5th Periodic Report under the International Covenant for Economic Social and Cultural Rights Feedback
Article 6: Right to work
Read the text in the report here.
The Covenant recognises that the right to work is a fundamental human right. It recognises that work is not solely a source of income that provides for the basic necessities in life, but has the potential to satisfy social, intellectual and personal needs and therefore is integral for a life of human dignity.
The report covers developments aimed at getting people into work and reports on unemployment rates in population groupssuch as Māori, Pacific, youth, the aging population and disabled people. It also looks at women's employment and developments in improving pay equity.
Committee recommendations
The paragraph numbers below are taken from the Committee's concluding observations that you can access here.
24. The Committee recommends that the State party take targeted measures to address underemployment more effectively. It also recommends that the State party assess the effectiveness of measures taken to increase employment opportunities in general and for specific groups, notably Māori, Pasifika, women, persons with disabilities and youth. In doing so, the State party should work in partnership with the groups concerned to increase their participation in the labour market and create incentives for companies to employ persons with disabilities, such as a decrease in the social security contribution of the employer for a fixed time period. The Committee encourages the State party to step up its efforts to address the increasing numbers of youth not engaged in education, employment or training and draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 18 (2005) on the right to work.