Regulating for ILO ‘Decent Work’ and Family-Friendly Employment : The Joint Staffordshire University/APIIT Sri Lanka Project (2017-2019)

The presentation outlined the cross-disciplinary research being undertaken by the project team. The project is concerned with work-life balance and flexible working schemes which enable groups like parents, carers, and parents adopting children to take leave from work and return to work, and to be re-integrated into their employment. Such re-integration, and their effectiveness in achieving work-life balance, equalities, and other objectives, depends on effective arrangements being put in place and maintained. Among other things, schemes need to give effect to International Labour Organisation Decent Work standards and factor in best practice in human resource management standards.

There are eight members of the project team (details below). The team has particular expertise in aspects like Labour Law and International Labour Law, Family Law, Equalities, Family Studies, Regulation, Human Resource Management, and Employee Relations.

As well as examining current models of flexible working in operation the world, a further dimension of the project is looking at the role played by the law in providing effective regulatory and enforcement mechanisms.

Phase 1 of the project is concerned with: a literature review; analysis of current world schemes having regard to legal frameworks and HR practice, including schemes that have been collectively bargained and operate under collective arrangements (albeit within national regulatory frameworks); research into the application of ILO Decent Work, Conventions, and other standards; and identification of key features and attributes of an effective model for countries currently without legal regulatory frameworks.

Phase 2 is focused in Sri Lanka, a country which adopts ILO Decent Work and other standards but which currently does not have legal provision on a number of specific aspects of flexible working arrangements - particularly as it assists labour market returnees.

Factoring in current arrangements and good practice in Sri Lanka and national models, the project team will survey consultees' views and preferences on flexible work schemes, and options for the various forms of regulation. This stage of the research will encompass organisations representing employers, trade unions, the Institute of Personnel Management, Sri Lanka, and others. The focus will be on the scope and form of a possible Sri Lanka regulatory framework to address aspects like the operation of flexible working arrangements aimed at facilitating the retention of staff after periods of leave. This phase of the project will entail, in particular: consultation and data gathering by questionnaire, and follow-up face-to-face meetings with consultees; and data processing and evaluation of responses.

Expected outputs will include conference papers, articles, and support for teaching and learning (including material for the Labour Law, International Labour Law, and Family Law programmes delivered by Staffordshire University and APIIT. It is also anticipated that work-in-progress and project findings and recommendations will inform public engagement events.

Project Team
Dr Keith Puttick - Labour Law, International Labour Law, and ILO Standards SU
Dr Kushanthi S. Harasgama - Family, Labour Law, Public Law Asia Pacific Institute of Technology, Colombo, Sri Lanka APIIT
Dr Peter Beszter - HR and Employee Relations SU
Prof David Williamson - Regulation, Compliance and Enforcement SU
Shashini Vidanapthirana Abeysinghe - Sri Lankan and South Asian Labour Law, and ILO Standards APIIT
Farhana Raheem - Sri Lankan and South Asian Labour Law, and ILO Standards APIIT