La dimension économique de la législation protectrice de l'emploi,y compris sous ses modalités différentes: analyse sur un panel de 117 pays, 1990–2013

Les auteurs replacent l'évolution de la législation protectrice de l'emploi (y compris de durée déterminée, intérimaire et à temps partiel) dans une perspective économique en utilisant un indice de la rigueur de la réglementation établi par le Centre for Business Research de l'Université de Cambridge pour 117 pays (1970–2013). L'analyse économétrique repose sur des méthodes pour données de panel non stationnaires. Elle fait apparaître un renforcement de la protection, associé à une hausse de la part salariale dans le revenu national, une progression des taux d'activité et d'emploi et une baisse du chômage, des relations qui restent faibles cependant au regard de la tendance économique globale.     

Pour une science économique au service du droit au travail

Pour l'auteur, l'importance toute relative accordée au droit au travail, un principe pourtant consacré dès 1966 au niveau international, est le corollaire d'une doxa économique qui fait du travail un coût, de l'emploi un objectif de second rang, des individus des ressources, définies par leurs spécificités productives, et des droits des rigidités. Une économie fondée sur les droits de l'homme et protectrice du droit au travail doit défendre ce principe plus largement que par la seule lutte contre le chômage. Elle doit considérer le plein emploi comme une fin en soi et placer l'individu au centre.     

Des approches innovantes pour assurer l'accès des travailleurs domestiques au travail décent en Côte d'Ivoire: ce que l'administration du travail et le système judiciaire ont pu faire dans le cadre du régime général du Code du travail

Peut‐on assurer l'accès des travailleurs domestiques au travail décent dans le cadre du droit général? Pour le savoir, les auteures procèdent à une analyse contextuelle de la jurisprudence ivoirienne (1971–2013) et s'entretiennent avec des acteurs institutionnels du pays. Des pratiques innovantes apparaissent, qui découlent de l'intervention d'inspecteurs et de juges attentifs, agissant principalement dans le cadre du Code du travail. Cependant, l'absence de réglementation spécifique pose certains problèmes, le travail domestique, travail «comme les autres», étant aussi un travail «à nul autre pareil». Les auteures appellent par conséquent à la création d'une communauté du savoir internationale sur l'accès des travailleurs domestiques au travail décent.     

Work/life balance policy in Germany: Promoting equal partnership in families

Across the OECD, public policies seek to support parents in achieving their desired work/life balance. This article introduces the background to and issues at stake in promoting equal partnerships in families in Germany. Families in Germany face considerable challenges to spending more time together and achieving a more gender‐balanced reconciliation of work and family life, as paid work hours for fathers are long on full‐time jobs and many women are in part‐time jobs. Family policy can play an important role and Germany has made substantial progress in supporting families ahead of and after the birth of a child. Important in this regard are the parental leave reforms of 2007 and 2015 and the extension of childcare supports that better enable fathers and mothers to combine work and family commitments. The article assesses recent developments in family policies in Germany while also drawing from the experiences of countries with longstanding policies to support work/life balance and strengthen gender equality.     

Relation entre l'emploi des jeunes et l'emploi des seniors dans vingt pays de l'OCDE

S'appuyant sur la thèse selon laquelle il existerait un volume fixe d'emplois dans l'économie, beaucoup de pays de l'OCDE ont cherché à lutter contre le chômage, en augmentation depuis les années 1970, par des dispositifs favorisant les cessations d'activité anticipées. Or les études à l'échelle de l'OCDE font apparaître en réalité une corrélation positive entre l'emploi des jeunes et celui des travailleurs âgés. Cependant, comme la plupart des auteurs estiment des effets moyens, on dispose de relativement peu d'informations sur l'hétérogénéité de ce lien. L'auteure tente de combler cette lacune en étudiant cette hétérogénéité dans vingt pays de l'OCDE.     

India's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act: Assessing the quality of access and adequacy of benefits in MGNREGS public works

The extension of social protection to all has become a central policy objective, both nationally and internationally. A considerable number of middle‐ and low‐income countries have undertaken substantial efforts to extend social protection, while the international community reaffirmed its commitment to the extension of social protection through the adoption of the ILO Recommendation concerning National Floors of Social Protection, No. 202 (2012). This article reviews the legal provisions and the implementation of the Indian Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), legislated in 2005, and does so in the light of the more recent provisions of ILO Recommendation No. 202. Since its introduction ten years ago, MGNREGA has provided a source of income to rural workers, increased wage rates, achieved high female participation rates and created durable assets. India's local governance bodies, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), have been empowered and involved in the processes of planning and monitoring. However, despite successes, there have been considerable shortcomings in implementation. This article highlights two central themes: first, the innovative policy framework of the Act, which brings together rights‐based entitlements, demand‐driven employment, and citizen‐centred monitoring. Second, it assesses the accessibility and adequacy of benefits in the implementation of MGNREGA. We conclude that MGNREGA offers potential for South‐South learning, both in terms of policy‐design and implementation.     

Pension reforms in Chile and social security principles, 1981–2015

Chile pioneered in Latin America not only the introduction of social security pensions, but the structural reform that privatized them and a process of “re‐reform” implementing key improvements. A Presidential Commission in Chile, appointed in 2014 to evaluate reform progress and remaining problems in the pension system, released its report in September 2015. In light of the Commission's findings, the article assesses Chile's compliance with International Labour Organization social security guiding principles: social dialogue, universal coverage, equal treatment, social solidarity, gender equity, adequacy of benefits, efficiency and affordable administrative cost, social participation in management, state role and supervision, and financial sustainability. The exercise follows three stages: the structural reform (1981–2008), the re‐reform (2008–2015), and the Presidential Commission proposals (2015)     

How much do OECD countries spend on social protection and how redistributive are their tax/benefit systems?

The global economic crisis has reignited interest in social policy and public spending on different types of social benefits. Public social spending‐to‐GDP ratios are often used to consider the magnitude of welfare systems in international perspective, but such comparisons alone give an incomplete picture of social effort across countries. This article looks at these different factors, before briefly considering the redistributive nature of tax/benefit systems in different member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD). The article also considers trends in social spending and compares spending in the late 2000s with the early 1990s when the previous economic crisis played out. The article ends by illustrating the profound effect the recent global economic crisis had on social spending trends across OECD countries.     

Including informal economy workers in contributory social protection: Current challenges in Latin America

Owing to a favourable economic situation and to national labour market and social protection policy reforms, Latin America has witnessed significant progress in social protection coverage. Some countries, however, have seen weaker progress, with stagnant coverage levels. Several factors underlie the extension of pensions and health care coverage and the formalization of the labour market: substantial improvements in the quality of employment, more flexible eligibility criteria for contributory coverage, and the strengthening of the supervisory and regulatory roles of the State. This article first addresses the link between social protection and informality in Latin America to show the relationship between informal labour markets, the lack of social protection and the scale of unpaid contributions. Also highlighted is regional progress in extending social protection as a result of labour market formalization. Countries in the region have used various policies to encourage formalization and these have also helped to reduce wage inequalities, since formalization has had especially beneficial effects on low‐income sectors. Finally, we discuss dichotomous views on social protection financing in the region that tend to place contributory and non‐contributory financing in opposition to one another but do so in favour of the latter, tend to support proposals for limited coverage, and which do not challenge the stratification of access to social protection. The move towards a convergence of benefits is deemed essential: strategies to universalize social protection in the region should not focus exclusively on increasing resources, but must address institutional change as a crucial part of the locus of innovation.     

Social security contributions: Economic and public finance considerations

Social security contributions make up around a fourth of total tax revenue in OECD countries. However, there are concerns on the economic effects of high levies on labour. Recent studies suggest that at least a third of taxes on labour are shifted onto employers, leading to higher wage costs. We find substantial evidence in the literature that the nature of social security contributions matters. With a clear connection between contributions and rights, the employee will perceive this contribution as a price and not as a tax. As a consequence, these contributions will be less distortive in terms of labour supply, wage costs and private savings.