ILO MNE Declaration meeting by EFP.

What is the ILO MNE Declaration?

“The MNE Declaration provides clear guidance on how enterprises can contribute through their operations worldwide to the realization of decent work.

Its recommendations rooted in international labour standards reflect good practices for all enterprises but also highlight the role of government in stimulating good corporate behavior as well as the crucial role of social dialogue.”

Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General

The Tripartite declaration of principles concerning multinational enterprises and social policy (MNE Declaration) is the ILO instrument that provides direct guidance to enterprises on social policy and inclusive, responsible and sustainable workplace practices. The aim of this Declaration is to encourage the positive contribution which multinational enterprises can make to economic and social progress and the realization of decent work for all; and to minimize and resolve the difficulties to which their various operations may give rise. These principles do not aim at introducing or maintaining inequalities of treatment between multinational and national enterprises. They reflect good practice for all. Multinational and national enterprises, wherever the principles of the MNE Declaration are relevant to both, should be subject to the same expectations in respect of their conduct in general and their social practices in particular.

Its principles are addressed to MNEs, governments of home and host countries, and employers’ and workers’ organizations and cover areas such as employment, training, conditions of work and life, and industrial relations as well as general policies.

1.???General policies

All the parties concerned by the MNE Declaration should respect the sovereign rights of States, obey the national laws and regulations, give due consideration to local practices and respect relevant international standards. They should also honour commitments which they have freely entered into, in conformity with the national law and accepted international obligations. They should respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the corresponding International Covenants (1966) adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations as well as the Constitution of the International Labour Organization and its principles according to which freedom of expression and association are essential to sustained progress.

Multinational enterprises should take fully into account established general policy objectives of the countries in which they operate. Their activities should be consistent with national law and in harmony with the development priorities and social aims and structure of the country in which they operate. To this effect, consultations should be held between multinational enterprises, the government and, wherever appropriate, the national employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned.

2. Employment

?? Employment promotion

Enterprises should endeavor to increase employment opportunities and standards, taking

Into account the employment policies and objectives of the government, as well as security of employment and the long-term development of the enterprise.

? Social security

Enterprises should comply with social protection system introduction by the government and help to stimulate development through employer sponsored program.

? Elimination of forced or compulsory labour

In order to suppress forced or compulsory labour, governments should provide guidance and support to employers and enterprises to take effective measures to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address the risks of forced and compulsory labour in their operations or in products, services or operations in which they may be directly linked.

? Effective abolition of child labour: minimum age and worst forms

Multinational enterprises, should respect the minimum age for admission to employment or work in order to secure the effective abolition of child labour in their operations and should take immediate and effective measures within their own competence to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency.

? Equality of opportunity and treatment

Multinational enterprises should be guided by the principle of nondiscrimination throughout their operations without prejudice to the measures envisaged in paragraph 18 or to government policies designed to correct historical patterns of discrimination and thereby to extend equality of opportunity and treatment in employment. Multinational enterprises should accordingly make qualifications, skill and experience the basis for the recruitment, placement, training and advancement of their staff at all levels.

? Security of employment

Multinational enterprises, through active employment planning, should endeavour to provide stable employment for workers employed by each enterprise and should observe freely negotiated obligations concerning employment stability and social security. In view of the flexibility which multinational enterprises may have, they should strive to assume a leading role in promoting security of employment, particularly in countries where the discontinuation of operations is likely to accentuate long-term unemployment.

3. Training

Enterprise should ensure that relevant training is provided for all levels of workers employed by them to meet the needs of the enterprise. Such training should develop generally useful skills and promote career opportunities and lifelong learning.

4. Conditions of work and life

? Wages, benefits and conditions of work

Wages, benefits and conditions of work offered by multinational enterprises across their operations should be not less favorable to the workers than those offered by comparable employers in the host country. Where comparable employers do not exist, they should provide the best possible wages, benefits and conditions of work. The elements to be taken into consideration should include: (a) the needs of workers and their families, taking into account the general level of wages in the country, the cost of living, social security benefits, and the relative living standards of other social groups; and (b) economic factors, including the requirements of economic development, levels of productivity and the desirability of attaining and maintaining a high level of employment. Where the employer provides workers with basic amenities such as housing, medical care or food, these amenities should be of a good standard.

? Safety and health

Multinational enterprises should maintain the highest standards of safety and health, in conformity with national requirements, bearing in mind their relevant experience within the enterprise as a whole, including any knowledge of special hazards. They should also make available to the representatives of the workers, and upon request, to the competent authorities and the workers’ and employers’ organizations in all countries in which they operate, information on the safety and health standards relevant to their local operations, which they observe in other countries. In particular, they should make known to those concerned any special hazards and related protective measures associated with new products and processes. They, like comparable domestic enterprises, should be expected to play a leading role in the examination of causes of industrial safety and health hazards and in the application of resulting improvements within the enterprise as a whole.

5. Industrial relations

Multinational enterprises should observe standards of industrial relations throughout their operations.

?? Freedom of association and the right to organize

Workers employed by enterprises should, without distraction whatsoever, have the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organization concerned, to join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization.

? Collective bargaining

Workers should have the right, in accordance with national law and practice, to have representative organization of their own choosing recognized for the purpose of collective bargaining.

Measure should be taken to encourage and promote voluntary negotiation between employers and workers with a view to the regulation of terms and conditions of employment by means of collective agreement.

? ? Consultation

In multinational as well as in national enterprises, systems devised by mutual agreement between employers and workers and their representatives should provide, in accordance with national law and practice, for regular consultation on matters of mutual concern. Such consultation should not be a substitute for collective bargaining.

? Access to remedy and examination of grievances.

. As part of their duty to protect against business-related human rights abuses, governments should take appropriate steps to ensure, through judicial, administrative, legislative or other appropriate means, that when such abuses occur within their territory and/or jurisdiction any affected worker or workers have access to effective remedy.

Multinational enterprises should use their leverage to encourage their business partners to provide effective means of enabling remediation for abuses of internationally recognized human rights.

? Settlement of industrial disputes.

Multinational as well as national enterprises jointly with the representatives and organizations of the workers whom they employ should seek to establish voluntary conciliation machinery, appropriate to national conditions, which may include provisions for voluntary arbitration, to assist in the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes between employers and workers. The voluntary conciliation machinery should include equal representation of employers and workers.

The guidance is founded substantially on principles contained in international labour standards (ILO conventions and recommendations listed in Annex I of the instrument), and on obligations that States have through their ILO membership and following their ratification of ILO conventions.

The MNE Declaration highlights the importance of the rule of law, law enforcement and social dialogue and recalls that all parties should respect workers’ rights and contribute to the realization of the fundamental principles and rights at work. It emphasizes the importance of dialogue and consultations among the different parties to ensure inclusive, sustainable, responsible business behaviour of MNEs in host countries and compatibility with national development objectives and policies. It encourages home and host country governments of MNEs to engage in consultations with each other as well as with their enterprises on social and labour policy.

The MNE Declaration is the only global instrument in this area that was elaborated and adopted by governments, employers’ and workers from around the world. Adopted by the Governing Body of the ILO at its 204th session (Geneva, November 1977), the instrument was amended several times. It was?last amended in March 2017??following a tripartite review process to respond to new economic realities and to take into account developments since the last update in 2006. These developments included new labour standards and policy outcomes adopted by the International Labour Conference, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights endorsed by the Human Rights Council in 2011, and the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The revision has enriched the MNE Declaration by strengthening and adding principles?addressing specific decent work issues related to social security, forced labour, transition from the informal to the formal economy, wages, safety and health, access to remedy and compensation of victims. And by outlining the different roles that different actors have in achieving the aim of the MNE Declaration, aligned with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework.

To stimulate the uptake of the principles of the MNE Declaration by the various parties, the Governing Body has also adopted a number of operational tools that are listed in Annex II of the MNE Declaration. The MNE Declaration is influencing and guiding policies of international and regional organizations, national governments, multi-stakeholder initiatives as well as policies and codes of enterprises of all sizes.

Thanks & Regards

Muhammad Kashif Siddiqui