Publication: Reforming Labor Law for the Changing Nature of Work: Evidence from Mongolia
Loading...
Date
2024-07-02
ISSN
Published
2024-07-02
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This paper examines labor market regulations in Mongolia, particularly focusing on the new Labor Law enacted in January 2022. The review of the labor and minimum wage regulations suggests that the Mongolian Labor Law is largely in line with international standards and practices in other comparator countries. The new Labor Law added more protections for workers, which increased its alignment with international standards. These include some limits on the use of fixed-term contracts, protections for non-standard forms of employment, limits on working hours, the provision of paternity leave, additional rules governing mass dismissals, and increased severance benefits. The analysis reveals that while the new law aligns more closely with global practices, challenges remain in unemployment income protection and law enforcement and compliance. First, some of the parameters of the unemployment insurance scheme including eligibility requirements could be updated based on rigorous actuarial projections that can assess the impact on costs as well as the adequacy of benefits. Second, compliance with the legal requirements is limited. Strengthening the labor inspection system needs to be prioritized by allowing more frequent inspections and increasing administrative capacities and financial allocations for enforcement.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Hatayama, Maho; Batchuluun, Altantsetseg. 2024. Reforming Labor Law for the Changing Nature of Work: Evidence from Mongolia. Jobs Working Paper; Issue No. 80. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/41810 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication The Regulation of Platform-Based Work(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-11-04)The rapid expansion of the digital economy has transformed the labor market, particularly through the rise of platform-based work. Despite the opportunities it brought into the lives of many workers, the digital economy has presented many challenges to the working conditions of platform workers. This policy brief examines regulatory approaches to protect platform workers across the world and synthesizes the approach to legislation and its scope in the key areas of labor regulations. It includes 23 regulatory reforms in 20 jurisdictions that took place from 2016 to 2024. Our analysis finds that governments take three approaches to regulating platform work: (a) amending the existing labor legislation to platform workers, (b) introducing stand-alone legislation specific to them, and (c) developing measures only to clarify their employment status and extend existing laws for platform workers. Among the countries examined, most of those that introduced regulatory initiatives are high-income countries. Geographically, they are mainly from Europe, North America, and Latin America. In addition, our review suggests that many of the reforms limit their focus to location-based platforms. When it comes to the scope of the legislation, provisions on data privacy, protection, and portability, freedom of association and collective bargaining, and protection against unfair dismissal are most frequently covered by special legislation for platform workers. Employment status determines if workers can access labor rights and social protection. Clarifying employment relationships is thus crucial to improving the working conditions of platform workers. Countries have chosen different approaches to clarify the employment status of these workers. These include (a) clarifying a list of criteria to define employment status, (b) creating a new third category of workers, (c) including the definition of platform workers in the existing category, and (d) introducing specific provisions for contracts. Given the complexity of determining employment relationship, courts still play a key role in determining the employment status in many countries. To improve pay for platform workers, enforcing the existing national minimum wage is the most common approach in setting wage regulations. Given the nature of platform-based work, some regulations include special provisions, such as rules on tips, payment processes, and compensation for work-related costs like equipment.Publication Revisiting Labor Market Regulations in the Middle East and North Africa(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-01-24)Labor regulations are important determinants of resource allocation, productivity, and labor market outcomes. They can protect workers’ rights, enhance job security, and improve working conditions. However, overly restrictive regulations can also increase business costs, becoming barriers to creating formal employment, particularly for vulnerable workers. This paper analyzes the key characteristics of labor market regulations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and benchmarks them against international practices. The main objective is to identify strengths and weaknesses in the regulations and to inform governments about policy options to enhance employment outcomes in the region. The paper focuses on labor laws and regulations concerning hiring, working hours, minimum wage, redundancy rules and cost, unemployment insurance, labor tax and social security contributions, and legal frameworks affecting women’s work. This paper finds that the region has generally flexibly hiring rules, but that redundancy regulations are relatively rigid and costly compared to international practices. Statutory minimum wages and labor taxes are not very high, with the exception of a few countries. Although many countries have made efforts to remove legal barriers for women workers, discriminatory laws still restrict their participation in the labor market. While labor market regulations vary by country, the findings suggest areas where there is clear scope to improve the design and implementation of labor market regulations to facilitate stronger formal labor demand and to enhance efficient resource allocation; and at the same time, to strengthen compliance to provide necessary protections to workers.Publication Jobs' Amenability to Working from Home(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-05)The spread of COVID-19 and implementation of "social distancing" policies around the world have raised the question of how many jobs can be done at home. This paper uses skills surveys from 53 countries at varying levels of economic development to estimate jobs' amenability to working from home. The paper considers jobs' characteristics and uses internet access at home as an important determinant of working from home. The findings indicate that the amenability of jobs to working from home increases with the level of economic development of the country. This is driven by jobs in poor countries being more intensive in physical/manual tasks, using less information and communications technology, and having poorer internet connectivity at home. Women, college graduates, and salaried and formal workers have jobs that are more amenable to working from home than the average worker. The opposite holds for workers in hotels and restaurants, construction, agriculture, and commerce. The paper finds that the crisis may exacerbate inequities between and within countries. It also finds that occupations explain less than half of the variability in the working-from-home indexes within countries, which highlights the importance of using individual-level data to assess jobs’ amenability to working from home.Publication Job Creation in Mozambique : Is Labor Law Reform the Answer?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-11)This paper analyzes the potential economic impact of changes to the labor laws proposed in 2006. The economic logic behind these reforms is reviewed, and the conditions under which the reforms could be expected to have the maximum impact on employment are isolated. Next, the experiences of selected developing countries which have undertaken similar reforms are reviewed, which showed the importance of initial conditions and economic trends outside of the labor market in ensuring a successful reform. Third, the main provisions of the proposed reforms are explained. The analysis concludes that given Mozambique s initial conditions, including strong demand from private sector employers for change, the scope of proposed reforms, and the potential for continued economic growth, the reforms should increase firms' profit margins, and as a result, a positive employment effect is possible in the medium term. The analysis also shows that although the reforms are deep compared with the starting point, even if reforms are enacted, Mozambique's labor market would still be classified as rigid by international benchmarks. The report concludes with a discussion of the possible social and poverty effect. In the short run, there is a danger of layoffs in some of the larger firms which had previously reported being overstaffed. If this happens, the poverty effect would certainly be negative in the short run. The concluding section notes that other countries have avoided these types of layoffs by introducing transition arrangements.Publication Labor Markets and School-to-Work Transition in Egypt : Diagnostics, Constraints, and Policy Framework(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-11)Analysis in this policy note indicates a rapid deterioration in employment opportunities for young individuals transitioning from school to work in Egypt. Despite substantial improvements in labor market outcomes in recent years (in raising employment and participation and in lowering unemployment), unemployment rates in Egypt remain exceedingly high among youth entering the labor market for the first time. A slow school-to-work transition remains the main reason behind high unemployment rates. Young entrants to the labor market have become more educated than ever before: the share of the working-age-population with university education in Egypt has increased significantly between the years 1998 and 2006 (from 14% to 19% among men and from 9% to 14% among women). However, youth are unable to capitalize the time and resources invested in their education as the labor market is not providing enough good-quality jobs for them. To cope with scarce formal jobs, young-educated workers are opting to work in the informal sector and/or withdraw from the labor force, which is contributing to a deadweight loss of recent investments in education. There are three key factors that seem to explain why school-to-job transition remains low in Egypt: investments in the private sector remain low and capital intensive, new graduates are not equipped with the skills demanded by the private sector, and the public sector still provides incentives for educated individuals (mainly women) to queue for private sector jobs. There are several policy options used in the international context to further enhance the performance of the labor market; such as enhancing employability of new entrants, reforming the technical and vocational training system, and designing targeted programs aiming to boost labor demand.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Media and Messages for Nutrition and Health(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06)The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has experienced rapid and significant economic growth over the past decade. However, poor nutritional outcomes remain a concern. Rates of childhood undernutrition are particularly high in remote, rural, and upland areas. Media have the potential to play an important role in shaping health and nutrition–related behaviors and practices as well as in promoting sociocultural and economic development that might contribute to improved nutritional outcomes. This report presents the results of a media audit (MA) that was conducted to inform the development and production of mass media advocacy and communication strategies and materials with a focus on maternal and child health and nutrition that would reach the most people from the poorest communities in northern Lao PDR. Making more people aware of useful information, essential services and products and influencing them to use these effectively is the ultimate goal of mass media campaigns, and the MA measures the potential effectiveness of media efforts to reach this goal. The effectiveness of communication channels to deliver health and nutrition messages to target beneficiaries to ensure maximum reach and uptake can be viewed in terms of preferences, satisfaction, and trust. Overall, the four most accessed media channels for receiving information among communities in the study areas were village announcements, mobile phones, television, and out-of-home (OOH) media. Of the accessed media channels, the top three most preferred channels were village announcements (40 percent), television (26 percent), and mobile phones (19 percent). In terms of trust, village announcements were the most trusted source of information (64 percent), followed by mobile phones (14 percent) and television (11 percent). Hence of all the media channels, village announcements are the most preferred, have the most satisfied users, and are the most trusted source of information in study communities from four provinces in Lao PDR with some of the highest burden of childhood undernutrition.Publication The Journey Ahead(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-31)The Journey Ahead: Supporting Successful Migration in Europe and Central Asia provides an in-depth analysis of international migration in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and the implications for policy making. By identifying challenges and opportunities associated with migration in the region, it aims to inform a more nuanced, evidencebased debate on the costs and benefits of cross-border mobility. Using data-driven insights and new analysis, the report shows that migration has been an engine of prosperity and has helped address some of ECA’s demographic and socioeconomic disparities. Yet, migration’s full economic potential remains untapped. The report identifies multiple barriers keeping migration from achieving its full potential. Crucially, it argues that policies in both origin and destination countries can help maximize the development impacts of migration and effectively manage the economic, social, and political costs. Drawing from a wide range of literature, country experiences, and novel analysis, The Journey Ahead presents actionable policy options to enhance the benefits of migration for destination and origin countries and migrants themselves. Some measures can be taken unilaterally by countries, whereas others require close bilateral or regional coordination. The recommendations are tailored to different types of migration— forced displacement as well as high-skilled and low-skilled economic migration—and from the perspectives of both sending and receiving countries. This report serves as a comprehensive resource for governments, development partners, and other stakeholders throughout Europe and Central Asia, where the richness and diversity of migration experiences provide valuable insights for policy makers in other regions of the world.Publication Remarks at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-10-12)World Bank Group President David Malpass discussed biodiversity and climate change being closely interlinked, with terrestrial and marine ecosystems serving as critically important carbon sinks. At the same time climate change acts as a direct driver of biodiversity and ecosystem services loss. The World Bank has financed biodiversity conservation around the world, including over 116 million hectares of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas, 10 million hectares of Terrestrial Protected Areas, and over 300 protected habitats, biological buffer zones and reserves. The COVID pandemic, biodiversity loss, climate change are all reminders of how connected we are. The recovery from this pandemic is an opportunity to put in place more effective policies, institutions, and resources to address biodiversity loss.Publication Economic Recovery(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-04-06)World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the world facing major challenges, including COVID, climate change, rising poverty and inequality and growing fragility and violence in many countries. He highlighted vaccines, working closely with Gavi, WHO, and UNICEF, the World Bank has conducted over one hundred capacity assessments, many even more before vaccines were available. The World Bank Group worked to achieve a debt service suspension initiative and increased transparency in debt contracts at developing countries. The World Bank Group is finalizing a new climate change action plan, which includes a big step up in financing, building on their record climate financing over the past two years. He noted big challenges to bring all together to achieve GRID: green, resilient, and inclusive development. Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, mentioned focusing on vulnerable people during the pandemic. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, focused on giving everyone a fair shot during a sustainable recovery. All three commented on the importance of tackling climate change.Publication South Asia Development Update, April 2024: Jobs for Resilience(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-04-02)South Asia is expected to continue to be the fastest-growing emerging market and developing economy (EMDE) region over the next two years. This is largely thanks to robust growth in India, but growth is also expected to pick up in most other South Asian economies. However, growth in the near-term is more reliant on the public sector than elsewhere, whereas private investment, in particular, continues to be weak. Efforts to rein in elevated debt, borrowing costs, and fiscal deficits may eventually weigh on growth and limit governments' ability to respond to increasingly frequent climate shocks. Yet, the provision of public goods is among the most effective strategies for climate adaptation. This is especially the case for households and farms, which tend to rely on shifting their efforts to non-agricultural jobs. These strategies are less effective forms of climate adaptation, in part because opportunities to move out of agriculture are limited by the region’s below-average employment ratios in the non-agricultural sector and for women. Because employment growth is falling short of working-age population growth, the region fails to fully capitalize on its demographic dividend. Vibrant, competitive firms are key to unlocking the demographic dividend, robust private investment, and workers’ ability to move out of agriculture. A range of policies could spur firm growth, including improved business climates and institutions, the removal of financial sector restrictions, and greater openness to trade and capital flows.