SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth | SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals | SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
Ministry of Labour & Employment
India’s employers’ and workers’ organizations have presented a landmark Bipartite Roadmap to operationalize Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) for decent work, developed in the presence of ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo. The roadmap is the culmination of a year-long dialogue supported by the Government of Japan, aligning India’s national frameworks with international labor standards. It outlines shared priorities for joint action across enterprises, including MSMEs, focusing on fair employment, occupational safety, and non-discrimination. Currently, six major employers’ organizations and six workers’ organizations have committed to the framework, which positions social dialogue as a collaborative solution for navigating green and digital transitions within global supply chains.
Key Pillars of the Bipartite RBC Roadmap
Joint Capacity-Building: Engaging employers and trade unions in shared training to operationalize RBC principles at the shop-floor level.
Decent Work in Supply Chains: Promoting responsible business practices across value chains, specifically targeting MSME integration into global standards.
Inclusive Transition Support: Focusing on social protection and fair employment practices during the economy’s green and digital shifts.
Strengthened Social Dialogue: Utilizing bipartite cooperation to identify shared priorities and resolve industrial disputes through meaningful engagement.
Global Alignment: Connecting India’s domestic actions with the Global Coalition for Social Justice to enhance its international labor credibility.
What is “Responsible Business Conduct” (RBC)? Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) refers to the principle that businesses should maximize their positive contribution to society—specifically regarding labor rights and environmental protection—while minimizing and addressing adverse impacts. In the context of the new India roadmap, RBC moves beyond mere legal compliance toward “Decent Work,” where companies proactively engage in social dialogue with workers’ organizations. This includes ensuring safe working environments, fair wages, and non-discriminatory hiring practices, especially as industries evolve through automation and decarbonization.
Policy Relevance
The roadmap represents a transition from “Adversarial Industrial Relations” to “Collaborative Social Governance,” where social partners take joint responsibility for India’s industrial reputation in global markets.
Strategic Impact:
Bypassing Supply Chain Friction: Adopting the RBC roadmap ensures that Indian MSMEs meet the “Decent Work” requirements increasingly demanded by EU and US buyers, preventing trade barriers linked to labor standards.
Standardizing “Responsible” formalization: The roadmap provides a “Standard Maker” template for the 85% informal workforce, offering a pathway to include them in social protection and fair employment frameworks.
Operationalizing Workplace Safety: Prioritizing Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) as a joint action directly supports the goal of reducing industrial downtime and improving the productivity of India’s manufacturing clusters.
Federal Labor Harmony: Strengthening bipartite dialogue reduces the incidence of wildcat strikes and litigation, creating the stable industrial environment required to reach the 400 MT steel capacity and other infrastructure targets.
Implementation Fidelity via Japan-ILO Support: Leveraging international expertise ensures that local capacity-building initiatives are grounded in globally validated “Best Practices” for industrial relations.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: What protocols are required to ensure that the digital transition focus of the roadmap includes re-skilling guarantees for workers whose roles are automated by AI?
Follow the full news here: ILO: India’s Bipartite Roadmap for RBC - February 18, 2026