The International Organization of Employers (IOE) published its report on the 104th session of the International Labor Conference, which gives a roundup of the technical discussion on labor protection. The conclusions from these discussions provide guidance to the International Labor Organization and its constituents.

A chapter on the work of the 2015 Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS) is also included, as is an outline of the examination by the Credentials Committee of three objections and two complaints brought by employers.

Ronnie Goldberg, USCIB’s senior counsel, presided at the International Labor Conference as the employers’ co-chair.

Download the report.

Every year, USCIB organizes the American Employers’ delegation to the International Labor Conference (ILC), the highest decision-making body of the International Labor Organization (ILO) which brings together government delegates from the organization’s 185 member states, representatives from workers’ organizations and employers’ organizations such as the International Organization of Employers (IOE). USCIB is the American affiliate of the IOE.

With this year’s ILC underway, which runs from June 1 to June 13, Ronnie Goldberg, USCIB’s senior counsel, is serving as the employer’s co-chair during the proceedings.

Noteworthy projects of the 2015 ILC include an item proposed by global employers, led by the International Organization of Employers (IOE), is the Committee on the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy, which will conclude its two-year work on a draft Recommendation to governments on facilitating transitions to more formal economies. In addition, the conference covered discussions on building enabling environments for small- and medium-sized enterprises and on ILO’s work on social protection, focused on labor inspection.

During his opening address to the ILC, ILO Director General Guy Ryder called for a global debate on the future of work. “The issues of jobs, equity, sustainability, human security, labor mobility, social dialogue, which need to be tackled in a future of work initiative, are almost by definition the key policy issues of our time,” said Ryder.

The proposed initiative would be structured around four conversations: work and society; the organization of work and production; decent jobs for all; and the governance of work. Subsequently, a high-level commission on the future of work would prepare a report to the ILO’s centenary Conference in 2019.

Also on June 1, Ryder, Goldberg and other ILO delegates signed a signature panel symbolizing support for the “50 for Freedom campaign” to end modern-day slavery. The campaign’s goal is to encourage 50 member states to ratify, by 2018, a protocol to the ILO Forced Labor Convention.

Read more: IOE Stresses B20 Recommendations for Skills Development and Inclusive Labor Markets

At the plenary session of the B20 Task force in Paris on June 2, International Organization of Employers President Daniel Funes de Rioja set out the two principal recommendations of the Employment Task Force for facilitating skills development and ensuring flexible and inclusive labor markets.

Funes underscored the need for labor markets that include women and young people – two groups that stand to benefit from a regulatory environment that boosts participation rates.  He also made the case for removing barriers to diverse employment arrangements, such as part-time and flexible-hour contracts, for advancing the education of women in countries where there are deficiencies in this area, and improving child care facilities.

He noted that addressing the skills mismatch was key for keeping pace with rapid technological change and innovation, and in preventing the under-skilled from being left behind.

“I urge governments to involve national employers’ organizations, the IOE’s members around the world, in the development and implementation of G20 National Employment Plans (NEPs),” said Funes. “Employers have expertise and experience in the design of work-readiness programmers to bridge the skills gap and can make a substantial contribution to the NEP exercise.”

USCIB’s global network will continue to monitor progress in the G20 employment work stream. “Only by being accountable will the G20 become the engine for much needed labor market reforms to boost growth and jobs,” Funes concluded.

In his keynote address to the 2015 Economic and Social Council Integration Segment in New York on Monday, 30 March, International Organization of Employers (IOE) President Daniel Funes de Rioja underlined the urgency in addressing structural reforms and labor-market oriented training for increasing job opportunities, particularly for young people.

The opening panel, “The ‘Big Think’ on Jobs and Growth,” provided an overview of the current global economy within which an effective framework could be established for inclusive and balanced growth, with full employment as a macroeconomic policy objective.

While welcoming the successful labor market reforms undertaken by some governments, the IOE president called for the removal of regulatory barriers. He noted that greater workplace flexibility resulted in a win-win situation for both companies and the individuals they employed, with positive impacts on productivity, quality of work and employee retention.

Workplace flexibility also enhances the transition of enterprises from the informal to the formal economy, with higher employment rates being recorded in countries where companies, particularly SMEs, could adapt quickly to a rapidly changing world, Funes noted.

On the topic of ensuring adequate training systems, Funes said, “If there is a silver bullet to address youth unemployment, then it is high quality apprenticeship systems.”  Despite this, IOE research had found that in many countries there were still significant skills mismatches.

To address this challenge, USCIB’s global network initiated the Global Apprenticeships Network (GAN), launched to promote exchanges of experience and best practice in the area of training and work-readiness programs around the globe.

Funes highlighted the value of national GAN networks, such as those recently launched by the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TISK). He urged governments to support such initiatives by enabling the institutional and regulatory environment for companies to engage in offering apprenticeships, including by involving companies and employers’ organizations in the design and implementation of VET systems, and by promoting excellence in STEM subjects in schools.

With the support of the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers and other business organizations, the Economist Intelligence Unit published a report on the intersection of global business and the protection of human rights. “The Road from Principles to Practice: Today’s Challenges for Business in Respecting Human Rights” evaluates the state of play in business and human rights since the adoption of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011.

The report shows that 83 percent of executives surveyed from a wide variety of sectors believe that human rights are a matter for businesses, not just for governments. 71 percent also said that their company’s responsibility to respect human rights goes beyond “obedience to local laws.”

While this response suggests corporate attitudes are evolving quickly, only 22 percent say they have a publicly available human rights policy in some form, and 44 percent say that human rights are an issue on which CEOs take the lead. The most common barriers to progress, according to the respondents, are lack of understanding of their company’s responsibilities and lack of training and education for employees.

The report also shows that companies do not see a business case – focused on immediate costs and benefits – for human rights, but rather see respecting human rights as helpful in building good relationships with local communities, protecting the company brand and reputation, and serving ethical considerations.

The study also draws on in-depth interviews conducted with Ed Potter, director of global workplace rights at The Coca-Cola Company and chair of USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee; John Ruggie, former UN Secretary-General’s special representative on business and human rights; Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom and other experts from civil society, human rights and business organizations.

A high-level delegation from the International Organization of Employers (IOE) participated in an EU workshop in Brussels prior to an EU Development Policy Forum. This workshop is the second the IOE has attended in the past six months in efforts to inform EU policy discussions with business perspectives and recommendations.

Ronnie Goldberg, USCIB’s senior counsel and IOE vice president for North America, shared the opening session with Klaus Rudischhauser, deputy director general for international cooperation development.  She underscored the IOE’s strong commitment to building partnerships with the European Commission in light of many shared goals.

Acknowledging that EU support lifts millions of people out of poverty and contributes to a solid foundation on which private enterprises could be created and developed, Goldberg thanked the hosts for creating the space for deeper private-sector engagement, adding, “The IOE places great importance on building partnerships with the European Commission for the joint promotion of an enabling environment for growth and sustainable development.”

She reiterated the IOE’s key inputs to consultations on the post-2015 Development Goals over the past two years, which could equally frame EU-private sector dialogue. These included putting sustainability at the core of the agenda; ensuring that growth was inclusive to boost productive employment. Open and accountable institutions also had to be enabled.

Goldberg added that it is essential that EU commission funding support investment in infrastructure projects, such as road, rail, electricity, renewable energies and ICT; the protection and enforcement of property rights and the rule of law; effective financial services, particularly for SMEs; improvements in education and training for the delivery of work-ready young people, as well as more open markets and regional integration.

Competitive businesses increasingly recognize the value and importance of diverse workforces, and particularly the value to be had in employing persons with disabilities.  We are pleased to provide information on two resources available to our members seeking more information on this subject.

USCIB is proud to serve on the Steering Committee of the ILO Global Business and Disability Network, comprised of multinational enterprises, employer’s organizations, business networks and disability organizations around the world who share the conviction that people with disabilities add value to workplaces.

This ILO initiative has gathered over 50 multinational enterprises and employer’s organizations and business networks from a diverse range of sectors.

The ILO Global Business and Disability Network supports its members in their disability work and facilitates business-to-business dialogue around disability issues by:

• Sharing knowledge and identifying good practices;
• Developing joint products and services; and
• Strengthening employers’ organizations and business networks through capacity building

For more information about the Network, visit www.businessanddisability.org

The second resource, offered by the Employment and Disability Institute in ILR School at Cornell University, is a free, online one-hour short course entitled Make the Strategic Case for Disability in the Workplace.  This ideo-based course features examples from well-known U.S. based companies that have made progress in including people with disabilities in their workplaces.

Find out more or register by going to:  http://info.ecornell.com/make-the-strategic-case-for-disability-in-the-workplace

As the global economy contends with several diverging forces – including strong growth in the United States, falling energy prices, and continued struggles in Europe – policy makers and global institutions are seeking to make sense of conflicting signals.

One signal on worldwide employment levels comes from the International Labor Organization’s annual “World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2015” report, which covers data on employment trends and challenges. According to the report, the global employment gap continues to widen, along with income inequality.

The International Organization of Employers (IOE) believes the report paints an overly pessimistic scenario of worsening global unemployment levels, continuing inequality and falling wage shares.

USCIB’s global network, including the IOE and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, has engaged with the B20/G20 process on global labor and employment issues.

“Regarding employment and economic growth, the challenges faced by individual countries are subject to wide variations,” the IOE said in a statement. “Generalizations are unhelpful and tend to mask growth divergences across economies, which may engender misleading policy responses that treat cyclical dimensions rather than addressing longstanding and structural rigidities.”

The IOE also noted it is important “to diminish the progress made thus far in terms of income inequalities,” and that “perceptions of rising inequality should not be confused with the reality.”

The statement concluded with a call to action:

“Much more can nonetheless be achieved in terms of addressing the challenges linked to employment, inequalities and economic growth. A more ambitious effort needs to be made on skills mismatch through better tailored education and skills training. This would address global inequalities more efficiently and create an enabling environment for sustainable enterprises to foster job creation.”