ILO Conventions

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions are an expansive list of conventions that lay out internationally agreed labour standards. These conventions are proposed then have to be adopted and ratified by national governments before becoming international labour law.

There are a number of conventions that are internationally accepted and highly relevant to Corporate Responsibility. Many of the conventions are very specific to certain sectors or practices, however, below are a list of conventions that are universally relevant to businesses, regarding CR (The titles give a good indication of the nature of the convention, but the full text is available at the link on the right:

• 29: Forced or Compulsory Labour
• 87: Freedom of association and the protection of the right to organise
• 95: Protection of Wages Convention
• 98: Application of the principles of the right to organise and bargain collectively
• 100: Equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value
• 102: Social security convention
• 103: Maternity protection convention
• 105: Abolition of forced labour
• 111: Discrimination in respect of employment and occupation
• 121: Employment injury benefits convention
• 131: Minimum wage fixing convention
• 135: Concerning protection and facilities to be afforded to workers' representatives in the undertaking
• 138: Minimum age for admission to employment
• 155: Occupational Safety and Health convention
• 182: Prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour

All of these conventions are essential for compliance to good business ethics as well as important considerations in supply chain management.