Evaluation Learnings Search

Learning Description

Data collection and monitoring processes should be more utilization-focused, in order to provide strategic information to improve decision-making in project implementation. Moreover, ideally, it could be used by the social partners to inform dialogue, help develop solutions/remedies and increase transparency about working conditions/compliance. Additionally, more accurate and synthesized reporting should be encouraged as the current narratives in the TPRs are too long, ill-structured and often lack precise descriptions, thereby diluting the analysis of progress that is achieved at the different levels (long-term outcomes, medium-term outcomes, short-term outcomes). This makes it difficult for the reader to quickly identify and comprehend the project achievements, challenges, risks and opportunities for improvement.

Learning Description

Partnerships with unions and civil society organizations were very effective in positioning the labor law enforcement centers in the territories and attracting workers. The partnerships established by the project with unions and civil society organizations (taking advantage of Escuela Nacional Sindical’s reputation and contacts in the labor and social movement), combined with extensive communication campaigns (through local radio stations, social media, "perifoneo” which are loop recordings broadcasted by a moving vehicle, flyers, etc.) were found to be very effective in positioning the labor law enforcement centers in the territories and attracting workers (both unionized and non-unionized).

Learning Description

Partnerships with universities for improved labor law enforcement services. As the labor law enforcement centers are generally understaffed (they are usually managed by one or two staff plus one or two mobile lawyers), the support provided by law school interns has been essential for the labor law enforcement centers’ ability to provide the requested services to workers and unions. In return, the interns repeatedly expressed to the evaluation team that they had gained invaluable hands-on experience with labor law through their participation in the labor law enforcement centers.

Learning Description

Contextualization of legal and other services through legal caravans and virtual/remote communication. In some cases, for example the labor law enforcement centers in Valledupar and Puerto Wilches (which are located in rural and remote areas), mobile lawyers, or “legal caravans,” have been very effective not only in reaching out to workers, but also in providing counselling and legal assistance to workers/unions. Other labor law enforcement centers in Cartagena, Cali, and Villavicencio have relied more on the use of virtual services and on advertising about their presence and services through alliances with trade unions.

Learning Description

The training process responds to actual needs and builds trust with workers. Different groups of stakeholders found that the training processes were very important for outreach to workers/unions and, at the same time, served to gain their trust. For example, the courses in occupational health developed by the labor law enforcement centers during the COVID-19 pandemic not only responded to an emerging need for labor law enforcement center services, but they were also found to have been essential in generating credibility for the labor law enforcement centers among workers and unions, which in turn has prompted them to seek additional services from the labor law enforcement centers, as confirmed in interviews.

Learning Description

The use of virtual/remote tools by labor law enforcement centers to provide services to workers/unions and to expand the project coverage. The project has also been very effective in increasing the use of virtual/remote tools by labor law enforcement centers, to provide services to workers/unions. Moreover, increasing the use of such virtual tools has allowed the project to widen its coverage, both in terms of the number of workers reached/served and the territories covered (municipalities and departments).

Learning Description

Counseling services resulted in the engagement of workers/unions in mediation processes with employers. In some cases (Puerto Wilches, for example), counseling services provided by labor law enforcement centers to workers/unions have resulted in the engagement of workers/unions in mediation processes with employers in an effort to solve conflicts related to alleged labor laws violations in the workplace. As explained by the labor law enforcement center staff, mediation has resulted in an agreement by both parties in 70% of the cases.

Learning Description

Communications analyses provided insights into audience differentiation. Union workers in high-risk sectors in the regions preferred leaflets as their source of information, whereas non-union urban workers in low-risk sectors preferred the hotline. The evaluation team requested data on hotline calls and social media users, which was not available in the project’s quarterly reports.

Learning Description

Adoption of the labor code and the COVID-19 pandemic sparked high demand for labor law enforcement information. The project was timely due to internal and external circumstances – push and pull factors – where the pandemic (which resulted in reduced hours/salaries or dismissals) created even more interest in the labor code (in itself, the labor code was a watershed moment in Georgia’s 30-year history since independence). From 2020, workers’ awareness and interest in the labor code (workers’ rights) increased (due mainly to direct benefits) more than their interest in issues related to occupational safety and health (mainly indirect benefits).

Learning Description

As workers’ awareness on labor law enforcement increased, so did the demand for occupational safety and health specialists and lawyers. The project’s and the Georgian Trade Unions Confederation’s occupational safety and health specialists and lawyers noted a significant increase in demand for their services, such as through the Q and A social media posts, consultations, hotline calls, and the submission of labor law violation claims. However, the high demand increased the workload of partner organizations (especially lawyers and occupational safety and health specialists), leaving them less time to regularly input data into the claims tracking system and for the project to document findings on users and their concerns.