELATED ACTIVITIES
certain Conventions require an accompanying declaration, e.g. regarding the extent of
the obligations accepted. To give an example: the ratification of Convention No. 160
concerning Labour Statistics requires the ratifying member State (Art. 16, para. 2) to
specify which of the nine Articles of Part II of the Convention it accepts. Accompanying
declarations are optional for certain other Conventions.
A ratification usually becomes effective for the State concerned 12 months after
its communication to the ILO Director-General, provided that the Convention in question
has already entered into force. Entry into force occurs 12 months after the second
ratification for most Conventions.
The obligation to make effective a ratified Convention means incorporating its
provisions into national law and practice. This involves giving effect to any provisions
which are not self-executing and eliminating or preventing any conflict between the
provisions of the Convention and earlier national law and practice. In this context, the
competent authorities in the country will also have to determine the means of enforcement.
However, the employers believe that sanctions as a means of enforcement must
be introduced only if the Convention explicitly prescribes them (see “Interpretation of
Conventions and Recommendations” in Chapter V).
Governments must inform employers’ and workers’ organizations of the ratification
and of the measures designed to give effect to the provisions of the Convention
(prt. 23, para. 2, ILO Constitution; for more detail see Chapter V). Apart from
that, employers and workers – depending on the contents of the individual instrument
– are involved to a different degree in the actual implementation of ratified
Conventions:
l In the absence of legislation or other forms of government regulation and when the
instrument permits implementation other than by government regulation, such as
by collective agreements, employers and workers can play a direct role in incorporating
the provisions of a Convention into national practice.
l Most Conventions provide for some form of consultation/hearing of employers
and workers. Some of them, for instance, state a “right to participate” in implementation;
others refer to implementation in “agreement” or “full consultation”
with workers’ and employers’ organizations.
l The principle of tripartite consultation is highlighted in Recommendation
No. 152, which states that governments should consult with representative organizations
of employers and workers on the preparation and implementation of legislative
or other measures to give effect to Conventions – especially when ratified –
and Recommendations (Para. 5 (c)).
It is up to employers at national level to use these opportunities to make sure that
their views are taken into account in any decision on ratification or implementation of
a Convention so that the measures introduced take account of their specific needs and
wishes.
In this respect, it is particularly important that employers draw the attention of
their government to the flexibility offered by a given Convention. For instance, the
government may leave implementation to collective bargaining instead of legislation,
if the Convention provides for that. Otherwise, employers may propose to limit legislation
to a broad framework, leaving the details to be determined at company level.