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• Labour law and worker protection in emerging countrie

In emerging countries, the priority given to employment growth and external competitiveness has long overshadowed the need to consolidate labour markets and to protect workers. But increased income, along with the volatility of global markets, is now encouraging these countries to put greater emphasis on endogenous drivers of growth.

Consequently, and after a period of strong economic growth, emerging countries have undertaken to strengthen labour laws and workers protection. They have done so under a pressing challenge from economic factors (reducing external dependency), political factors (changes in power) and social factors (increased social discontent). Social rights are nevertheless still severely handicapped, because of the extreme segmentation and fragmentation of the labour markets and because of the difficulty of establishing funding priorities when faced with the multiplicity of urgent needs.

To reconcile employment growth, labour protection and assistance to the most vulnerable, emerging countries have established innovative mechanisms combining emergency facility, the reinforcement of legal norms and the extension of social protection. These innovative mechanisms take into account the specific characteristics and nature of the social contracts of every country. Progress is therefore not unequivocal, which makes it difficult to adopt a binding and effective legal floor at the international level.

The 21st century nevertheless starts with a new opportunity for extending social rights and worker protection, thanks to the complementarity between national efforts towards building labour protection systems, and international actions, either public (standards and recommendations of the International Labour Organization, technical cooperation) or private (international framework agreements, international trade union movements). Together, these initiatives tend to strengthen effective rights and, increasingly, social protection for individuals.

Summary

• Methodology and definitions
• The inclusion challenge in emerging countries
  
• Labour market regulations are gradually institutionalized while growing social pressures favours the implementation of a minimum income for the poorest
  
• From Hard Law à la Soft Law - The role of the international community

• Authors: Camille Guézennec, Cécile Jolly and Noël Leuthereau-Morel, Labour and Employment Department.

Keywords: emerging countries, labour law, employment, social protection, informal work, inclusive growth.