HiiL launched a new tool to make workplaces in Tunisia fairer and more just. The Employment Justice Guideline provides actionable ways to deal with employment justice problems in Tunisia.
What are Guidelines?
Guidelines provide recommendations and step-by-step interventions for resolving problems. They can address family, land, employment and neighbour conflicts. HiiL develops country-specific guidelines per justice problem. Also known as Treatment Guidelines, they detail ‘what works’ based on evidence and combine knowledge from the fields of psychology, communications and conflict resolution.
Lawyers, paralegals, judges, mediators, police, and community leaders who aspire to improve people’s lives can all reference and use Guidelines to prevent or resolve people’s justice problems.
Why this Guideline matters
Let’s start with the problem it’s addressing. Tunisia’s legal system hasn’t been working as well as it should. The numbers are troubling: 4 out of 10 Tunisians have faced serious legal issues. Of those, 78% couldn’t find a good solution. This lack of justice erodes social cohesion and slows down economic development.
The challenge at work
Among these problems, there’s one main issue: problems at work. Employment justice problems aren’t merely statistics; they affect real people, especially youth and women. Every year, more than 250,000 Tunisians find themselves in work-related disputes, with 67% of them suffering as a result.
Taking a Closer Look
To understand these justice issues better, HiiL’s Justice Needs and Satisfaction Report (JNS) conducted in Tunisia and launched in March 2023, shows that 18% of all legal issues in Tunisia were about employment. The most common problems they faced included not being treated fairly when they tried to get a job (23%), having jobs that weren’t secure (22%), losing their jobs (12%), not getting the social security money they deserved (11%), and not getting paid (5%). These problems aren’t just numbers; they are the everyday experiences of people in Tunisia.
The development process of the Employment Justice Guideline
Amid these challenges, however, the Employment Justice Guideline offers a bright spot. Created with help from local experts and researchers, including judges, lawyers, and researchers, this Guideline tailored for Tunisia provides best practices and new ways of thinking to help make employment fairer and less complicated. It provides proven approaches for dealing with employment issues. In this way, practitioners don’t have to rely solely on their individual experience or potentially limiting disciplinary knowledge.
A Call to Action
The launch of the Employment Justice Guideline is like opening a door, not just a one-time event. It’s an invitation for us all – employees, employers, legal experts, and policymakers – to work together and make the employment justice system better for all.
But the story doesn’t end with the Guideline’s introduction; it’s just the start. The next big challenge is putting the Guidelines into action. We’ll do this by working with partners and offering training to legal practitioners. This way, we can make sure the Employment Justice Guideline makes a real difference in the lives of people working in Tunisia.
Guidelines have immense potential in realising people-centred justice – that is justice which prioritises people’s most pressing legal needs and the outcomes they seek.
