Agenda: International Conference on Decent Work and Corporate Social Responsibility in the Era of the SDGs 21 - 23 March, 2024
INTRODUCTION
In recent decades, decent work has increasingly been on economic and social agendas, with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) explicitly linking it to economic growth in SDG 8. The International Labour Organisation built on this by framing the Decent Work Agenda around the tenets of SDG 8. Governments actively promote this too; the G20 New Delhi Leader’s Declaration in September 2023 committed to the cause of decent work for all workers.
Though global fora like the UN, the ILO and the G20 may place decent work at the centre of global agendas, the responsibility of implementing decent work across value chains ultimately lies with corporations. This may take the form of paying Living Wages, providing better working conditions, ensuring gender equality or supporting collective bargaining.
The business case for this is increasingly evident. Growing inequality has a demonstrably negative impact on economic growth, while closing the Living Wage gap could boost the global GDP by 5.4%, adding US$4.56 trillion annually, through increased productivity and spending at a cost of just $1.89 trillion. Similarly, the ILO has estimated that poor safety at work costs businesses US$2.8 trillion annually – 4% of global GDP – through lost working time, interruptions in production, treatment of occupational injuries and diseases, rehabilitation, and compensation.
There is no longer a trade-off between an economy that grows and an economy that helps people thrive. So how can we achieve this?
As we stand at the halfway point between 2016 (SDG adoption) and 2030 (SDG implementation targets), it is necessary to assess how corporations can catalyse the achievement of SDG 8, and how these efforts will fit within the larger realm of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This is all the more apt in a country like India, where notions of CSR have hitherto been narrowly restricted to mandatory philanthropic efforts.
To this end the WageIndicator Foundation and FLAME University are organising a conference that aims to be a unique interface between academia and industry, aiming to advance both discourse and action on corporate responsibility.
The conference will be held at FLAME University, Pune, India, between 21st to 23rd March, 2024.
For a detailed view of the conference agenda, kindly follow this link.
Day 1
- Keynote 1 | Rob van Tulder: Download
- Keynote 2 | Martin Kahanec: Download
- Paper Presentation 1 | Living Wages
- Special Session 1 - Methodologies for Living Wage Calculation
- Panel Discussion 1: Best practices in Living Wage Implementation
- Moderator: Ranjit Prakash, ILO, India
- Marjolein Scheerders - Global Compensation Specialist, Inter IKEA Group
- Gregor Loetsch – Head Compensation and Benefits, SOS Children’s Villages
- Gayala Srinivasa Rao - Living Wage Expert, IDH India
- Nicole Whittingslow - Sustainability Consultant, Peterson Projects and Solutions
- Panel Discussion 2: Smart reporting on the "S" in ESG regulations
- Moderator: Tripti Naswa
- Paulien Osse, WageIndicator Foundation
- Paula Letorey - PWC, UK
- Marjolein Scheerders (Inter IKEA Group)
Launch report: Working towards paying a living wage - PWC & WageIndicator
- Launch Event 1: Launch of the Living Wage Monitor
- Martin Kahanec - Professor, School of Public Policy, Central European University
- Paula Letorey - Partner Workforce and Employment, PwC UK
Day 2
- Master Class: Walking the Talk -What Role for the SDGs?
- Rob van Tulder - Professor Emeritus, Erasmus University, Rotterdam School of Management
- Special Session 2: Download
- Valeria Tonella - Gig Researcher, WageIndicator Foundation
- Srishti Das - Gig Researcher, WageIndicator Foundation
- Ananya Prabhughate - Gig Researcher, WageIndicator Foundation
- Special Session 3: Gig and Platform Economy: Emerging Perspectives for Future of Decent Work
- Uma Rani - Senior Economist, International Labour Organisation
- Aditi Surie- Senior Consultant, Indian Institute of Human Settlements
- Ravikiran Naik- Faculty, FLAME University
- Keynote Address 3: The Gig Economy and SDG 8
- Uma Rani – Senior Economist, International Labour Organisation
- Special Session 4 | Aditi Surie: Download
- Senior Consultant, Indian Institute for Human Settlements
- Keynote Address 4 | Ernesto Noronha: The Experience of Indian Gig Workers: Interface with Precariousness
- Faculty, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
- Paper Presentation 2: Gig and Platform Work
- Nandini Kumari- PhD. Student, Jawaharlal Nehru University: Gig Economy and Decent Work: Download
- Manasi Gore and Meenal Annachhatre - Assistant Professors, Pune University: Download
- Martijn Arets - Global Gig Economy Expert, WageIndicator Foundation: Download
- Rogerio Marques Benedito Junior - Researcher, WageIndicator Foundation: Download
- Rupa Korde and Nakshatra Pradhan - Assistant Professor FLAME University and Student, M. S. University of Baroda - Download
- Paper Presentation 3: Decent Work
- Geethika Jammula - Undergraduate Student, FLAME University: Download
- Aman Gupta - Assistant Professor, National University of Juridical Sciences and Vaishnavi Ganesh - Specialist Disability Inclusion, V-Shesh: Download
- P Ravi Kiran & Rajesh Kumar Shastri -Research Scholar and Associate Professor, Motila Nehru National Institute of Technology and Akriti Chaubey - Assistant Professor, Symbiosis University: Download
- Paper Presentation 4: IT and The Future of Work
- Panel Discussion 3: Coming to Terms with the Gig Economy’s Transformation of Work (Part of a live-streamed seminar on the global gig economy)
- Varsha Bansal - Independent Journalist on Technology, AI and Humans
- Aditi Surie - Senior Consultant, Indian Institute for Human Settlements
- Ernesto Noronha - Professor, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
- Panel Discussion 4: Policies For a Robust Gig Economy (Part of a live-streamed seminar on the global gig economy)
- Apoorv Kulkarni - Head of Research, OMI Foundation
- Bhavya Sharma - Director, Corporate Communications and ESG, Urban Company
- Download
- Launch Event 2: Launch of WageIndicator Living Tariff Tool – India
- Nadia Pralitasari - Labour Law and Gig Economy Expert, WageIndicator Foundation / Gajimu Indonesia
- Shailja Tripathi - Manager and Researcher, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University
Day 3
- Special Session 5 | Deepika Rao: Download
- Executive Director, Cividep
- Special Session 6 | Albert Cañigueral: Download
- Independent Gig Economy Expert
- Panel Discussion 5: Wage Setting and Governments
- Douglas Opio - Executive Director, Federation of Uganda Employers
- Ranjit Prakash - Ranjit Prakash - National Coordinator, Setting Adequate Wages Programme
- Biju Varkkey - Professor, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
- Keynote 5 | Biju Varkkey: Designing Decent Work Aligned HR systems: Case of Gold Jewellery Manufacturing
- Special Session 7: The evolution of Labour Laws and Minimum Wages
- Iftikhar Ahmad - Founder, Centre for Labour Research and Global Labour Law Specialist and team lead, WageIndicator Foundation: The Evolving Landscape of Labour Rights
- Kea Tijdens, Iftikhar Ahmad, Nii Ashia Amanquarnor - Researchers, WageIndicator Foundation: Download
- Launch Event 3: Launch of the Living Wage Gap Check
- Douglas Opio - Executive Director, Federation of Uganda Employers
- Wietze Helmantel - Cooperative partner at Python United and Turftorr, lead Tools & IT, WageIndicator Foundation
- Paper Presentation 5: CSR in India
- Divyanshi Nagda- Undergraduate Student, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University: Corporate Social Responsibility in India: Download
- Arunima Haldar - Professor, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) and Milind Kamat - Assitant Professor, SPJIMR: Download
- Ananthakrishnan Rajamani & Chandra Mohan Thakur - Students, and Prof. Swapnil Garg - Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Indore: Download
- Varun Miglani - Assistant Professor, Symbiosis University: Download
- Special Session 8: Worker Representation, Living Wages, and the SDG Agenda
- Nadia Pralitasari and Muhammad Fakhri - Labour Expert and Researcher, Gajimu Indonesia: Download
- Maarten van Klaveren and Fiona Dragstra Researcher and General Director, WageIndicator Foundation: Download
- Gashaw Tesfa Alemu, Eyoel Mekonnen, Andina Ramadhani - Project Officers, WageIndicator Foundation: Download
- Daniela Ceccon and Gabriele Medas - Director Data and Manager CBA Database, WageIndicator Foundation: Download
- Keynote 6 | Pradip Swarnakar: Future of Jobs and Just Transition
- Panel Discussion 6: Regulation, Collective Bargaining and a Just Transition for Labour
- Dela Feby - Project Lead and Labour Law Expert, Gajimu Indonesia /WageIndicator Foundation
- Deepika Rao - Executive Director, Cividep
- Wiranta Ginting - International Coordinator, Asia Floor Wage Alliance
- Closing Address & Prize Distribution
- Santosh Kudtarkar - Dean, Faculty of Liberal Education, FLAME University
- Fiona Dragstra - General Director, WageIndicator Foundation
- Rupa Korde - Faculty, FLAME University