adminThe decent work approach was launched in the late 1990s as an important initiative of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). At the 87th session of the ILO conference in 1999, decent work was described as opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.
Decent work includes six dimensions which are opportunity to work, productive work, equity at work, freedom at work, security at work and dignity at work.
The basic objectives of decent work are relevant to all economies irrespective of their level of development. The decent work approach maintains that all jobseekers, irrespective of their nationalities desire to obtain employment. It states that all workers whether in state enterprises, the formal or informal economy or self-employment desire levels of remuneration in cash or kind that provide at least a minimum standard of living for their families. Apart from that, all workers wish to work in safe and healthy conditions and to have secure livelihoods. Workers in all categories of employment seek the right to form their own organisations to defend and promote their interests and to participate in decisions that affect them as workers.
It must be pointed out however that the content and means to attain the goals of decent work vary from country to country and must be adapted to the structural and institutional characteristics prevailing in the different economies. According to the handbook on Decent Work, National Labour Institute NOIDA, all employment is not decent employment. Decent employment refers to the need for workers to have acceptable or adequate work and working conditions. Under the decent employment concept work which is harmful or working under odious conditions does not constitute work.
The objective of decent employment is not just the creation of jobs but jobs of acceptable quality. Jobs alone are not enough, even those in which core labour standards are respected.
ILO estimates that about 400 million jobs are needed to absorb new entrants into the world’s labour market over the next eight years. It must be noted that opportunity for work is central to decent work, as decent work is not possible without work. Opportunity for work refers to the existence of employment opportunities for all who are available for and seeking employment.
Work encompasses all forms of economic activity, including self-employment, unpaid family work and wage employment in the formal or informal sectors. Work however, should be acceptable to society. Work should therefore be freely chosen. It is important to eliminate bonded, slave and child labour. Some researchers have highlighted that there is child labour in most African states especially on some tea estates and commercial farms. This should be condemned as some children work under hazardous conditions.
Besides, child labour is detrimental to children. The ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No 138) and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 1999 (No 182) set the international standard on child labour. Further decent employment should be compatible with prevailing cultures and norms.
The most critical component of work is pay. Individuals work or seek work to earn income. Productive and remunerative work ensures acceptable livelihoods for workers and their families, competitiveness of enterprises and countries and sustainable development. Over the years Zimbabwe has witnessed grave brain drain due to the issue of competitiveness with other countries in terms of remuneration. This has a crippling effect on economy of any given country.
It is paramount therefore for workers to obtain a living wage. A living wage may be defined as the level of income sufficient to allow workers to support their families. This is different from subsistence wage which suggests a level of income necessary to pull a family above the poverty threshold. Remunerative employment entails adequate earnings, reasonable hours of work and opportunities for education and training.
While fair treatment in employment encompasses fair treatment in employment, stability, safety and security at work as well as combining work and family life, it has been noted that traditionally men and women are treated differently around the world’s labour markets. The handbook Decent Work aptly points out that approximately half of all workers in the world are in gender dominated occupations where at least 80 percent of workers are of the same sex. This represents a major form of labour market rigidity that reduces employment opportunities, especially for women thereby impairing economic efficiency.
Women’s occupations tend to have lower wage rates, lower status and fewer possibilities for advancement as compared to typical male occupations. Very few women reach the glass ceiling in terms of higher positions of power. Fair treatment means being able to work without harassment or exposure to violence with some degree of autonomy and fair handling of grievances and conflict. In many countries the world over women however are exposed to sexual harassment by their superiors and colleagues at the work place due to their vulnerability.
Job security is one important component of decent work. Changing jobs disrupts the process of human capital accumulation, potentially making worthless the knowledge and skills specific to the lost job. Changing jobs also disrupts access to benefits, particularly pensions. For the employee, job security is the probability that the current employment relationship will be terminated at the employer’s initiative within a certain period.
For a self-employed worker security is defined as the probability that the worker will not be forced to end his or her work within a certain period for reasons connected with work such as loss of markets or disruption in supplies. In terms of stability, decent work involves opportunities for meaningful mobility. Meaningful mobility involves mobility in the upward direction, graduating to newer skills and occupations.
Safety is a major component too of decent work. All workers are exposed to some risk. It can be in the form of repetitive tasks, long hours, exposure to harmful substances, noise, psychological pressure, physical aggression and so on. Excessive hours of work are detrimental to physical as well as mental health and they impede balance between work and family.
It is estimated that over two million workers die each year from work related injuries and diseases. The aggregate cost of occupational injuries and diseases is estimated at between one and six percent of Gross Domestic Product.
Decent work advocates constant skills development and training of the workforce. It has been noted that one of the keys to productive and competitive economy in the millennium is a well-trained and adaptable workforce. It is imperative for all countries to take heed of the requirements of decent work so that better and conducive working environments are created for the labour force.
* Vaidah Mashangwa is the Bulawayo provincial development officer for the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development. She can be contacted on 0772111592 or 889224, email:[email protected].
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