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Labour Administration

Labour administration is defined by ILO Convention No. 150 as "public administration activities in the field of national labour policy." It is an essential tool at the disposal of governments in fulfilling their responsibilities towards social issues. International labour standards are usually applied through national law and policy. It is therefore vital that each country maintain a viable and active labour administration system responsible for all aspects of national labour policy formulation and implementation. 

Besides promoting labour administration systems in a variety of forms, ILO standards at the same time promote the collection of labour statistics, which are invaluable in identifying needs and formulating labour policy, at both national and international levels. While labour administrations exist in most countries around the world, many of them face financial and material difficulties. Adequate financing of labour administration systems is therefore necessary in order to maintain and strengthen this important tool for development.

Highlighted publications

Labour administration in a changing world of work
cover of the report

ILC.112/Report III(B)

Labour administration in a changing world of work

Technical Report: Comparative Developments in Labour Administration

Governance and Tripartism working paper series

Technical Report: Comparative Developments in Labour Administration

The governance of labour administration: Reforms, innovations and challenges

Book

The governance of labour administration: Reforms, innovations and challenges

Indicators and Methods for Measuring Effective Governance in the Field of Labour Administration
Cover of the ILO Publications catalogue 2025

Forthcoming

Indicators and Methods for Measuring Effective Governance in the Field of Labour Administration

Most recent publications

The social life of industrial disputes: Exploring workers-centred industrial relations in India’s garment labour regime

Labour relations

The social life of industrial disputes: Exploring workers-centred industrial relations in India’s garment labour regime

Measuring impact: Advancing the monitoring and reporting of Safety + Health for All projects

Measuring impact: Advancing the monitoring and reporting of Safety + Health for All projects

E-Learning and Training

Introduction to Labour Administration
MOOC

MOOC

Introduction to Labour Administration

News and articles

Bangsamoro Labor and Employment Code: A path to decent work and lasting peace
Women in blue shirts walk and visit a community.

Labour code

Bangsamoro Labor and Employment Code: A path to decent work and lasting peace

ILO fosters South-South collaboration to advance digital case management for labour disputes
40 participants from 15 South-South regional countries gathered to discuss upgradation of labour justice mechanism

Labour judiciary

ILO fosters South-South collaboration to advance digital case management for labour disputes

Contact us

For more information or to reach out to our team and global network of experts, please contact the ILO’s Social Dialogue, Labour Relations and Governance of Work Branch (LABGOV) at [email protected].

See also

Labour Inspection
labour law hero

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Labour Inspection

Safety and health at work

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Safety and health at work

Social dialogue and tripartism
Social dialogue and tripartism hero image

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Social dialogue and tripartism

Employment

Employment

Social protection
Portrait of a young girl. City of Yangon (Rangoon). Report from Myanmar, May 2013.

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Social protection