As the only worldwide regulatory body drafting conventions & recommendations on employment related matters, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is of special interest to the World Employment Confederation.

The work of the ILO can represent a very good and relevant framework to draft guidelines on the best way to define a suitable regulatory environment for the employment industry.

The ILO will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2019 and in this context, it is preparing a new declaration on the Future of Work. The World Employment Confederation has been providing input into that process with three issue briefs on informal work, skills and diverse forms of work (see the "Documentation" section at the bottom of the page). The ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work has adopted its final report "Work for a Brighter Future" in January 2019. After a series of national dialogues on this report, the new declaration will be adopted during the International Labour Conference in June 2018.

ILO Convention 181

This is the reason why the World Employment Confederation was very much involved in the drafting of ILO Convention on Private Employment Agencies, 1997 (No. 181), which represented a dramatic departure from the previous ILO position regarding the private employment agencies: from prohibition (Conventions No. 34 and No. 96) to legal recognition and support of the development of the activities of private employment agencies.

Adopted in 1997, ILO Convention No. 181 recognises the “role private employment agencies may play in a well-functioning labour market”. The purpose of the Convention is to allow the operation of private employment agencies as well as to protect the workers using their services (Article 2.3).

The World Employment Confederation welcomes Convention No. 181 as an international instrument that sets minimum standards for the three HR services offered by the employment industry, namely recruitment, agency work and job boards. Convention No. 181 is one of the most ratified technical conventions since the 2000s; to check the current number of ratifications, please visit the ILO website. 

In cooperation with UNI Global Union, the World Employment Confederation originated several events to increase awareness on Convention No. 181 and to promote further ratifications. One of the latest events to promote the ratification of the convention was held in October 2009 as a tripartite workshop organised by the ILO Office in Geneva. More than 100 participants representing governments, workers and employers attended the workshop and adopted at the end of the 3 day event some Points of Consensus (available in English, French and Spanish).

The World Employment Confederation and the ILO continue to promote the ratification of this up-to-date convention in other contexts as well, for example in the broad discussion of fair recruitment and migration (ILO tripartite meeting of experts on labour migration, 2013; ILO tripartite meeting of experts on fair recruitment principles and guidelines, 2016; etc.), in the debate on supply chains management and decent work (International Labour Conference 2016), and in any other appropriate setting.

Implementation of Convention 181

The World Employment Confederation has developed some guidelines, based on the Convention, to help national governments to establish appropriate regulation on private employment agencies. These principles can be accessible here.

Additionally, the World Employment Confederation has compared countries that ratified Convention No. 96 on Fee-Charging Employment Agencies Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 96) with those that ratified Convention No. 181 on the basis of various indicators, levels of unemployment, undeclared work, respect for workers' rights, etc. The key finding of the assessment is that countries under Convention No. 181 have better performing labour markets and workers enjoy higher level of protection, compared with those countries that are still stuck under the restrictive framework of Convention No. 96. The research can be downloaded here.

In 2007, the ILO Office has prepared a Guide to Private Employment Agencies in order to provide assistance to national legislators and social partners in drafting legal frameworks in line with Convention 181 and Recommendation 188 on private employment agencies. It is rich with many examples of national legislation and includes specific provisions for both developed and developing countries.

In 2006, the ILO Conference adopted a recommendation on the Employment Relationship, which addresses particularly disguised and ambiguous employment relationships. In the debate on this recommendation, the World Employment Confederation called to draw a clear line between the disguised and ambiguous employment relationships and the services provided by private employment agencies, as private employment agencies are already covered and regulated by the Convention 181. In the final debate on the Employment Relationship Recommendation, the ILO Conference adopted a disclaimer that clarifies the interrelation between Convention 181 and the Recommendation on the Employment Relationship.

The World Employment Confederation has observer seats at the ILO International Labour Conferences and regularly visits the ILO headquarters in Geneva to address and discuss topics of concern for the employment industry.

Smart regulation index on the employment industry

The World Employment Confederation also developed a Smart Regulation Index that measures how smart and appropriate regulation on the employment industry is in different countries around the world.

Developed in 2011 together with the Boston Consulting Group, and regularly updated since then, the index shows that adopting appropriate regulation on the employment industry helps labour markets to be more efficient and thus helps countries to become more competitive. Indeed, smart regulation on the employment industry leads to higher job creation, increases labour market participation, lowers youth unemployment levels and overall improves the efficiency of labour markets.

The 2018 update of the index is available here.

ILO documents

• ILO Convention 181 full text
• ILO Recommendation 188 full text
• Ratifications of Convention No. 181
• ILO Working Paper on Private Employment Agencies - Issued for the 2009 Workshop on ILO Convention 181
• Points of Consensus of ILO tripartite workshop on C181 held in October 2009 (available in English, French or Spanish)
• ILO Guide on Private Employment Agencies (available in English, French and Spanish)
• ILO Recommendation 198 on the employment relationship

WEC positions and background information

• Priority Brief for the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work: Skills
• Priority Brief for the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work: Diverse forms of work
• Priority Brief for the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work: Informality
• W.E.C. Toolkit on the benefits of ratifying C181 (specific countries available in the documentation section here)
• W.E.C. Comparison between countries that ratified C181 and those that are under C96
• Smart Regulation Index on the Employment Industry