Not as Simple as it Seems : The Ilo and the Personal Scope of International Labour Standards

This article examines the personal scope of the International Labour Standards of the ILO. It argues that the ILS do not set out a universal definition of the terms “employee” or “ employment relationship”. Instead, even when the ILS use such terms as “employment” or “employment relationship”, their scope should be determined on a case-by-case basis, also by referring to the travaux préparatoires and the opinions of the ILO Supervisory Bodies. On this basis, it argues, among other things, that the ILO Domestic Workers Convention (C189) also applies to the self-employed. It then analyses closely both the application of ILO Fundamental Conventions by the Supervisory Bodies, focussing particularly on the right to collective bargaining of self-employed persons and the most recent ILO debates concerning the personal scope of ILS