The International
Labour Organisation (ILO) has reiterated that striking a balance
between work and family is the key to achieving higher productivity,
reducing accidents at the workplace, and narrowing the gender gap in
earnings. Its recent study on working time in 50 countries says that
although there has been a general progress towards a 48-hour week in
keeping with the ILO’s first ever convention of 1919, the situation
varies widely between the developed and the developing economies. About
22 per cent of the global workforce is said to put in excessively long
hours beyond the limit, a cause for concern for the developing
countries where the services sector and the informal economy account
for the bulk of the jobs. In 2004-05, the highest incidence of long
hours (nearly 50 per cent) was recorded in Peru, the Republic of Korea,
and Thailand. In some industrialised countries, such as Britain,
Switzerland, and the United States, the proportion is around 20 per
cent. The availability of women for paid employment is largely
constrained by competing demands on their time; but the Philippines is
an exception. The phenomenon of long working hours, says the ILO, is
linked to low pay and the recourse to overtime by enterprises in order
to improve productivity aggravates the situation. Progress towards
shorter hours, to be sustainable, must be accompanied by better
remuneration. But given the pervasiveness of low hourly wages, policies
on working-time flexibility remain largely on paper and improvement in
the quality of working life continues to elude a vast majority.
The case for an effective enforcement of minimum wages and the
progressive coverage of all sections of wage-earners, as envisaged in
the international conventions, cannot be overstated. Similarly, under
the 1994 ILO instrument, constituent-states have advocated that quality
part-time work be recognised as part of the formal employment
structure. Such an arrangement would afford greater flexibility and
enhance productivity of women workers who have to strive constantly to
cope with their child-care, domestic, and professional
responsibilities. India is yet to ratify the 1970 convention fixing
minimum wage, which specifically addresses the developing countries.
Although the Government of India put in place a law on minimum wages
six decades ago, the principles to determine its elements have as yet
not been spelt out. As a consequence of this tardiness, what followed
is a set of non-uniform measures across different States based on
convention and tripartite negotiations.
http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/20/stories/2007062050071000.htm
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© 2007, The Hindu.
