The International Regulatory Framework for Labor Protection of Multinational Enterprises

Abstract

The issue of labor protection for multinational enterprises has attracted international attention due to the proliferation of "sweatshop" incidents in the international arena. But at the same time, on the one hand, international labor standards as a system for regulating international labor affairs does not yet exist a mandatory convention and responsibility framework for its implementation; on the other hand, national statutes are all in the form of voluntary ratification, without enforceability and specific sanctions. The above reasons together lead multinational enterprises to disregard labor rights. Therefore, this paper proposes to link labor standards with trade and investment in order to better regulate multinational enterprises.