In the article published by John Brand in Business Day earlier this week he drew attention to the ratification of ILO conventions by various countries and I thought it would be helpful to summarise some of the information with some extracts from his article as well.

View or download the earlier post: Employment Law amendments: decent work deficits need to be properly addressed (John Brand)

View or download John Brand’s full article in Business Day: Decent work has solid basis in law, but lacks application.

2010 Decent Work Country Programme for S A

“In the 2010 Decent Work Country Programme for S A , which was a major and protracted Nedlac project facilitated by the International Labour Organisation, the social partners — the government, labour and business — measured S A ’s compliance with the organisation’s decent work standards”.

“They spent four years analysing the extent to which S A had ratified its conventions, enacted legislation to give effect to such ratification and enforced that legislation.

This analysis identified what are conventionally referred to as “decent work deficits”.   These are the gaps between International Labour Organisation standards and the actual effective standards in a country.

The social partners then agreed on detailed action plans to address the “decent work deficits” that were identified”.

Ratification of ILO conventions

South Africa became a founder member of the ILO in 1919 and ratified the first convention on November 1, 1921 and since then has ratified a total of 20 conventions with the last ratification being February 18, 2003.

Visit the ILO website for further information about ratification of conventions.

Ratification of eight core conventions

  • Two out of eight – USA.
  • Three out of eight  – Vietnam.
  • Four out of eight – Korea; Singapore; Thailand.
  • Five out of eight – Canada; New Zealand; Malaysia.
  • Six out of eight – Japan.
  • Eight out of eight – S A and most western European countries, thus putting S A among the best performers in the world in this regard and even the other Bric countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) have not done so.

“Nevertheless, the programme did identify a small number of conventions which S A still needed to ratify”.

South Africa has still not ratified the Termination of Employment Convention 158 of 1982 [35 ratifications with Brazil denouncing it in 1996].

Enactment of legislation to give effect to conventions

“In relation to the enactment of legislation to give effect to the conventions, it was recorded that, since 1994, S A had given effect to conventions in the constitution, the Labour Relations Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Employment Equity Act, the Skills Development Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, the Unemployment Insurance Act and the Mine Health and Safety Act.

This suite of legislation provides a very comprehensive legislative basis for decent work in S A and the programme identified only a few areas for improvement”.

“In comparison with the rest of the world, South African employment law is therefore relatively conducive to decent work, although the programme did identify some areas in which S A still needed to enact appropriate legislation”.

What are the eight core ILO Conventions ?

  • Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No 87)
  • Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No 98)
  • Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No 29)
  • Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No 105)
  • Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No 138)
  • Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No 184)
  • Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No 100)
  • Discrimination (Employment And Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No 111).