Labour Rights and Age-Inclusive Workplaces

This chapter examines how population ageing is reshaping the meaning and practice of labour rights in an evolving world of work. As life expectancy rises and working lives extend, the key challenge is not only to keep older adults economically active but to ensure that employment remains fair, secure, and dignified throughout the life course. The chapter begins by outlining international labour standards and identifying persisting gaps in protection for older and migrant workers. It then reviews major theoretical perspectives, including life-course, segmentation, and capabilities approaches, to explain how inequality accumulates and interacts with age and gender over time. Drawing on global evidence, the chapter explores the policy dimensions of age-inclusive labour markets, such as fair wages, flexible work arrangements, anti-discrimination measures, and universal social protection. It concludes that age inclusivity is both a human rights imperative and a policy innovation, requiring governments, employers, and social partners to redesign work, welfare, and learning systems for longevity. In this vision, decent work for all ages becomes essential to sustainable development, intergenerational solidarity, and resilient societies.