The documents and materials of the ILO compiled in this book can effectively complement textbooks in courses on labour law, international labour law, and European labour law. This book may also be of use to legal professionals such as lawyers, legislators, and human rights defenders who must increasingly consult international labour standards.

This compilation brings together the main results of the standard-setting activity of the International Labour Organization (ILO) over the more than 100 years of its history. Thus, it aims to make manifest the contribution of the ILO to the globalised world, emphasizing the values of international labour law in contrast to unbridled liberalisation. In this respect, the ILO labour standards have offered a consensual response to the historical challenges resulting from the two world wars and numerous economic and social crises.

From a methodological point of view, the collected texts are organized into three sections: General Principles and Fundamental Rights, Conventions and Recommendations, and Supervisory Mechanism. Each of them includes the most important documents and extracts to understand the work of the ILO in setting labour standards.

Without altering the structure and logic of the first edition, this book incorporates the reformed and the new instruments elaborated in the context of the centenary celebration and in the following years, in particular, several amendments due to the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment as a fundamental principle and right at work in the 1998 ILO Declaration. For this purpose, reference should be made to the Safe and Healthy Working Environment (Consequential Amendments) Convention, 2023 (No. 191), adopted on 12 June 2023, at the 111th Session of the International Labour Conference and open for ratification by ILO member states.