Workers' rights. A new perspective

• Author: Raluca Dimitriu
• Position: Raluca Dimitriu ? Department of Law, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania, rdimitriu100@gmail.com.
• Pages: 549-558

Workers’ rights. A new perspective

Professor Raluca DIMITRIU1

Abstract

What will be the effects of the cur rent trend in Labour Law of emancipa tion from

the constrain ts of co ntractualism? Could the worker be r egarded as other than a

contractin g party and h is/her actions be a ddressed beyond purely contra ctual r ights and

obligations? The worker does not limit himself/herself today to the performance of the work

tasks, but acts as a citizen in the workplace; it is a reality calling for new theoretical

appro aches, a way from the contra ctual constraints. The individualization of labour law

appea rs as the r esult of the evolution of the rules of la bour law, which contributes to

promoting the figure of each employee a s an independent a nd unique human being. This

para digm shift also generates cha nges in the relationship between labour la w a nd human

rights protection; n one of the two being currently estranged from the orientation towards

the individual (and n ot to the collectivity). Labour la w cannot r esist to post-modern,

individual-centred a pproaches tha t shift the focus from the gr oup – to persons, r ecognizing

(and celebrating) the uniqueness of each of them. The paper offers an a pproach to the

rights of the worker from the per spective of human rights, by investigating the advantages

and disadvantages of such an extension. It seeks to identify the obstacles between the two

categor ies of rights and the extent to which they could be overcome.

Keywords: la bour la w, human rights, workers’ rights, International Labour

Organisa tion.

JEL Classification: K31

1. Introduction

By its nature, the employment relationship, since it exposes the worker to

subordination, generates a type of vulnerability that labour law (through its legal

and also contractual component – represented by collective labour agreements)

seeks to compensate. Lately, not only has this disadvantage been maintained – as it

derives from the nature of the employment relationship – but it has also been

accentuated, as an effect of the new contractual arrangements present on the labour

market. However, there is a certain evolution which fundamentally marks the

position of the worker in the employment relationship and even beyond it. It is the

very profile of the worker, who has acquired new traits. Today, the contemporary

worker asserts himself above all as a citizen, intervenes as a holder of the right to

environmental protection, reacts on identifying acts of corruption and reports

violations of the law. The worker of today is more educated, more involved in

social and civic issues, asserts his non-patrimonial rights, such as the right to

private life; she is, in fact, more sophisticated, more creative (which generates

interesting problems of distribution of intellectual property rights in relation to the

1 Raluca Dimitriu – Department of Law, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania,

rdimitriu100@gmail.com.