Employers' Handbook on ILO Standards-related Activities

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EMPLOYERS’ HANDBOOK ON ILO STANDARDS-RELATED ACTIVITIES
TC by ILO supervisory organs to governments facing problems in implementing
(ratified) Conventions. From an employers’ point of view, it is important that ILO
TC offered to governments in the implementation of ILS duly takes into account
the economic situation and the needs of enterprises in the respective country. If
employers’ organizations in member States feel that TC specific to their needs
could help them play a more meaningful role in the implementation of ILS, they
should make their respective needs known to the ILO.
Creation of standards: Another dimension of direct support, insufficiently
used so far, concerns the experience gained from TC in the creation of ILS, particularly
in the preparation of items for new ILS. This experience could be especially
valuable in making ILS more realistic and needs-oriented. It would give
better effect to the constitutional standard-setting principle of having “due regard
to those countries in which climatic conditions, the imperfect development of industrial
organization, or other special circumstances make the industrial conditions
substantially different ...” (art. 19, para. 3, ILO Constitution). Therefore, it
would be appropriate for the ILO to tap this experience more systematically in its
preparatory work for standard-setting.
l Indirect support
Although direct TC support is important for better implementation of ILS,
such a limited role would not exhaust the potential of technical cooperation. For
this reason, the ILC 1999 “Conclusions concerning the role of the ILO in technical
cooperation” rightly pointed out that TC should more generally “help create the
enabling environment ... for the realization of the values and principles of the
Organization in terms of development, institutional capability, legislation and economic
and social policy.”
From the employers’ perspective, a particularly important aspect of this kind
of TC is institutional support to employers’ and workers’ organizations. The existence
of independent and well-functioning organizations of employers and workers
engaging in constructive dialogue does not only have favourable effects on economic
and social development in ILO member countries; it is also a precondition
for the effective implementation and supervision of ILS in general.
ILS in support of technical cooperation
Since many ILO objectives are reflected in ILS, the standards themselves can
guide the planning and execution of TC activities. This is evident if a country has
ratified relevant ILO Conventions, thus demonstrating the importance it attaches to the
implementation of these instruments for its national development. The same is true if
the relevance or model function of certain ILS is expressly mentioned in project documents
for TC activities, even if the respective Conventions have not been ratified by the
country concerned.
Recommendation No. 152 contains a particularly important guiding principle for
the execution of TC activities in that it provides for national level tripartite consultations