March 19, 2024
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Benefits of Decent Work

Benefits of Decent Work

Benefits To Be Accrued From The Adoption Of The Decent Work Concept

It can readily be acknowledged that the adoption of decent work principles is critical to the development of any labour force. In turn, it can be further argued that a well trained, educated, flexible and productive labour force is critical to the sustainable economic development of any country, whether industrialised or developing.

Some of the benefits of adhering to decent work principles include, inter alia:

  • Facilitating the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, particularly goals 6, 7 and 8[5] that are reflective of key decent work principles. Consequently, a commitment to decent work principles can directly assist a country in the attainment of these universal objectives;
  • A more stable industrial relations climate (less strikes, work stoppages, man-days lost, etc. from dissatisfied workers). This by extension could serve as an incentive to the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment into a country;
  • Less pressure on a country’s social security scheme (reduced welfare payments and payouts resulting from incidences of workers being injured on the job);
  • The decent work principle of a sufficient wage to meet basic living costs can be used as a key mechanism in the goal of poverty alleviation;
  • A decent work environment that is well monitored and controlled could serve as a disincentive to unscrupulous employers that may seek to exploit and marginalise vulnerable groups of workers, particularly migrants;
  • Increased job satisfaction and commitment to an organisation which in turn, could lead to increases in productivity per worker. Rises in individual productivity could lead to more productive and competitive economic sectors and by extension, could lead to an increase in overall national productivity.
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