Globalization and decent work policy: Reflections upon a new legal approach

F rom the ongoing debate on the future of work, it is becoming increasingly clear that social policies and related legislation need adapting to more open and competitive markets and to more complex, segmented and technology-driven ways of organizing production and services. Indeed, that labour law needs remodelling to adjust to the “new economy” in the broadest sense of the term can hardly be disputed. It is no longer a question of whether, but how the remodelling process will take place. The modernization of social and labour policies calls for reconsideration of the optimum balance to be struck between workers’ protection, job creation and competitiveness – i.e. the balance between economic development and nationally or internationally recognized values and rights.