3.3.1.4   Enforcement of Workers’ Rights

(This is an archived page, from the Patterns of Power Edition 3 book.  Current versions are at book contents).

Economic regulations may include some safeguards to protect employees, as socio-economic rights:

·     Most countries operate a minimum wage policy (3.3.3.3).

·     Health and safety regulations protect employees.

·     The EU, for example, sets minimum Working Conditions which include “provisions on working time, part-time, and fixed-term work, temporary workers, and the posting of workers”; this prevents member states from competing with ‘a race to the bottom’ at the expense of employees.    

·     Employees may be entitled to a period of notice before terminating employment, and they may also be entitled to redundancy payments.

These regulations all impose a cost upon employers, so they affect the operation of the labour market.