No one will deny that labour standards comprise a necessary framework for balanced economic and social development. Yet on a global level such balanced development has not occurred, despite the existence of a rigorous body of international labour law that has been active and growing for almost one hundred years. The implementation of this law devolves upon states; yet many states have failed to honour it. If we are to take serious steps toward a remedy for this situation, there is no better place to start than a thorough, well-researched survey and analysis of existing international labour law - its sources, its content, its historical development, and an informed consideration of the barriers to its full effectiveness.

This book is exactly such a resource. It provides in-depth interpretation of the crucial International Labour Organisation (ILO)

the relationship between international labour law and economic competition
standards on industrial relations
collective bargaining and dispute settlement procedures
protection of trade unions
prohibitions on enforced and child labour
promotion of equal opportunity and treatment
time and rest provisions
wage determination and protection
occupational health and safety provisions
special issues on non-standard forms of employment
foreign and migrant workers
social security provisions
privacy protection

The presentation demonstrates that these rules and standards offer invaluable benchmarks to governments, judiciaries, employers, and trade unions. The book’s combination of detailed commentary and an overarching social policy will make it especially valuable to legislators, human resources managers, employers organizations, trade unions, jurists, and academics concerned with the role of work in our globalized social system.

This sixth edition of the book by Jean-Michel Servais analyses the potential of those standards in a globalized world, and the necessary evolution. It examines the actual implementation of those rules in the national context, comparing different experiences. It integrates the latest instruments. It examines the most recent public debates on labour regulation (dealing with health and security at work, personal data, minimum wages, social security, strikes, etc.), updates the bibliography and opens some perspectives for the future work of the global institutions.