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G20 Summits • 2021 Rome Summit | Road to the 2021 Rome Summit
G20 Labour and Employment Ministers

Fostering an Inclusive, Sustainable, and Resilient Recovery of Labour Markets and Societies:
G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Declaration

Catania, Italy, June 23, 2021
[PDF]

Annex 1: G20 Roadmap Towards and Beyond the Brisbane Target: More, Better and Equally Paid Jobs for Women (see also PDF)

Annex 2: G20 Policy Principles to Ensure Access to Adequate Social Protection for All in a Changing World of Work (see also PDF)

Annex 3: G20 Policy Options to Enhance Regulatory Frameworks for Remote Working Arrangements and Work through Digital Platforms (see also PDF)

Annex 4: G20 Approaches on Safety and Health at Work (see also PDF)

Annex 5: Reports prepared by International Organisations

Preamble

1. We, the Labour and Employment Ministers of the G20 members and invited countries, met in Catania on the 23rd June 2021 in hybrid format, to discuss recent labour markets trends across the world and to review progress towards our previous commitments and agree on policies to address the employment and social challenges ahead.

2. We acknowledge that the COVID-19 Pandemic continues to have a major impact on the global economy as well as our societies and has exacerbated inequalities worldwide. We recognise the need for a coherent and human-centred policy approach that leads to greater social justice and decent work for all. We will continue to work together, in coordination with other Ministers, and jointly with the Social Partners and relevant International Organizations, to ensure an inclusive, sustainable and resilient recovery of our labour markets and societies. We express our gratitude to public and private frontline and other workers who have spared no efforts during the pandemic to ensure the continuity of essential services.

More, better, and equally paid jobs for women

3. We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women – especially younger, low-skilled, or from vulnerable groups. Women have experienced greater job losses, more occupational exposure to the virus due to overrepresentation among frontline workers and a higher burden of unpaid caregiving and household responsibilities. The full empowerment of women is pivotal to ensuring an inclusive and sustainable economic recovery from the ongoing crisis. We will continue addressing barriers to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and work towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the achievement of SDG 5 on Gender Equality and SDG 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth, notably by ensuring their collective voice and taking into account the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190). We commit to a renewed and extraordinary effort to support more and better employment opportunities for women, in order to achieve the Brisbane target, as agreed in 2014, of reducing the gender gap in labour market participation rates by 25% by 2025, with the aim of bringing 100 million women into the labour market, and to reduce the gender gaps in job quality and career prospects.

4. We acknowledge the need for a multidimensional approach to achieve equal opportunities in the labour market and society and agree on the G20 Roadmap Towards and Beyond the Brisbane Target (Annex 1). We ask the OECD and the ILO to support our evidence-based efforts towards the implementation of this Roadmap and to continue reporting on our progress towards achieving the Brisbane target. We will continue to promote policies that increase the quantity and quality of women's employment, ensure equal opportunities and achieve better outcomes in the labour market, promote a more even distribution of women and men across sectors and occupations, tackle the gender pay gap, promote a more balanced distribution of paid and unpaid work between women and men, and address discrimination and gender stereotypes in the labour market. We will promote women's entrepreneurship, including in the digital economy, and encourage the Entrepreneurship Research Center on G20 Economies to conduct research in this regard. We welcome the work of the Private Sector Alliance for the Empowerment and Progression of Women's Economic Representation (EMPOWER) in complementing our efforts to promote the advancement of women in the private sector and in decision-making positions.

Social protection systems in a changing world of work

5. The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the need to strengthen our social protection systems towards the goal of making them flexible and responsive to crises, as well as adequate and accessible to all, paying particular attention to temporary or part-time workers, low-wage, self-employed, migrants and informal workers. We will explore policy options and build institutional capacity, in accordance with national circumstances, to make contributory systems more accessible, strengthen social protection floors and make social protection adequate, inclusive, sustainable, effective, and accessible to all, taking into account the ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202). This is particularly relevant considering the transformations occurring in the world of work and society.

6. We acknowledge that our social protection systems should aim to reduce inequalities, foster social and economic inclusion, and leave no one behind. Moreover, adequate social protection for all will foster resilience of our economies and social cohesion. Pursuing these objectives requires combining income support measures with enhanced social and active labour market policies that address individual vulnerabilities and support workers' transitions and reintegration in the labour market. Building on the Social Protection Policy Options (Saudi Arabia, 2020), we agree on a set of actionable G20 Policy Principles to ensure access to adequate social protection for all in a changing world of work (Annex 2), to make "adequate social protection for all" a sustainable reality.

Working patterns, business organisation and production process in the Digitalisation Era

7. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a significant acceleration of the digital transformation of our economies and labour markets and has highlighted the important role of remote working for employees and employers to ensure sustainable and inclusive business continuity. The pandemic has been accompanied by an increase in work activities carried out through digital platforms. While we adjust to the major changes resulting from this transformation, we must continue to ensure decent work and support sustainable business productivity. In light of the benefits and challenges of new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, and their impact on working patterns, business organisation and production processes, we will provide tailored support to businesses and workers in the transition and commit more than ever to shape a human-centred, inclusive, fair and sustainable digital transformation and future of work as well as closing the digital gender divide.

8. We will continue to foster quality flexible work arrangements for a better work-life balance while promoting decent work, safe and healthy working conditions, adequate social protection for all, effective social dialogue, the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, taking into account the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work. In order to help to fully harness the potential of new technologies and protect and improve the working conditions of workers affected, we will work towards ensuring that our regulatory frameworks are adapted to new forms of work. A particular challenge remains the correct classification of the employment status of many people working through platforms, as well as the transparency, privacy, fairness and accountability of algorithmic management and monitoring. We agree on a set of G20 Policy Options to enhance regulatory frameworks for remote working arrangements and work through digital platforms (Annex 3) to be developed and implemented in cooperation with Social Partners. In doing so, we take into account that platform work is often carried out across national borders and we acknowledge the need to strengthen our international cooperation and work towards a concerted response to ensure decent work in the platform economy.

Way forward

9. We will continue to implement our G20 Employment Plans and include reporting on actions according to national priorities and collective commitments. We will continue to promote the G20 Youth Roadmap 2025 as agreed in Riyadh in 2020, to improve the labour market prospects of young people and we ask the OECD and ILO to continue monitoring progress towards the Antalya Youth Goal according to the voluntary indicators agreed in 2020.

10. We remain committed to ensuring safe and healthy working conditions for all workers in all sectors, including by making use of all available regulatory and non-regulatory means to protect workers and strengthening national and international collaboration and coordination on occupational safety and health, and promoting effective social dialogue. We support discussion at the ILO for considering safe and healthy working conditions as a fundamental principle and right at work. We commend the work undertaken by the G20 OSH Experts' Network in the preparation of Annex 4 on "G20 Approaches on Safety and Health at Work".

11. We will continue our efforts to enhance international cooperation as well as the mobilization of international organizations and institutions, to provide access to adequate social protection for all and to ensure decent work for all workers, including safe and healthy working conditions, within global supply chains.

12. We will continue supporting the role of the private sector as a key source of economic growth and quality employment creation by promoting, in cooperation with relevant Ministries, an enabling environment for entrepreneurship and sustainable enterprises, in particular micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as cooperatives and the social economy, in order to generate and maintain quality jobs, full, productive and freely chosen employment, equal career perspectives for men and women and improved living standards for all.

13. We will strengthen our efforts to better shape our policy design through enhanced policy evaluation, the use of behavioural insights – where appropriate -, and the collection of quality data on emerging challenges in our labour markets, including on the growth of the digital economy and a human-centred adoption and use of Artificial Intelligence and other technological advances, in the world of work.

14. We value the contributions to our work made by L20 and B20 and reaffirm our continued commitment to promote social dialogue among governments, employers' organisations and trade unions in our countries and internationally to develop a shared agenda for economic recovery that benefits all and delivers decent work, prosperity and improved wellbeing for all our citizens.

15. We appreciate the expertise provided by the ILO, OECD, ISSA and WBG and take note of their reports (Annex 5). We acknowledge the analysis provided by the ILO and the OECD on the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on global labour markets and we ask the ILO and the OECD to continue helping G20 members develop inclusive employment recovery solutions, particularly with a view to supporting vulnerable groups, and those affected most by the pandemic. We will seek to further enhance the cooperation and coordination among different G20 tracks to promote a whole-of-government approach to ensure a fair, sustainable, and inclusive employment recovery beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

16. We welcome the continued dialogue held with the engagement groups W20, Y20, C20 and T20, and look forward to continuing this cooperation.

17. We will present this Declaration to the G20 Rome Summit for our Leaders' consideration.

18. We thank the Italian Presidency for its leadership and look forward to our next meeting in 2022 under the Presidency of Indonesia.

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Annex 1
G20 Roadmap Towards and Beyond the Brisbane Target: more, better and equally paid jobs for women

In 2014, G20 Leaders pledged in Brisbane to reduce the gap in labour force participation rates between men and women by 25% by 2025, with the aim of bringing 100 million women into the labour market, increasing global and inclusive growth, and reducing poverty and inequality.

In recent years, almost all G20 countries made progress in terms of equal opportunities, participation of women in the labour market and reduction of the gender pay gap. The process of reducing gender inequalities has slowed down due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy. The measures implemented by G20 countries helped to mitigate the employment and social impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Yet, evidence from many countries shows a disproportionate impact on women, especially those who are younger, low-skilled, or from ethnic minorities. Women are over-represented as frontline health workers, in the most vulnerable sectors of the informal economy, and they also continue to undertake the majority of unpaid work. Acknowledging the risk of increasing gender inequalities in our labour markets and societies, G20 Leaders at the Riyadh Summit called for a roadmap to achieve the Brisbane goal along with improving the quality of women's employment.

In response to this call, we have developed the G20 Roadmap Towards and Beyond the Brisbane Target for achieving equal opportunities and outcomes for women and men in our labour markets as well as societies in general. This Roadmap builds upon the G20 Policy Priorities for Boosting Female Participation, Quality of Employment and Gender Equity (Australia, 2014) and the G20 Policy Recommendations to Reduce Gender Gaps in Labour Force Participation and Pay by Improving Women's Job Quality (Germany, 2017).

We acknowledge that many factors continue to hinder the participation of women in the labour market and the improvement of the quality of their employment. Overcoming these barriers is key to achieving not only the Brisbane target and our previous commitments, but also aiming at full gender equality in the labour market and in our societies.

To achieve this goal, we should ensure that policy measures are informed, where relevant, by behavioural insights, based on data and evidence and adapted in accordance with national circumstances. Against this background, we agree on the G20 Roadmap Towards and Beyond the Brisbane Target as set out below:

Increasing the quantity and quality of women's employment

• Promote, in cooperation with relevant Ministries, better tailored, effective and adaptive policies to boost and sustain job creation and support quality employment with a specific focus on decent work for women;

• Promote measures to increase the participation and representation of women in decision-making bodies, including in public organizations, private and public companies, relevant policy-making bodies and organizations of workers and employers;

• Strengthen gender mainstreaming in the labour market and social policy design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation to ensure the inclusion of women's perspective and collective voice;

• Work towards adopting measures to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence and harassment and associated psycho-social risks in the world of work, including gender-based, racial and other discriminatory forms, taking into account the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190), recognizing the right of everyone to a work environment free of violence and harassment, and seek to ensure they are addressed in the management of workplace practices, such as occupational safety and health;

• Continue tackling informal work, including by women in domestic work, through a mix of policies such as incentives for formalization based on evidence of what works and enforcement of compliance with laws and regulations;

• Improve access of all women to comprehensive social protection benefits, for example parental leave, unemployment benefits, paid sick leave and pensions, taking into account relevant international labour standards, in particular the Social Protection Floors Reccomendation, 2012 (No. 202);

• Improve working conditions, including through social dialogue, in those sectors where women are overrepresented, particularly in the care sector. This includes advocating for adequate wages and limits on hours of work, allowing for more choice on work schedules, enhancing health and safety at work, increasing training and career opportunities and recognizing prior relevant learning, in accordance with the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and taking into account the ILO Centenary Declaration of the Future of Work;

• Foster women's labour mobility and promote decent work for migrant workers, especially women, and their access to social protection;

• Design active labour market policies with a gender lens to support women through work-life transitions such as school-to-work, care responsibilities, changing jobs and their integration/reintegration to high-quality employment, reskilling and upskilling. Ensure that employment services take into account the equality between men and women in the design and implementation of their measures, plans, operations and services;

• Promote greater participation of women at all levels of social dialogue, thus giving a greater presence and voice to women in tripartite consultation and decision-making spaces.

Ensuring equal opportunities and achieving better outcomes in the labour market

• Lift discriminatory statutory provisions and policies or practices to ensure that women workers are not disadvantaged;

• Promote equal opportunities in educational and vocational pathways and increase the participation of women in high-wage, high-growth fields, including by strengthening educational, vocational, labour market and career guidance. Encourage evidence-based practices to promote the hiring of women in those sectors where women are underrepresented, notably in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and ICT;

• Ensure equal opportunities to access lifelong learning, reskilling, upskilling, and workplace training, especially for low-skilled female workers that are more likely to suffer the impact of employment changes; provide enabling environments for women to take control of their lives in a world of rapid economic and technological change, giving opportunities to enter, maintain and progress in employment;

• Increase the provision of digital skills training for all women, especially young women and those returning to work after a prolonged break, and other relevant measures to bridge the gender digital divide;

• Promote, in coordination with other Ministries, women entrepreneurship by taking measures to eliminate legal, policy, procedural, and regulatory barriers and practices that impede women entrepreneurs access to digital services, financial services, venture capital, and promote transparency measures to help identify gender investment gaps;

• Recognise skills gained through care work, both paid and unpaid;

• Promote financial inclusion of women, and in particular, foster female access to credit, including

  through financial literacy training and women-oriented credit mechanisms;

• Combat inequality in employment between women and men in rural areas, where it is even more

  pronounced than in urban areas; According to national circumstances, make efforts, in cooperation with other Ministries, to ensure that taxes and benefits systems do not discourage women who wish to enter, re-enter, and remain in the labour market.

Promoting a more even distribution of women and men across sectors and occupations

• Seek to eliminate all laws, regulations, practices, and provisions that directly or indirectly discourage or even restrict either women or men from working in specific occupations or forms of employment as appropriate;

• Promote policy measures aimed at achieving fair and transparent processes of career progression, including in the criteria for the selection of managers and other senior positions, such as regular and voluntary reporting by companies on gender gaps in promotions, recruitment and managerial positions.

Tackling the gender pay gap

• Work towards addressing all the causes of the gender pay gap, including the unequal distribution of invisible and unpaid work, the higher use of part-time work and more frequent career breaks among women, as well as vertical and horizontal segregation based on gender;

• In consultation with the Social Partners, consider introducing or regularly reviewing minimum wages to prevent the risk of in-work poverty faced by low-paid workers, who are often female;

• Continue promoting equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between women and men, including by promoting wage transparency, such as allowing employees to request information on average pay levels or regular employer reporting on wage structures;

• Consider reviewing pay, career advancement and promotion policies to identify and eliminate implicit gender disparities;

• Address the higher incidence of old-age poverty among women, also because of inequalities at work and at home, including by exploring possible measures to reduce the gender gap in benefits and entitlements for pensioners and elderlies.

  Promoting a more balanced distribution of paid and unpaid work between women and men

• Promote and incentivize the use of shared parental and care leave between men and women, including via non-transferable periods of leave, extend their duration and address pay levels when needed, and increase their take-up rate, including through awareness-raising campaigns for workers and employers;

• Encourage employers to post their parental leave and pay and flexible working policies on their websites;

• Discourage long working hours and consider expanding flexible working arrangements designed to promote better work-life balance for women and men, including by reinforcing the right for workers to request them;

• Support increased investment in and access to affordable and good quality services, including early childhood education and care and long-term care services, paying particular attention to low-income families and young women.

Addressing discrimination and gender stereotypes in the labour market

• Promote initiatives to address discriminatory social and cultural norms preventing the achievement of gender equality in education and in the world of work;

• Promote respectful, inclusive, and non-discriminatory language in job advertisements and descriptions as well as in the workplace;

• Reinforce and strengthen, as appropriate, measures to tackle all forms of discrimination in employment;

• Combat stereotyped representations of women and men of their role in paid and unpaid work.

We ask the ILO and the OECD, based on G20 countries self-reports, to continue their annual reporting to G20 Leaders on the progress made towards the Brisbane goal and in reducing gender gaps in job quality. Taking into account the diverse local and national labour market situations women face in the G20 member economies, such a report can make use of a range of available auxiliary indicators as listed below, that can contribute to increase the visibility of our policy efforts and provide insights into remaining challenges to address. This report should also highlight differences in the level and degree of progress achieved by women and men in each dimension, where relevant, so that we can monitor whether working conditions for women have actually improved.

In addition to reporting against the indicators, we ask the ILO and OECD to provide case studies that highlight successful policies and programs implemented by member countries.

Table 1. List of indicators

Measuring and monitoring developments in gender gaps in job quality is important for designing policy to tackle gender inequalities in labour markets Therefore, we will seek to improve, where appropriate to national circumstances, our monitoring systems, in cooperation with our national statistical authorities, to better inform our policy action in implementing this Roadmap.

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Annex 2
G20 Policy Principles to ensure access to adequate social protection for all in a changing world of work

Facing unprecedented challenges, G20 countries have introduced extraordinary measures in 2020 and 2021 to mitigate the health, economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, especially on the most vulnerable groups including women and youth. The crisis has reminded us of the crucial role of social protection for all, including floors, and highlighted that some groups of workers such as temporary, part-time, self-employed, social protection. In addition, in the absence of adequate social protection floors, many people struggle to achieve higher living standards.

We are, therefore, aware that further efforts, in every country, are needed to strengthen national social protection systems towards the goal of making them accessible to all. This is particularly relevant in light of transformations in the world of work and society and given the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: support measures need to be sustained, and social protection systems, including floors, must be strengthened.

The digital transformation and the green transition, along with other social and economic changes, are creating new forms of work, changing job requirements and skill demand, and challenging traditional employment relationships and classifications. Moreover, many job positions may disappear entirely, and we can expect to experience significant reallocation of jobs within and among sectors. We will strive to make these transformations fair and inclusive, so as not to leave anyone behind.

Comprehensive, adequate and effective social protection for all is a main pillar for inclusive growth and can contribute to ensuring sustainable, fair and inclusive labour market transitions, greater resilience of our economies and social cohesion. Minimum income support and other social assistance schemes can considerably help provide all people with decent standards of living and strengthen social cohesion.

At the same time, where applicable, expanding access to contributory schemes, while considering other non-contributory forms of financing, is key to providing adequate social protection as well as ensuring a balanced and sustainable financing mix of social security systems, especially in those countries where the domestic fiscal space may be limited or where working age population is rapidly shrinking. At the national level, coordinating social assistance with insurance-based schemes is also essential to achieving policy coherence migrants and informal economy workers still have limited, if any, access to adequate and to ensuring that the benefits provided by types of support and the different measures complement each other.

Achieving sustainable and inclusive growth, while fully leveraging the opportunities of the green and digital transitions, requires a broad understanding of the importance of social protection. Ensuring social protection for all in a changing world of work as part of promoting decent work also means protecting workers' rights, supporting active employment policies including lifelong training, and improving safety and health at work.

Building on previous LEM declarations, and in particular on the Policy Recommendations for Promoting More Equitable and Sustainable Social Protection Systems (China, 2016), G20 Priorities on the Future of Work (Germany, 2017), the Guidelines and Principles for developing comprehensive social protection strategies (Argentina, 2018), and the Policy Options for Adapting Social Protection to Reflect the Changing Patterns of Work (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2020), as well as on relevant international labour standards such as ILO Recommendation 202 (2012) on Social Protection Floors, we agree on the following set of policy principles, subject to national circumstances, in order to provide access to adequate social protection, strengthen our social protection systems and make them more sustainable, adaptive, resilient, inclusive and responsive to a changing world of work.

If applicable and in cooperation with the Social Partners, we will make efforts to introduce new measures or adapt existing ones to ensure that contributory systems are more accessible and have adequate coverage, strengthen social protection floors, and make social protection systems inclusive, adequate, accessible and effective for all.

In doing so, we will continue to pay particular attention to all vulnerable groups who have been affected by the crisis, including as a result of age, gender, or disability, and to those who are less protected in the labour market, with a special attention on informal workers.

Making contributory systems more accessible

• Foster the preservation and creation of decent work opportunities and promote transitions from the informal to formal economy, especially for migrants, young people and women, through developing labour market and employment policies;

• Tackle the avoidance of social contributions and undeclared work, including by strengthening preventive approaches based on clear communication and, where appropriate, behavioural insights, and through incentives and inspections for formalization and enforcement of compliance with laws;

• Support the efforts of underemployed people, especially of women, seeking to increase their amount of paid working hours and to access quality employment in general, including through efforts to promote a more balanced distribution of unpaid care and household work , which has increased as a result of the pandemic, and extend access to quality care services;

• According to national circumstances, continue our efforts to address existing gaps in labour and social security legislation to include all employees and the self-employed in formal social security and social insurance schemes and to prevent the misclassification of workers' employment status;

• Consider revising eligibility conditions and thresholds when they constitute an unduly high obstacle for some groups of non-standard workers and for the self-employed in access to adequate social protection, for instance in case of sickness, unemployment or occupational accidents and diseases;

• Consider extending contributory schemes to those self-employed whose activity is organised and/or coordinated by an employer or by a digital platform as well as to other self-employed;

• Promote administrative arrangements and benefits that increasingly meet the needs of different types of workers, and facilitate effective access to adequate social protection for all through, for example, recognising healthy, family-friendly and flexible work patterns and reducing minimum working hour requirements, always bearing in mind a reasonable balance between contributions for sufficient financial means on the one hand and social benefits on the other.

Strengthening social protection floors and making social protection adequate, inclusive, sustainable, effective, and accessible to all

• Ensure that social protection policies are well coordinated with employment policies, including minimum wage policies; social protection systems, and in particular social protection floors, should promote an adequate living income and access to health, education, training, food and housing;

• Ensure that social protection schemes are flexible enough to allow for expansion or adaptation to cover the evolving needs of people and households, in particular vulnerable groups;

• In adapting social protection systems, foster preparedness to future shocks, promote a preventive and rehabilitative approach that provides timely and targeted support for people at risk of poverty, social and labour market exclusion, and provides adequate support during lifecycle risks and events, including childhood, pregnancy and parenthood and old age;

• Enhance the quality, adequacy and scope of enabling social and employment services and make them more responsive to changing individual and labour market needs, including through stronger collaboration with training institutions, housing and health services, and social partners;

• Where appropriate, combine employment services with non-contributory and income support programs to facilitate the inclusion of vulnerable groups in the labour market while avoiding disincentives to formal work;

• Strengthen institutional capacities to deliver timely and effective benefits and services to eligible people, also by investing in inclusive digital technologies, staffing, staff skills development and enhanced inter-institutional cooperation;

• As appropriate, strengthen measures to build up social security entitlements and enhance their portability across different employment statuses, sectors and countries, with a particular attention to migrant workers, platform workers, the self-employed and workers with multiple employers; ensure that adequate, sustainable and nationally appropriate social protection systems are in place that protect people regardless of their employment status and work arrangements;

• Facilitate access, build public trust and simplify administrative procedures, including by harnessing the potential of digital technology, raising awareness on social protection schemes and ensuring access to information about individual rights and entitlements;

• Improve outreach to the most vulnerable groups in the society, including by involving Social Partners, NGOs and civil society organisations;

• Promote multidimensional and tailored measures that address the vulnerabilities of actual and potential recipients of income support measures and social assistance beneficiaries and their families in terms of basic needs, social inclusion, education, training and labour market integration, and access to services, such as health and child and long-term care services;

• Coordinate approaches among social protection, active labour market policies and job creation programmes to enable sustainable and inclusive recovery;

• Adopt an enabling approach in the coordination of social protection measures with employment policies that incentivise the uptake of quality jobs, support labour market transitions, and facilitate labour market participation , including by fostering skills development for the digital and green transformations through lifelong education and training;

• Strengthen social dialogue and the participation of key stakeholders, including NGOs and civil society representatives, as well as vulnerable groups, women and youth, in consultations related to the formulation, design, implementation and monitoring of social protection policies;

• Enhance international cooperation, as well as the mobilization of international organizations and institutions, to provide adequate social protection to all workers, including those in global supply chains, and their families, which have been especially affected by the pandemic.

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Annex 3
G20 Policy Options to enhance regulatory frameworks for remote working arrangements and work through digital platforms

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a significant acceleration of the digital transformation in both labour markets and societies, bringing along benefits and risks. While we adjust to the major changes resulting from this transformation, we must continue to respect labour rights and legislation and improve sustainable business productivity. Therefore, we remain committed to shaping an inclusive, fair, sustainable and human-centred digital transformation and future of work, taking action to facilitate transitions for employees, the self-employed and employers adapting to the rapidly changing world of work.

In doing this, we will continue promoting quality employment, decent work, adequate social protection for all, safe and healthy working conditions, social dialogue, the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and taking into account the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work. Moreover, we will seek to ensure that workers are not deprived of their employment rights and social protection benefits because of misclassification of their employment status.

Following technological advancements, regulatory changes, and changes in societal preferences, employment through digital platforms has sizeably increased over the past years. The restrictions placed on economic and social activities because of the COVID-19 pandemic have also dramatically increased the use of remote working arrangements for employees. These changes will require adaptions, including through responsive and fair regulatory frameworks, social dialogue and workplace cooperation, and efforts to reduce disparities in digital access, while respecting relevant international labour standards and promoting work–life balance, in order to help to fully harness the potential of new technologies, improve and protect the working conditions of workers affected.

Building on the G20 Priorities on the Future of Work (Bad Neuenahr, 2017), the G20 Policy Principles for Promoting Labour Formalization and Decent Work in the Future of Work and in the Platform Economy (Mendoza, 2018), the G20 Policy Options for Adapting Social Protection to Reflect the Changing Patterns of Work (Riyadh, 2020), our other previous commitments, and taking into account the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, we agree on a set of policy options which can help shape future policy changes, including regulations, to support those carrying out remote work and platform work as set out below, as appropriate to our national circumstances and to be developed and implemented in cooperation with the Social Partners through social dialogue, and supported by the relevant international organisations, including the OECD and the ILO.

Remote working conditions and arrangements for employees

Taking into account national circumstances, institutional frameworks and priorities, we will consider the following actions to allow employees to benefit from opportunities offered by remote working while promoting decent work and social protection for all. These actions will promote:

• framing remote work through legal provisions, collective agreements, regulatory guidelines or organisational rules, as appropriate;

• the reversibility of voluntary remote work, so that employees working remotely (henceforth: remote workers) willing to return to work in their employers' premises are allowed to do so, in line, when appropriate, with national COVID-19 restrictions;

• clear and transparent contractual arrangements, fully respecting the legislation on working conditions;

• a healthy work life balance, including the importance for workers to disconnect;

• ensuring data privacy and data protection of remote workers, while recognising the employers' need to monitor worker performance;

• providing remote workers with the relevant information regarding surveillance and monitoring activities, taking into account the principles stated by the ILO Protection of Workers' Personal Data Code of Practice;

• the full compliance of remote work with occupational health and safety legislation and providing guidance to employers on informing and training remote workers on health and safety requirements;

• ensuring that workers have access to secure digital tools to be able to work remotely, without facing undue additional costs;

• equal treatment for remote and non-remote workers in terms of the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, as well as remuneration and access to adequate social protection – including paid leave and social dialogue;

• equal opportunities for remote and non-remote workers in terms of training, reskilling and upskilling, advancement opportunities and flexible working practices;

• equal treatment of remote and non-remote workers when it comes to access to education, training and childcare, as well as care for the elderly or dependents;

• equal treatment for all on grounds of gender and age in the access to decent working conditions and social protection of remote work, to prevent remote working from creating further segmentation in the labour market.

Digital platform work

Taking into account national circumstances, institutional frameworks, priorities, and the flexibility of the policy approach, we will consider the following actions to allow all persons to benefit from the employment opportunities offered by digital platforms while promoting decent work and access to adequate social protection for all.

• Foster exchanges of best practices for platform work with a view to improve regulatory frameworks, promote the portability of entitlements and benefits as appropriate, and avoid competitive disadvantages for workers and employers;

• recognize that platform work is often carried out across national borders, hence strengthen a concerted international response to promote decent work in the platform economy;

• seek to make the classification of employment status clear, accurate and consistent and ensure that the rights of people working through digital platforms are respected and they receive the appropriate protections;

• promote clear and transparent terms of engagement and contractual arrangements for workers and businesses, in compliance with labour and social security laws and other related regulations;

• support quality employment, by promoting wage protection, fair payments, and decent working conditions, including the working time standards in effect;

• promote access to adequate social protection for all workers on digital platforms;

• promote fair termination processes for platform workers;

• promote accountability, privacy, fairness, and transparency in artificial intelligence algorithms used to organise platform work, in particular the assessment of the employment status of digital platform workers and decisions affecting their working conditions, including with workers representatives;

• ensuring data privacy and data protection of platform workers, while recognising the employers' need to monitor worker performance;

• promote the provision to platform workers of relevant information regarding surveillance and monitoring activities, taking into account the principles stated by the ILO Protection of Workers' Personal Data Code of Practice;

• when applicable, foster social dialogue and collective bargaining, promote freedom of association for subordinate digital platform workers and seek to ensure representation of the self-employed whose activity is organised by those who provide services for digital platforms;

• promote healthy and safe working conditions for platform work;

• promote mechanisms allowing workers to report unfair treatment, including in terms of ratings and rankings;

• promote the platform workers' control and portability of their personal data, including ratings.

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Annex 4
G20 Approaches on Safety and Health at Work

Safe and healthy working conditions are fundamental to decent work. Given the devastating loss of life and livelihood of workers and their families resulting from the COVID-19 crisis, having safe and healthy working conditions is a fundamental right for all workers during a pandemic. It is important to continue to support the discussions at the ILO on a procedural road map developed for the consideration of including safe and healthy working conditions in the ILO's framework of fundamental principles and rights at work. Preventing workplace exposures also protects the well-being of workers' families and communities and is necessary for a recovery from the crisis.

All employers, including mine operators, and their representative organizations have to place workers' safety, health and well-being at the center of all operation plans, and to prioritize the implementation of adequate occupational safety and health protection programs as each country attempts to recover from the pandemic. Based on scientific and holistic assessments of workplace transmission risk, employers should emphasize the implementation of environmental and administrative controls, deploy other relevant measures, and provide and require the use of personal protective equipment when necessary to ensure that workers are safe from workplace exposure to hazards.

Workers and trade unions must have a strong voice in safeguarding workers' safety and health in the workplace, including in the development of workplace occupational safety and health protection programs. At the same time, effective consultation between workers and employers has to be encouraged and promoted to help achieve a safer and healthier working environment. Because social dialogue improves and strengthens a culture of prevention, workers and their representatives must be provided the opportunity to express their views and contribute to the decision-making process; those who raise concerns about workplace hazards must be protected.

Governments should use all available regulatory and non-regulatory means to contain and prevent the workplace spread of infections, including the timely issuance of emergency standards when appropriate, and the swift adoption of guidance and other protective measures based on scientific evidence. The effective enforcement of such emergency standards and all other applicable regulations should be of the highest priority during a pandemic across all workplaces. Addressing the unprecedented challenges in the workplace during a pandemic, innovative approaches taken by regulators and inspectors to employer compliance are welcomed, including providing education and support to enhance worker protection.

Finally, national and international collaboration and coordination on occupational safety and health has to be strongly supported. Continued inter-agency collaboration within each country and consultation among key labor, employment, and public-health stakeholders is important. International cooperation is also key in fighting a pandemic. Active participation by members and international organizations in the G20 OSH Expert Network has benefited the global coordination of OSH policies and programs. The collaboration and exchange of mitigating measures and programs among Network members in early 2020 and the 2020-2021 Network Campaign have contributed to furthering the understanding of the challenges and solutions to address the pandemic. Continuing the work of the Network with vigor will help achieve even greater global coordination, enhance the safety and health of workers, and respond more effectively to ongoing and future challenges.

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Annex 5
Reports prepared by International Organisations

ILO and OECD Report: Women at Work Report: Progress and Policy Action Since 2020

ILO and OECD Report: Youth at Work in G20 countries: Progress and Policy Action towards the Antalya G20 Youth Goal

ILO, ISSA and OECD Report: Linking income support measures to active labour market policies

ILO, ISSA and OECD Report: Beyond COVID-19: Towards more inclusive and resilient social protection systems

ILO Report: Teleworking arrangements during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond

ILO Report: Digital platforms and the world of work in G20 countries: Status and Policy Action ILO and OECD Report: Proposed indicators of gender gaps in job quality

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Source: Official website of the Italian G20 Presidency