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Employment security

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The termination of an employment relationship is likely to be a traumatic experience for a worker and the loss of income has a direct impact on her or his family's well-being. As more countries seek employment flexibility and globalization destabilizes traditional employment patterns, more workers are likely to face involuntary termination of employment at some point in their professional lifetime. At the same time, the flexibility to reduce staff and to dismiss unsatisfactory workers is a necessary measure for employers to keep enterprises productive and to boost employment. ILO standards on termination of employment seek to find a balance between maintaining the employer's right to dismiss workers for valid reasons and ensuring that such dismissals are fair and are used as a last resort, and that they do not have a disproportionate negative impact on the worker.

Selected relevant ILO instruments

  • Termination of Employment Convention, 1982 (No. 158) - [ratifications]
    The instrument sets forth the principle that the employment of a worker should not be terminated unless there is a valid reason for such termination connected with the worker's capacity or conduct or based on the operational requirements of the undertaking, establishment or service. Reasons for dismissal which shall be not be considered valid include those based on union membership or participation in union activities, filing of a complaint against an employer, race, colour, sex, marital status, family responsibilities, pregnancy, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, temporary absence due to illness, or absence from work during maternity leave. If an individual worker is dismissed, he or she shall have the right to defend him or herself against any allegations. In cases of collective dismissals, governments should aim at encouraging employers to consult workers' representatives and to develop alternatives to mass lay-offs (such a hiring freezes or working time reductions). The convention also covers matters related to severance pay, period of notice, appeal procedures against dismissal, and unemployment insurance, and advance warning to be given to authorities in cases of mass dismissals.

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