Extending labour inspection to the informal economy

This course is intended to take place over a period of two days. It comprises nine sessions. A set of aims and learning objectives has been specified for each session. The toolkit is aimed at labour inspectors dealing with workers in the informal economy.

Instructional material | 19 November 2015
Session 1: Introduction - The informal economy and labour administration
Session 2: Relevant ILO standards and principles
Session 3: The informal economy in your country
Session 4: Regulating the informal economy
Session 5: Informality and the employment relationship
Session 6: Undertaking an inspection
Session 7: Making decisions and follow-up actions
Session 8: Supporting labour inspection
Session 9: Reflections and close

Most of the sessions involve two or more activities. In general the activities consist of a presentation by the tutor and some form of group exercise. The emphasis is on interaction and on participants learning from each other. The tutors should do their best to ensure that all course members actively participate in the discussions.

Powerpoint slides have been provided to support each activity. The slides are numbered and each activity contains information about which slides to use. The slides for session 3 will need to be prepared by the tutor in advance as they will need to convey information about the informal economy in the country in which the course participants are based.

Tutor notes are contained in the manual. These are intended to support the tutor when preparing their presentations. Each tutor presentation activity lists issues that the tutor should cover during his or her presentation. The tutor notes contain background information on each issue and will need to be read as part of the tutor’s preparatory work.

Although the information in the tutor notes will be sufficient to enable the tutor to make a full and well-informed presentation, the tutor might wish to include additional information.

The toolkit was elaborated in collaboration with the University of Sheffield and validated at the Labour Inspectors' Conference that took place in Cape Town on 9 September 2015.