Glossary term
ILO Core Labour Standards
Subject: Sustainability and ESG, Human Rights, Labour and Supply Chain
Also known as: Fundamental principles and rights at work, ILO fundamental conventions
The ILO Core Labour Standards are a set of basic workplace rights accepted worldwide: freedom of association, no forced labour, no child labour, no discrimination, and a safe and healthy working environment.
Explanation
The International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency, set out four of these rights in a 1998 declaration. It added safe and healthy working conditions in 2022, which makes five categories. Each right is backed by specific ILO conventions. Member states commit to respect them whether or not they have ratified every convention. They are minimum rights, not a full set of employment rules, so pay levels, working hours and leave are left to national law. Companies use them as a baseline in supplier codes and audits and in human rights due diligence, and investors and lenders often name them in policies. Trade agreements sometimes refer to them as well. Buyers and auditors lean on them when they need one yardstick that holds across countries whose labour laws differ widely.
Example
A footwear company is writing its supplier standards. Rather than invent its own rules, it builds them around the five core ILO rights. Auditors then check whether workers at each factory can form or join a union, whether anyone is under the legal working age, and whether staff are free to leave their jobs without penalty.
Not to be confused with
- National labour law
- Set by each country and may go further or fall short. The ILO standards are a common international floor.