INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS: CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS AND CHANGES

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  • INTRODUCTION
  • The international labour organization (ILO) is the oldest specialized agency of the United nation (UN). which is dedicated to affirming social justice, decent work, and international labour rights.
  • ILO was Established in 1919. After the first world war treaty of Versailles part XIII. The headquarters of ILO is situated in Geneva, and Switzerland. ILOs has 187 member States included India. An important feature of ILO is the tripartite structure in which governments, employer’s and workers’ and their representative are also included.
  • The main aim of ILO is to develop or promote international labour standards. In these standards includes conventions, recommendations, and protocols, which aim to protect the rights, or improve the working conditions of the workers. These standards are called the foundation of international labour law.
  • The important milestone of ILO was the declaration of Philadelphia 1944. This declaration reaffirms the principle ” labour is not a commodity.[1]
  • INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS: OVERVIEW
  • International labour standards are those affirming principles or rules which help in protecting the rights or the workers’ and also improve their working conditions. These standards also protect the workers from exploitation or inhumane labour practices.
  • ILS also plays an important role in preventing workplace harassment, inequality or any unfair labour practices. For developing international labour standards, the main important organization is ILO which was established in (1919).
  • RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS (2025-2026)
  • New changes in international labour standards (ILS), refers to the new conventions, reforms, recommendations and policy initiatives introduced by the international labour organization (ILO) to tackle emerging challenges in the world of work. These reforms enacted during 2025-2026 indicate the ILO’s ongoing efforts to adapt labour standards to changing economic and technological realities at the same time ensuring social justice and effective labour protection.

The major developments and reforms introduced by ILO are as follows:

  1. Occupational safety and health as a fundamental labour Right.
  2. Adoption of the biological Hazards conventions, 2025 (convention No. 1920).
  3. Modernization of the ILO Reporting system.
  4. Labour standards and artificial intelligence (AI).
  5. Decent working the platform economy.6. Formalization of the informal economy.[2] 7. Amendments to the maritime labour conventions, 2006

1.Occupational safety and health as a fundamental labour right:

 A very important development was the international labour conference (ILC) supporting a safe and healthy working environment as a fundamental right of workers. After the decision taken by ILC, Occupational safety and health (OSH) was added as per the fifth category of the ILO’s fundamental principles and rights at work. This step was reinforced by convention no. 155 and convention no. 187.

2. Adoption of the biological Hazards conventions, 2025 (convention No.1920):  It is also known as the biological hazards in the working environment convention, 2025, it is the 192nd ILO convention and was adopted by ILC in Geneva. It is the first international instrument which addresses biological hazards. The process of developing this convention began in 2017.

3. Modernization of the ILO Reporting system: In 2025, the ILO governing body adopted major reforms for making their reporting system modern, simple, and efficient. The purpose of these reforms was to create reporting system easier and reduce the burden of the administrative system.

4. Labour standards and artificial intelligence (AI): AI is rapidly reshaping  the employment environment and workplace in the world. As we see, today the efficiency and productivity of companies increasing rapidly. Areas such as – recruitment (hiring), human resources (HR), management decisions. In these areas, the use of AI has grown significantly in recent years.

5. Decent working the platform economy: The ILO has initiated a two-year standard – setting process (2025-2026). It aims to developed a new convention through the recommendations and also protecting the rights of gig and platform workers.[3]

6. Formalization of the informal economy: ILO promotes the formalization of the informal economy to ensure decent work, social protection and rights for workers and enterprises. This process is directed by the recommendations No.204 (2015).

7.Amendments to the maritime labour conventions, 2006: 2025 amendments for the MLC, 2006 were made to provide seafarers better rights, working conditions, and welfare. These amendments endorsement seafarers as key workers, reinforced shore leave for them, gave them more rights regarding harassment and bullying at work, and assured shipowners would be responsible for repatriation expenses.[4]

  • CONCLUSION
  • International labor standards have an essential role in promoting social justice, worker’s rights protection, and improvement of working conditions for the workers. These are some of the most recent developments which have taken place at the ILO from 2025-2026.
  • The developments include workplace safety, biological hazards, artificial intelligence, platform work, and amendments to maritime labor conventions.

BY TANVI DANGI

JAGRAN LAKECITY UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL

[1] https://www.ilo.org/international-labour-standards

[2] https://blog.ipleaders.in/international-labour-standards-global-era-legal-study/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mainpage
https://www.ioe-emp.org/policy-priorities/international-labour-standards
https://guide-suprtvision.ilo.org

[3]https://www.itcilo.org/sites/default/files/media/course-

https://www.britannica.com/topic/international-labour-organization

[4] https://www.mondaq.com/employee-rights-labour-relations/1643438/new-standards-new-protections-key-outcomes-from-the-2025-ilo-conference