The Model Use of International Labour Standards

It is intended that international labour standards be systematically used as a guide in the design and implementation of labour and social policy at the national level. A careful review of the content of many international labour standards reveals the possibility of graduality in the development of national policies consistent with them. International labour standards are to be submitted to the competent national authority as they are adopted by the international body. International labour standards are meant to be used as a focus for employers' and workers' organization, both in their demands of government as well as in the assurance of their right to exist and represent the interests of their constituents. The role played by these groups in the supervision of ratified Conventions makes this clear.

Ratification of ILO Conventions is an expression of solidarity with other member States in agreeing that international coordination of workers' rights and working conditions is appropriate. In this vein, it has been well accepted over the years -- and it is implied in the methods of enforcement used by the ILO and its member States and employer and worker constituents -- that implementation sometime after ratification, after a period of adjustment under the terms of a convention, is just as valuable and important as implementation prior to ratification of the Convention. Thus, it is intended that international labour standards be ratified wherever it is possible to do so. Good reason should exist if it is not possible so to do.

In practice, international labour standards are used as a benchmark for the provision of human rights, and are used as such by international non-governmental agencies as well as intergovernmental agencies.

Cooperation between the ILO and other UN bodies in the field of human rights

They are also used for guidance by regional organizations in the development of policies aimed at harmonising their labour and social policies. Examples of this can be cited from all the continents of the globe.