On This Page Indicators for this standard Sources of Information for this Search

Laos - Acceptable Conditions of Work

Indicators

The following indicators should be considered when conducting assessments of compliance (click on links for details):

Legal Framework

• ILO 131 - Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (A-1)
• ILO 1 - Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919
• ILO 30 - Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930
• ILO 47 - Forty-Hour Week Convention, 1935
• ILO 14 - Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (A-9)
• IILO 101 - Holidays with Pay (Agriculture) Convention, 1952 (A-11)
• ILO 52 - Holidays with Pay Convention, 1936 (A-13)
• ILO 132 - Holidays with Pay Convention (Revised), 1970 (A-14)
• ILO 81 - Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (A-16)
• ILO 155 - Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (A-18)
• Establishment of one or more minimum wages (A-2)
• Application of minimum wages (A-3, A-4)
• Regular work week of 48 hours or less (A-6)
• Limitations on the regular workweek (A-7)
• Overtime (A-8)
• Weekly day of rest (A-10)
• Paid holidays for agricultural workers (A-12)
• Paid holidays for employed workers (A-15)
• Inspection of workplaces (A-17)
• Workplace health and safety (A-19)

Government Performance

• Mechanism for fixing minimum wages (B-1)
• Agency to promote/enforce laws governing hours of work (B-2)
• Agency to promote/enforce laws protecting occupational safety and health (B-3)
• Labor Inspectorate (B-4, B-5, B-6, B-7)
• Administrative or Judicial Complaint Mechanism (B-8, B-9)
• Government programs to combat problems in areas of wages, hours, and occupational safety and health (B-10)
• Government sponsored education programs focused on wages, hours, and occupational safety and health (B-11)
• International technical assistance (B-12)
• Government support for NGO activities (B-13)

Overall Outcomes

• Average and median manufacturing wages compared with minimum wage(s) in local currency and in U.S. dollars (C-1)
• Average earnings in industries that export to the United States (C-2)
• Average hours worked per week (C-3)
• Number of work-related fatalities per 100,000 workers (C-4)
• Number of occupational injuries (C-5)

Sources

International Sources

ILO

Yearly data of Total and Economically active population, Employment, Unemployment, Hours of Work, Wages, Labour Cost, Consumer Price Indices, Occupational Injuries, Strikes and Lockouts: 1969-2002

• LABORSTA
• Committee Assessment of Source

This database supplies information on national labor administrations.

• Database on Labor Administration (ATLAS)
• Committee Assessment of Source

Reports to the ILO Governing Body may contain information on country requests and participation in technical assistance projects.

• Committee on Technical Cooperation Reports
• Committee Assessment of Source

International Labor Organization

Information on ratification status, Article 22 reports and comments from the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.

• APPLIS Database
• Committee Assessment of Source

Database of national labour, social security and related human rights legislation maintained by the ILO's International Labour Standards Department. Records in NATLEX provide abstracts of legislation and relevant citation information, and they are indexed by keywords and by subject classifications. Each record in NATLEX appears in only one of the three ILO official languages (English/French/Spanish).

• NATLEX
• Committee Assessment of Source

ILOLEX is a trilingual database containing ILO Conventions and Recommendations, ratification information, comments of the Committee of Experts and the Committee on Freedom of Association, representations, complaints, interpretations, General Surveys, and numerous related documents.

• ILOLEX Database of International Labor Standards
• Committee Assessment of Source

United Nations

Includes State Party Reports and the Conclusions and Observations of UN Committees relating to the CCPR, CEDAW, CERD, CESCR, CMW, CRC.

• Treaty Body Database
• Committee Assessment of Source

National Sources

Embassy in Washington, D.C.

General information on the government provided in English.

• Laos Embassy website
• Committee Assessment of Source

Ministry of Commerce , Lao Trade Promotion Center

Potentially useful information, available in English

• Ministry of Commerce , Lao Trade Promotion Center Website
• Committee Assessment of Source

Ministry of Information and Culture

Potentially useful information, available in English

• Ministry of Information and Culture website
• Committee Assessment of Source

U.S. Government Sources

U.S. State Department

Section 6 covers Workers' Rights, including "Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment" and "Acceptable Conditions of Work

• Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
• Committee Assessment of Source

Nongovernmental Organizations

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

Brief country-specific reports on issues of compliance with internationally recognized core labor standards.

• Country Reports: WTO & Labour Standards
• Committee Assessment of Source

The 2003 edition of the Annual Survey details violations of trade union rights in 133 countries during the year 2002. These violations range from provisions in national legislation which restrict legitimate trade union activity, through outright bans on freedom of association, to intimidation, wrongful detention, torture and murder of trade unionists.

• Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights
• Committee Assessment of Source

Lawyers Committee for Human Rights

This database contains approximately 2,500 units of measurement on workers rights, extracted from approximately 100 public and confidential source documents including guidelines and questionnaires used by monitoring organizations, multinational corporations, and trade associations; public reports by governmental bodies and non-government organizations; public corporate reports; and others. Database provides indicators and source lists, but no specific data.

• Measurement Units for Workers Rights (MUWR), on-line database service
• Committee Assessment of Source

Social Accountability International

SA8000, a voluntary workplace standard patterned on those of the International Organization of Standardization was created in 1997 by the Council on Economic Priorities (a U.S. NGO), and is administered by another NGO, Social Accountability International (SAI).

• SA800
• Committee Assessment of Source

Solidar

Updates include news snippets on trade and labor standards, with special attention to the role of the European Union in the WTO

• International Updates
• Committee Assessment of Source

Academic and Other Research

University of Melbourne Legal Research Centre

Database includes links to laws by jurisdiction

• Law database
• Committee Assessment of Source