Labour rights are a building block of the social rights and the protection of labour rights goes hand in hand with the goal of full employment. The protection of labour rights benefits workers and has a positive impact on their daily lives. It also benefits employers and a society by providing legal certainty in the workplace, protecting workers and promoting sustainable growth.
On 28 October 2024, the Council of Europe, together with the Academy of Justice of Armenia, launched the HELP online course Labour Rights as Human Rights, adapted to the Armenian context for the national authorities, Parliament of Armenia, civil judges, lawyers, health and labour Inspectors, members of the Confederation of Trade Unions Association of Armenia, the Republican Association of Union of Employers of Armenia and international partners – ILO and UNHCR.
The online HELP course “Labour Rights as Human Rights” deals with both individual and collective labour rights, primarily on the basis of the European Social Charter and the relevant articles of the ECHR. The course covers the European system of protection of labour rights, including the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the provisions of the European Social Charter and the case law of the ECSR.
“Protecting labour rights benefits workers and has a positive impact on their daily lives. We also understand the importance of better understanding of the human rights’ dimension of labour rights by all those who are dealing with different aspects of labour rights in their work”, mentioned the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan, Maxime Longangué in his welcome speech.
The Rector of the Academy of Justice of Armenia, Sergey Arakelyan noted the importance of the HELP course “Labour Rights as Human Rights” and highly appreciated the cooperation with the Council of Europe in launching the course adapted to the Armenian context.
The European Social Charter is a Council of Europe treaty that guarantees fundamental social and economic rights and is a counterpart to the European Convention on Human Rights, which refers to civil and political rights. The ESC guarantees a broad range of everyday human rights relating to employment, labour rights, housing, health education, social protection and welfare. It provides extensive and comprehensive protection of social rights and represents an essential component of the continent’s human rights architecture.
The event was organised within the framework of the Council of Europe Project “Enhancing Social Human Rights in Armenia.” The Project is part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2023-2026.