Skip to Main Content

ILO instruments: preparatory reports work

Conventions by types

Fundamental Conventions
The eleven fundamental instruments are:

  • Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) 
  • Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) 
  • Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)  (and its 2014 Protocol )
  • Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) 
  • Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) 
  • Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) 
  • Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) 
  • Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) 
  • Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) 
  • Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187) 

Governance (priority) Conventions
The four governance Conventions are:

  • Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) 
  • Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) 
  • Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) 
  • Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) 

Technical Conventions
The 177 conventions remain.

 

 

Ratification of Conventions and Protocols

ILO member States are required to submit any Convention or Protocol adopted by the International Labour Conference to their competent national authority for the enactment of relevant legislation or other action, including ratification. An adopted Convention or Protocol normally comes into force 12 months after being ratified by two member States. Ratification is a formal procedure whereby a State accepts the Convention or Protocol as a legally binding instrument. Once it has ratified a Convention or Protocol, a country is subject to the ILO regular supervisory system, which is responsible for ensuring that the instrument is applied. For more on the ILO supervisory system, see section “Applying and promoting International Labour Standards ”.