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Transnational Governance Models: Codes of Conduct, and Monitoring Agencies as Tools to Increase Workers' Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Vanisha Sukdeo

Extract

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This paper critically explores how to implement changes to corporate behavior in regard to labor-related issues through codes of conduct (“code” or “codes”) that would strengthen the rights of workers. The corporation essentially allows for its own reformation from within. There are many ways the link between corporate governance or corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) and workers' rights can be explored. The term CSR is used to differentiate from the alternate shareholder primacy model of a corporation existing solely for its shareholders and to increase profit. It stands for the idea that corporations have duties to other stakeholders beyond shareholders. Those stakeholders include, but are not limited to, employees and those who produce goods and provide services, environmental agencies, and government. Codes are a soft law mechanism that may be used to create a voluntary standard or set of rules to which corporations are bound. While this may be viewed as rather insubstantial compared to legislation, codes have value in terms of allowing the two (or more) parties that are bound by the code to have direct input in drafting the code. While the inherent imbalance of power involved in the dynamics of the employment relationship between management and workers must be acknowledged and must have an impact on the creation of the code, it does allow for involvement at a level which legislation does not. Part two of this paper examines governance models, Part three discusses codes of conduct as a private regulatory framework, and Part four shows how monitoring agencies are used to ensure compliance with codes.

Type
Articles
Information
German Law Journal , Volume 13 , Issue 12: 5Th CLPE Comparative Research in Law and Political Economy Network: Transnational Private Regulatory Governance: Regimes, Dialogue, Constitutionalization , 01 December 2012 , pp. 1559 - 1570
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 by German Law Journal GbR 

References

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