WORLD Policy Analysis Center

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Labor Labor Labor Labor Labor Labor Rights & ProtectionsThe WORLD Policy Analysis Center reviewed original labor and social security legislation, complemented and verified by information on social security systems from each UN member state and global sources to collect information about policies for adult labor. The following sources were used to gather information on this subject:

International Labour Organization (ILO)’s NATLEX database;

ILO’s Maternity Protection and Working Time databases;

World Bank’s Women, Business, and the Law;

Official country websites;

Lexadin;

World Legal Information Institute;

The Social Security Programs Throughout the World database (SSPTW); and

Hard copies of relevant legislation at the ILO’s headquarters in Geneva and McGill University's and Harvard University’s law libraries.

Additional information to fill in gaps from the abovementioned sources was drawn from the following:

International Review of Leave Policies and Related Research;

Benefit summaries and information available from the Mutual Information System on Social Protection (MISSOC) and the Mutual Information System on Social Protection of the Council of Europe (MISSCEO).

Initial data analysis has focused on national-level law and policy. In countries where labor policies are set at the state or provincial level, such as the U.S. and India, we coded based on the lowest level of guarantee.Preventing Workplace Discrimination and Sexual HarassmentThe WORLD Policy Analysis Center reviewed original legislation and statutory protections extended to the private sector in labor codes, anti-discrimination legislation, equal opportunity legislation, and penal codes. Data is current as of January 2021 for variables focused on gender and sexual harassment, as of May 2018 for variables focused on disability, and as of August 2016 for 13 protected characteristics. Original, full-text, national-level legislation for all 193 United Nations member states was identified primarily using the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s NATLEX database. The World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law and other supplemental sources were consulted to ensure all applicable legislation was reviewed.This data analysis has focused on national-level legislation; for countries that legislate at the sub-national level and have no federal policy in place, we coded based on the lowest level of protection set at the state or provincial level. This analysis captures legislative language that explicitly applies to private-sector workplaces, and excludes provisions that guarantee non-discrimination without specifying their applicability to work (such as protections which may apply to public spaces or educational institutions). In some countries, case law has extended the application of more general prohibitions to specific areas of work and to cover additional protected characteristics. However, systematic review of case law is outside of the scope of this analysis and rights extended through litigation are not reflected in these findings.For details on the variables included in this category, please see WORLD global maps on Labor.For more information about WORLD’s approach to building globally comparative databases on policies affecting human health, development, well-being, and equity, please visit our Methodology page.Constitutional Rights to WorkThe WORLD Policy Analysis Center analyzed national constitutional texts in force as of May 2017.

The Constitutions database includes analyses of constitutions from all UN member states.

We only referred to additional legislation when it was explicitly referenced in the constitution.

Although the vast majority of countries have written constitutions in place, a few countries (e.g. the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Israel) either have no written constitutions or have a series of laws that function similarly to a constitution, rather than a single text. In these cases, our data was collected from documents or laws that are considered to be constitutional in nature either by the country itself or by the legal community.

Why consider constitutions? Governments establish human rights through national and sub-national legislation, targeted programs and policies, and national constitutions. Among these tools, constitutions fulfill several unique and important functions:

Constitutions are fundamental building blocks of a nation’s government and laws. As such, they can play an important role in establishing values and rights.

Constitutions are particularly difficult to repeal or amend. Their commitments remain relatively stable and permanent even as different political parties assume power.

Constitutions are typically the highest laws of a country and so can be used to shape legislation and policies.

Constitutions often contain mechanisms for the legal enforcement of citizens’ rights. In countries around the world, such provisions have been used successfully to combat discrimination and hold governments accountable to their commitments.

Constitutions often outline broad rights that require complementary legislation or policies to be fully effective. For example, legislation that guarantees free secondary school helps realize the constitutional right to education. Nevertheless, constitutions’ critical role in formally establishing countries’ fundamental values makes them an important unit of analysis on their own.

Income Protection PoliciesThe WORLD Policy Analysis Center analyzed data from relevant legislation and details of social security systems drawn from the following sources as of March 2012:

Legislative texts accessed via the International Labor Organization (ILO)’s NATLEX database and official government gazettes;

Social Security Programs Throughout the World (SSPTW) reports;

ILO's TRAVAIL Database of Conditions of Work and Employment Laws;

European Union's Mutual Information System on Social Protection (MISSOC); and

Mutual Information System on Social Protection of the Council of Europe (MISSCEO).

If the sources mentioned above did not have recent data on minimum wage rates, information was drawn from the U.S. Department of State’s Human Rights Reports.All data about minimum wage policies were based on information relevant to the years 2010 and 2011.Only family benefits provided on a statutory basis—that is, established by law - are captured; because data sources offer very limited detail on non-statutory programs (and by definition there are no legislative documents that detail them), these were not included.For details on the variables included in this category, please see WORLD global maps on Income.For more information about WORLD’s approach to building globally comparative databases on policies affecting human health, development, well-being, and equity, please visit our Methodology page.