The decent work assessment tool

Assessing decent work

Assessing the working conditions at worker-level requires a systematic assessment of key components of the decent work agenda, while making sure that context, time and budgets constraints are considered. The International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) four-pillar framework has been translated in many different measurement frameworks and tools, depending on, amongst others, the aims of the measurement, views about key priority areas, available means, context and the availability of data. This diversity has also been linked to the fact that the concept is multi-dimensional, integrates multiple analytical levels, and should be seen as a compromise between ILO’s tripartite constituents. 

It is impossible to cover all potential information on decent work needs into one single instrument. The www.decentworktoolbox.be suggests different measurement instruments to address different questions, depending on the main information needs in a measurement effort. 

An additional tool to the measurement toolbox

The Decent Work Assessment (DWA) instrument is a pragmatic, easy-to-use instrument to execute a diagnosis of the decent work situation at company and/or farm level and across companies in a given sector. It is, in first instance, focused on the assessment of decent work in the context of development cooperation interventions, but can also be used in other settings, with some adjustments. The DWA instrument aims to contribute to three observed methodological gaps in the measurement of decent work in low income countries with a large informal economy. First, it aims to collect both factual information (presence of a contract, wage levels, …) and perception-based aspects (feeling exhausted after work, …). Second, the DWA instrument aims to assess the working conditions beyond minimum labour standards as defined in national legislation, as these are often found to be insufficient to create decent working conditions. Thirdly, it aims to assess many aspects of the key dimensions of decent work, without claiming to be exhaustive

Drawing inspiration from existing instruments 

The instrument draws on insights from multiple frameworks, instruments and surveys, amongst others:

• ILO guides and tools on decent work in (global) value chains, informal economy, etc.
• Sensemaker methodology for the integration of short narratives in the analysis
• European Working Conditions Survey
• DecentWorkCheck.org by WageIndicator Foundation
• Academic research on decent work in the formal and informal sector

Main objectives 

• to gain an in-depth understanding of the decent work situation of workers in the companies/farms and sectors which Enabel is targeting
• to use those insights to inform and finetune the strategies and actions of the interventions
• use these findings, where relevant, for evidence-driven social dialogue and policy influencing
• to measure the progress at worker-level, based on the perceptions of the workers themselves
• to provide material for impact stories and communication purposes

DWA tool

The DWA contains data-collection efforts at three levels: worker level; representatives of workers and/or farm (workers) associations; employers and/or farmers. 

The worker-part of the instrument involves, amongst others: 

a narrative-based component, which invites workers to share a story about their work. This narrative-based approach involves the capture and analysis of many short stories to understand and respond to complex issues. 

a decent work quick scan, comprising of 55 to 60 questions (depending on the type of workers) covering the following eight dimensions: 

1. Employment security: the extent to which your job is stable and secure.
2. Labour market security: the extent to which you can work as much as you want to and how difficult it is to find another job if that would be required.
3. Income security: the extent to which your income is allowing you to lead a decent life.
4. Social protection: ensures that your quality of life is still guaranteed when confronted with retirement, or pregnancy, illness, invalidity, an occupational accident and/or job loss.
5. Work-life balance and well-being: the extent to which you can balance work and               family/personal life, and whether you feel supported, consulted, and given sufficient autonomy in your job, the extent to which you perceive your job as useful and satisfying.
6. Fair treatment: the extent to which you are being treated fairly at work.
7. Occupational health and safety: the extent to which you work environment is safe and healthy.
8. Voice and representation: the extent to which you can defend your rights and interests at work, individually and collectively.

Scoring

Each of the eight dimensions of decent work consists of a limited number of closed questions (between four and nine) and one open question to document relevant contextual information. While the Likert scales for the questions, differ, they have been formulated in such a way, that the scores can be converted to a number between 0 and 10, with 0 the weakest score, and 10 the highest score. This allows the clustering of scores for each of the eight domains of decent work, as well as for the scores of individual questions of one of the sub-dimensions. The last component probes the respondents about two possible areas of improvement for their working environment. 

Limitations

• Interviews of 60-90 mins
• Comparative approach comes at cost of some flexibility
• Decent work scan based on worker voices: can be affected by ignorance, fear, initimidation