The World Employment Confederation has announced a compendium of voluntary initiatives promoting ethical recruitment practices among its national federations.

The compendium is based on a survey of the national federations members of the World Employment Confederation and shows the various initiatives that they have undertaken to maintain high quality standards of services and promote ethical recruitment practices.

The best practices are clustered in different categories, including codes of conduct, certification  and training systems, educating staff and user companies, grievance mechanisms, etc.

WEC’s code of conduct is to set out the acceptable standards of professional practices to which the employment industry is committed and expected to operate.

“Today’s labour markets are characterised by the rise of a dispersed workforce and increasing work flexibility,” the compendium stated. “In this new environment, the needs of individuals and business are changing rapidly: a job for life is a thing of the past and individuals want more freedom of choice and expect to work the way they live. In addition, more and more workers are migrating internationally for employment opportunities. In this dynamic and changing landscape, the employment industry has an important role to play in helping workers connect with employment opportunities. Given this new landscape, it is integral for the employment industry to promote international fair and ethical recruitment practices, support the portability of rights and social protections, and to uphold high quality standards through self-regulation mechanisms that complement statutory regulation in place.”

“Operating an ethical business helps to create a level playing field for the employment industry, and helps improve the quality of its services and be more attractive to clients – both workers and user companies,” the compendium said.

The compendium was developed in the context of the partnership of the World Employment Confederation with the ILO in the Fair Recruitment Initiative, a multi-stakeholder strategy that aims at fighting human trafficking and forced labour in South Asia and in the Middle East.