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Bangkok Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Labour and the dynamics of change
The fluctuating international context compels countries in this region and beyond to recalibrate their labour laws, policies and practices. This is particularly critical at a time of great demographic changes, such as declining and ageing population in parts of the globe, compromised by a more transactional and conditional world of "quid pro quo". Thailand faces an inflection point on this front, requiring dynamic adjustments. At the forefront of the context is the relationship between the labour force and related standards to guarantee that "labour is not a commodity" and that the human face at work needs protection in the form of human rights. The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the key standard-setter, even preceding the birth of the UN, and now also a specialised UN agency. It has evolved 192 Conventions, with the latest being on biological hazards confronting the health and well-being of workers. These Conventions are complemented by the UN's own family of human rights standards, especially the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The latter is sometimes clearer than ILO Conventions and helps to reinforce them. The most poignant query today is the right to strike, which has proved to be a thorn in the interpretation of ILO Convention Number 87 on Freedom of Association. While some claim that the latter does not cover the right to strike, the ICESCR stipulates explicitly the right to strike and over 100 countries, including Thailand, are parties to this treaty. The issue of whether Convention Number 87 covers such right is now before the International Court of Justice for clarification. From a more political angle, non-democracies are often less comfortable with political rights, such as freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, as compared with social rights, such as access to education. A comprehensive response advocates respect for the full range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, requiring astute and principled diplomacy-cum-levers. The need to avoid a UN silo approach is also important. The UN Human Rights Council has been constructive in recent years to underline that "labour rights are human rights". For this reason, the fate of thousands of seafarers stuck on the high seas and elsewhere due to the Covid-19 pandemic has led to amendments of the ILO's Maritime Labour Convention, and social security is a key concern interrelated with the world of work. Another area where labour at work interfaces with the changing international context is in relation to wars or armed conflicts. Do labour standards apply in such volatile situations? Although difficult, some labour standards, such as the treaty countering forced labour, ILO Convention Number 29, have been applied, for example, in regard to the women abused for sexual purposes during the Second World War. ILO Convention Number 182 on prohibition of the worst forms of child labour also militates against conscription of children under 18. The monitoring mechanism of these Conventions, namely the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, has called for attention to the role of non-government armed groups, which might be using children for this purpose, and the need for countermeasures. Precisely because warfare often creates a vacuum where people are not adequately protected, now all too visible in border areas with online scams and human trafficking, it has become essential for labour protection to go hand in hand with transnational cooperation on law enforcement and pressures for accountability, not only through the UN but also via those constituencies supporting the various warring factions. From another angle, the lens of sustainable development interplays closely with the labour context, and the world is now guided by the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. For instance, SDG Goal 8 calls for the elimination of child labour by 2025. While many, if not all of the SDGs, will be unfulfilled by the target year of 2030, they still act as drivers of change towards measurable standards within a given time frame. This year, the forthcoming World Social Summit will be an opportunity to reiterate those goals with more commitments on social protection, including for workers. Another pressing issue is environmental protection, climate change and global warming. This necessitates rethinking labour at work. The ILO Conventions on occupational safety and health, Numbers 155 and 187, have become more important to address working conditions impacted by environmental changes, such as increased temperatures at work and recurrent flooding. New initiatives in this regard include "green collective bargaining" so that labour contracts can be more flexible to assist workers, complemented by climate-change-related paid leave, such as to cope with floods. Interestingly, in the value chain, such as in the garment industry, due diligence on the part of the business sector is now emerging as a requisite for business and human rights, and good labour practices. This requires impact assessment, mitigation and remedies for workers and others affected especially by sub-par business practices. Finally, there is the issue of digitalisation and the advent of Artificial Intelligence at the workplace. The vast pool of gig workers or platform workers in various industries, such as in the food industry, has pressed for a new response to workers in situations of precarity. The ILO is now drafting a new treaty on digital platform workers so that they will be protected by some, if not all, of the basic range of labour rights, such as on minimum wage, rest periods and coverage of accidents. Understandably, the workforce might fear that AI will disrupt their lives and lead to dismissals and redundancies. A preferred approach is thus to plan for AI inclusion to augment the capacity of workers rather than to displace them. For instance, AI will be especially useful for the 3Ds -- "Difficult, Dirty and Demeaning" -- tasks, such as mining, pesticide spraying and various types of cleaning. Another 3Ds also open the door to AI: Delicate, Dreary and Didactic tasks, such as precise medical procedures, repetitive chores and training-cum-education, respectively. There will be a hotchpotch world where human labour will exist side by side with the presence of non-humans, requiring empathy for sentient beings, grounded on decent work for all. Vitit Muntarbhorn is a Professor Emeritus, a former member of the ILO CEACR, and a UN Special Rapporteur. This article is derived from his address at the international Labour Law Research Network Conference, held recently in Bangkok.
Time of India
04-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
Orissa High Court Affirms Maternity Leave Rights for Contractual Employees, ETHRWorld
Advt Advt Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals. Subscribe to Newsletter to get latest insights & analysis in your inbox. All about ETHRWorld industry right on your smartphone! Download the ETHRWorld App and get the Realtime updates and Save your favourite articles. Cuttack, Rejecting a writ appeal of the state government, a Division Bench of Orissa High Court here has recently upheld a three-year-old judgment passed by a single-judge Bench stating that maternity leave and associated benefits cannot be denied to a woman employed by the state on contractual a recent ruling, the Division Bench of Justices Dixit Krishna Shripad and Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo affirmed the August 2022 decision of a single-judge Bench, which had ruled in favour of a contractual employee of the Health and Family Welfare Department whose maternity leave application from August 17, 2016, to February 12, 2017 had been rejected by her the earlier decision, the state government had argued that the employee, being governed by the terms of a contract, was not entitled to maternity the Division Bench declined to accept this position and upheld the reasoning of the single-judge ruling."Maternity leave with pay or comparable social benefits are to be assured by the state through its policies and programmes, as India is a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)," the court Bench emphasised the social significance of maternity and the fundamental role of both parents in child-rearing."It is said that God could not be everywhere and therefore, he created mothers. The idea of maternity leave is structured on 'zero separation' between a lactating mother and a breastfeeding baby," the judgment court cited the views of child psychiatrists and obstetricians, noting that physical companionship between mother and child is mutually beneficial and promotes healthy bonding, which is essential for their wellbeing."A lactating mother has a fundamental right to breastfeed her baby during its formative years. Similarly, the baby has a fundamental right to be breastfed and brought up in a reasonably good condition. These two important rights form an amalgam from which the state's obligation to provide maternity benefits, such as paid leave, arises-within permissible resources," the court Bench also referenced previous judgments of the Supreme Court and other High Courts, which have affirmed that contractual employees are entitled to maternity leave under the Maternity Benefit Act, the state government's contention that only regular women civil servants qualify for maternity leave, the court observed: "Women employees for the purpose of availing such benefit do constitute one homogenous class and their artificial bifurcation founded on status of appointment falls foul of Article 14 of the Constitution."
The Hindu
04-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Contractual employees are entitled to maternity leave, reiterates Orissa High Court
Rejecting a writ appeal of the State government, a Division Bench of Orissa High Court recently upheld a three-year-old judgment passed by a single judge Bench, which had ordered that maternity leave and associated benefits could not be denied to women employed by the State government on contractual basis. In August 2022, the Orissa High Court had ruled in favour of a contractual employee of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, whose maternity leave application from August 17, 2016, to February 12, 2017 had been rejected by the department. The State government appealed against the decision of the single-judge Bench. Since the employee was governed by the terms of her contract, she was not entitled to maternity benefit, the State government maintained Also Read | Maternity benefits: Differentiation not permissible between regular, contractual employees: Calcutta HC The Bench said that the Supreme Court and several other High Courts in the country had passed judgments saying contractual employees were entitled to maternity leave based on the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. Rejecting the contention of the State government that only women civil servants were entitled to avail maternity leave, the Bench said 'women employees, for the purpose of availing such benefit, do constitute one homogenous class, and their artificial bifurcation founded on status of appointment falls foul of Article 14 of the Constitution'. Declining any further indulgence, the Division Bench of Justices Dixit Krishna Shripad and Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo broadly agreed with the reasoning of the single judge Bench that maternity leave with pay or comparable social benefits were to be assured by the state through policies and programmes as India is a signatory nation to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. 'These conventions highlight the social significance of 'maternity', and the role of both parents in the family structure and in the upbringing of children. It is said that God could not be everywhere and, therefore, he created mothers. The idea of maternity leave is structured on 'zero separation' between the lactating mother and the breast-feeding baby,' the High Court said, adding that child psychiatrists and obstetricians were of the considered opinion that the physical companionship of mother and baby is mutually advantageous, and promotes bonding between the two, which is essential for their well-being. 'A lactating mother has a fundamental right to breastfeed her baby during its formative years. Similarly, baby has a fundamental right to be breastfed and brought about in a reasonably good condition. These two important rights form an amalgam from which the State's obligation to provide maternity benefits, such as paid leave to the employees, within the permissible resources, would arise,' the Orissa High Court said.
Mint
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Orissa High Court's BIG remark: Contractual employees entitled to maternity leave
Rejecting a writ appeal of the state government, a Division Bench of Orissa High Court recently upheld a three-year-old judgment passed by a single-judge Bench stating that maternity leave and associated benefits cannot be denied to a woman employed by the state on contractual basis. In a recent ruling, the Division Bench of Justices Dixit Krishna Shripad and Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo affirmed the August 2022 decision of a single-judge Bench, which had ruled in favour of a contractual employee of the Health and Family Welfare Department whose maternity leave application from August 17, 2016, to February 12, 2017 had been rejected by her department. The employee, being governed by the terms of a contract, was not entitled to maternity benefits, the state government had argued while challenging the earlier decision. However, the Division Bench declined to accept this position and upheld the reasoning of the single-judge ruling. "Maternity leave with pay or comparable social benefits are to be assured by the state through its policies and programmes, as India is a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)," the court observed. The Bench emphasised the social significance of maternity and the fundamental role of both parents in child-rearing. "It is said that God could not be everywhere and therefore, he created mothers. The idea of maternity leave is structured on 'zero separation' between a lactating mother and a breastfeeding baby," the judgment stated. Citing the views of child psychiatrists and obstetricians, the HC noted that physical companionship between mother and child is mutually beneficial and promotes healthy bonding, which is essential for their wellbeing. "A lactating mother has a fundamental right to breastfeed her baby during its formative years. Similarly, the baby has a fundamental right to be breastfed and brought up in a reasonably good condition. These two important rights form an amalgam from which the state's obligation to provide maternity benefits, such as paid leave, arises—within permissible resources," the court held. Previous judgments of the Supreme Court and other High Courts, which have affirmed that contractual employees are entitled to maternity leave under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, were also referred to by the Bench. Rejecting the state government's contention that only regular women civil servants qualify for maternity leave, the court observed: "Women employees for the purpose of availing such benefit do constitute one homogenous class and their artificial bifurcation founded on status of appointment falls foul of Article 14 of the Constitution."
Hindustan Times
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Orissa HC: Woman contractual employee cannot be denied maternity leave, benefits
Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court has ruled that a woman contractual employee cannot be denied maternity leave and its associated benefits, emphasising that denying such benefits based on the nature of employment is 'abhorrent to the notions of humanity and womanhood.' The court was hearing a case concerning Anindita Mishra, who was recruited on a contractual basis by the state government in May 2014. (Unsplash/ Representative photo) The court was hearing a case concerning Anindita Mishra, who was recruited on a contractual basis by the state government in May 2014. She had applied for six months of maternity leave after giving birth to a baby girl in August 2016. Despite submitting the necessary medical certificates, the state government rejected her request, stating that maternity benefits were not applicable to contractual employees. A division bench comprising Justices Dixit Krishna Shripad and Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo observed, 'Because of various reasons, including poverty & illiteracy, women come out of their home and gain entry to the employment, be it public, private, contractual or otherwise, as a source of livelihood. State cannot provide public employment to everyone. It could have been ideal, if it could provide. Naturally, employment in the private sector looms large. Our Smrutikaaraas chanted 'yatr naaryaastu pujyante ramante tatr devatah', literally meaning that Gods rejoice where women are honoured. Such ideal things should animate the purposive interpretation of state policy concerning the welfare of women.' A single-judge bench had ruled in her favour in 2022, holding that she was unjustly denied the benefit and directing the state government to grant her maternity leave. However, the state government filed an appeal before a larger bench. Upholding the earlier order, the division bench of the Orissa High Court affirmed that the appellant authorities are obligated to grant maternity leave to the respondent. 'A welfare state cannot be heard to say that a policy of the kind has to be kept away regardless of its socio-welfare object to serve all classes of persons employed in the State, whatever be the nature of such engagement,' the court said. The HC cited provisions under Article 10(2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which focuses on special protection and assistance that should be accorded to mothers during a reasonable period before and after childbirth. 'The idea of maternity leave is structured on 'zero separation' between lactating mother and breast feeding baby... A lactating mother has a fundamental right to breastfeed her baby during its formative years. Similarly, a baby has a fundamental right to be breastfed and brought about in a reasonably good condition,' the bench said.
