Methodology

Creation of a Global Labor Policy Database

We set out to examine a series of working conditions that affect workers' ability to meet health and welfare needs, and that could be analyzed in a comparable way across countries. We focused on the daily lives of working men and women, their ability to continue to earn a living when special needs arose, and their ability to care for their families on a routine basis. While it was not possible to obtain globally comparative data on all of the conditions associated with these issues, the policies we examined include a selection of those that have achieved: (1) widespread recognition based on the weight of the research evidence, or (2) consensus in international agreements, treaties, covenants, and other legal documents as being important to the health and well-being of working women, men, and their families.

We realize that many crucial labor protections extend beyond the scope of this effort. One in particular is worth noting. The right to decent wages is critical to workers' ability to support their own health and security and that of their families. Improved working conditions are necessary to ensure health and economic security, but they are not sufficient without decent wages. We currently have an initiative to collect comparable data on minimum wages, make adjustments for purchasing power differences, and examine whether countries' minimum wages are "living" wages, meaning that they are sufficiently high to enable a full-time worker to exit poverty.

We sought data on all 192 United Nations member nations. We succeeded in gathering policy data on 190 countries representing the full range of political, social, and economic systems. For the sake of comparability and because countries can vary in their approaches to common policy goals, we selected the essential, core features of a given policy and then systematically analyzed and categorized the approach taken by each country.

Policies and Their Dimensions

We examined how working conditions affect employees themselves. In order to balance the full range of demands on their lives, the basic needs of women and men include having a reasonable number of hours of work and some time off during the week. They also include being able to take leave when they are sick and having flexibility when urgent needs arise. We also analyzed the ways in which working conditions affect the families of working men and women, such as the ability of working adults to care for newborn or newly adopted children, to care for the health of older children, to meet children's educational needs, and to care for adult family members' health. In many cases, this involved looking at policies that were specifically designed to meet these needs, such as parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and leave or flexibility for family illness. In other cases, it involved looking at how policies regarding the workday would impact employees' ability to spend time with their families, such as policies surrounding evening and night work.

For each of these policies, we examined a range of dimensions. In the case of policies regarding leave and flexibility, these included the duration of leave that was provided; the timing of the leave (whether it was effective immediately or subject to a delay, or whether its use was subject to stipulations, etc.); how much salary or wage income was provided during the leave; whether this leave was funded by employers or a social insurance system; and whether certain criteria had to be met in order to receive the leave (for example, whether the leave was only for a given severity of illness).

Range of Conceptual Frameworks

Differences in the characteristics of policies can reflect different conceptions or assumptions. For example, some countries have waiting periods before covering sick leave. Frequently this is because the sick leave is designed primarily for coverage during serious illnesses and hospitalization. In contrast, other nations begin sick leave on the first day of employment to ensure that it is available for common illnesses, acute infectious diseases, and preventive health care. In the case of maternity leave, some nations stipulate that a certain amount be reserved for use prior to childbirth in order to provide incentives to employees and employers alike for women to begin maternity leave during the final weeks of pregnancy. This approach is also used to distinguish the amount of leave needed by birth mothers and adoptive mothers. Other nations let women decide the timing of maternity leave and the proportions used before and after the arrival of a newborn. In providing for leave to care for a young child, many nations stipulate that the majority of this leave should be taken during infancy or immediately following maternity leave in order to care for infants when quality, nonparental care is least likely to be available. Other countries provide the same duration of leave but allow all parents to take this leave at their own discretion any time during a three-year or longer period. This approach leaves it to parents to determine when is best for their relationship building and for meeting childcare needs.

Policies regarding overtime and night work took two forms: those that required employers to pay a premium to employees for working extended hours or nonday hours, and those that placed limitations or restrictions on the practice. The former reflected a compensatory model--providing disincentives to employers and compensations for higher costs to employees--and the latter reflected a protective model.

Data Sources

National Labor Codes and Legislation

Our primary source of data was original legislation. We analyzed labor codes and other labor-related legislation. Our multilingual research team is fluent in five of the six official UN languages--English, French, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic--as well as five additional languages.

The vast majority of the legislation used in our analyses is from NATLEX, a global database of legislation pertaining to labor, social security, and human rights from 189 countries (as well as additional territories). It is maintained by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Information in the NATLEX database is continuously updated upon receipt of official country publications of enacted laws. We carefully reviewed every labor code and piece of available legislation related to the policies we were examining. We searched comprehensively through the websites for which NATLEX provided links in order to locate the full texts of legislation listed but not available in the NATLEX database. Additional sources of legislation include country websites, the law libraries of Harvard and McGill Universities and of the International Labour Organization in Geneva.

Government websites often contain access to primary sources that are not available elsewhere. Searches for both legislation and policy reviews on government websites were completed.

When no link to full-text legislation was provided in NATLEX, we searched through the following databases of laws: the World Bank's Doing Business Law Library, the Lexadin World Law Guide, and the World Legal Information Institute's (WorldLII) databases.

Global Databases that Compile and Compare Legislation

We examined the Social Security Programs Throughout the World (SSPTW) database, the most comprehensive source of global data on social security policies including Old Age, Disability, and Survivors; Sickness and Maternity; Work Injury; Unemployment; and Family Allowances. SSPTW contains data on 164 of the 190 countries in our database. The SSPTW supplemented the paid leave data we obtained from labor codes for countries where such policies are mandated by social security laws, and provided details about paid leave policies, such as wage-replacement information, which is not always included in labor codes.

The information in the SSPTW report is based on data collected in the Annual Survey on Developments and Trends conducted by the International Social Security Association (ISSA), as well as other supplemental sources.

Findings from both legislation and SSPTW were also checked against a series of other reliable, global sources, including the ILO Working Time Database (which has data on only 108 countries but occasionally presented information more clearly than the legislation and served as a useful cross-check for our database), the ILO Maternity Protection Database, and the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA)'s Status of Maternity Protection by Country (which provided useful confirmatory details on the duration of maternity leave).

Regional and Country-Specific Sources

Finally, we reviewed the following sources for regional data: European Industrial Relations Observatory Online; the International Network on Leave Policies and Research; the OECD Directorate for Family, Labor and Social Affairs, Social Policy Division; the Center for Economic and Policy Research; and the Clearinghouse on International Developments in Child, Youth and Family Policies. We also reviewed country reports when data on individual nations were missing.

Comparability

In order to map policies around the world, to statistically compare the frequency of approaches in high- and low-income nations, and to analyze the relationship between policies and employment and competitiveness, we codified the policies into a comparable format.

When duration of benefits varied by tenure, we conservatively used the amount available to the worker with the shortest tenure (and retained the tenure requirements in the database). When duration varied by routine and special circumstances, we included the amount available to all workers under usual circumstances, not just in exceptional cases. For example, if the law guaranteed two days of leave in the event of a child's illness, but four days if the child is hospitalized, we coded two days' leave. Other variations in how the duration was specified in different countries' legislation included illness leave for oneself or a family member with no specified time limit. For example, the legislation might stipulate that the leave lasted "as long as the doctor determines," "for the duration of illness," or "until back to full recovery." We kept all details and exact original language but coded duration as having equivalent to the highest category of days available.

In some countries, reimbursement is based on a flat rate to be paid to those taking the leave, while in others, workers are granted a fixed percentage of their normal wage, either for the full duration of the leave or for part of the leave, and another fixed percentage during the remainder. Still other policies grant workers a percentage of their normal wages that varies depending on their tenure, occupation, location, and type of disease, or is given simply as a range, such as 70 percent to 100 percent of wages (without stipulating where in the range a worker falls). We therefore captured wage-replacement type and the minimum rate (universally offered) and maximum rate (offered to certain categories of workers or under certain conditions) guaranteed.

Data Checking and Verification

Throughout the data collection process, we continuously updated our data sources to include any new legislation and releases of the global databases. Our process of building the database included reviewing and coding all legislation by multiple research team members, as well as thoroughly cross-checking our findings with other reliable, global sources (described above). In many instances, the sources were complementary in nature, such as a database with consistent but less complete data than the legislation but in no way conflicting with it. In others, we investigated and tried to reconcile any discrepancies between sources that were identified. We gave precedence to original legislation over other sources, as the former is the primary source. As in any data pursuit of this magnitude, some legislation may be missing. We welcome readers who are aware of any corrections to contact us through the Institute for Health and Social Policy. Updates will be incorporated and made available online.