Foreword

With a great deal of pride, we at the WageIndicator Foundation are excited to launch the third edition of the Labour Rights Index in 2024. The Labour Rights Index is unique in its ambition and scope, now scoring labour laws in 145 countries relative to the Decent Work Agenda of the International Labour Organisation.

Though an invaluable source of knowledge, the Labour Rights Index’s impact goes further - it forms the basis of WageIndicator’s DecentWorkCheck survey. We use this survey to assess compliance with and awareness of labour laws in garment factories, flower farms, and factories in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya. These survey findings have helped trade unions negotiate improved wages, safety standards, working hours and more for their workers, showing that the Index can tangibly benefit workers and create fairer workplaces world-over.

This latest edition of the Labour Rights Index also comes at an important moment. Since we launched the second edition in October 2022, several countries have changed labour laws to benefit workers.

West Asian countries have reformed the Kafala system that came under scrutiny in the wake of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and we see changes in national labour law after the EU passed the Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions. Gender equality has been a prominent theme in reforms since 2020, with 16 countries passing reforms to enable equal access for women to the same jobs as men, 14 improving paternity leave, and 4 improving maternity leave provisions, just to name a few.

All of these developments point to an important and positive pattern - contrary to beliefs that globalised supply chains would lead manufacturing nations to weaken labour laws to attract investment, there is no race to the bottom in this domain. Instead, there seems to be a collective recognition that fair and equal workplaces are the foundation of stable societies and supply chains. Though there is still a long way to go in seeing these ambitions become reality both in letter and spirit, there are positive signs that we are on the right trajectory.

We hope that this 2024 edition of the Labour Rights Index can contribute to this cause, and provide you with the information you need for your work, your research, your advocacy campaign, your policy paper, or simply broadening your understanding of
labour laws in a comparative perspective.

Happy Decent Work Day!

Fiona Dragstra
Director WageIndicator Foundation