As already mentioned in Chapter 04.02 History of work, the conditions for workers changed fundamentally for the first time with industrialisation in the 19th century. More and more people no longer worked on farms and in crafts, but in factories. They were no longer integrated into farmers’ and craftsmen’s families and were exposed to harsher working conditions: assembly line work, long working hours, little rest. The deteriorating situation of workers led to social unrest in many countries. The states recognised that international labour standards were needed – also because no country wanted to improve working conditions alone and lose competitiveness (History of the ILO).
In 1919, the International Labour Organization (ILO) was founded as part of the Treaty of Versailles; since 1946 it has been a specialised agency of the United Nations, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The ILO has 187 member states (October 2026).
The ILO has four strategic objectives:
- Set and promote standards and fundamental principles and rights at work
- Create greater opportunities for women and men to decent employment and income
- Enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all
- Strengthen tripartism and social dialogue
The latter objective is also reflected in the organisation of the ILO. The ILO has a tripartite structure (s. Chapter 04.01): governments, employers and workers cooperate in all its bodies, and workers and employers together have an equal voice with governments. The ILO accomplishes its work through three main bodies: the International Labour Conference (the «parliament», which adopts the standards and meets once a year), the Governing Body (the executive council) and the International Labour Office (the permanent secretariat).
The core of the ILO’s work is the definition of standards. The ILO adopts these standards as multilateral treaties, called Conventions, supplemented by Protocols and non-binding Recommendations. By October 2026, the ILO had adopted 193 Conventions. A Convention enters into force once it has been ratified by the required number of states (usually two) and then creates a legal obligation for every ratifying state to apply its provisions – this is the mechanism described in Chapter 04.01. The ten fundamental Conventions (s. Chapter 04.04) are considered binding standards for all member states regardless of ratification.
In 1998, the International Labour Conference adopted the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, amended in 2022. It contains five categories of fundamental principles and rights:
- Freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining
- Elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour
- Effective abolition of child labour
- Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation
- A safe and healthy working environment (added in 2022)
All member states, by the mere fact of membership, have an obligation to respect, promote and realise these principles – whether or not they have ratified the corresponding Conventions.
The ILO has a supervisory system. The regular supervision is based on the examination, by two ILO bodies, of reports that the member states must send on how they apply ratified Conventions in law and practice, and of observations sent by workers’ and employers’ organisations. It is supplemented by procedures for representations and complaints about the application of ratified Conventions and by a special procedure for complaints regarding freedom of association. Details: Applying and promoting International Labour Standards. Importantly, the ILO cannot impose sanctions; its power lies in publicity: the reports and comments on every country are public.
The ILO is not a thing of the past. In June 2026, the International Labour Conference adopted Convention No. 193 on decent work in the platform economy – the first international standard on platform work (ILO, 2026). It obliges ratifying states to make sure that the employment status of platform workers is correctly determined according to the facts, and it sets rules for algorithmic management, i.e. decisions by the platform’s software on pay, assignment and deactivation of workers. Whether the Uber drivers of Chapter 04.06 are employees is thus now an ILO question too.
Exercise: the ILO looks at your country
Every ratifying state is examined by the ILO. Ask your AI chatbot: «What did the ILO Committee of Experts most recently say about [my country], and on which Convention?» Then find the original comment in NORMLEX (Country profiles → Comments of the supervisory bodies). Does the chatbot’s summary match the original?