Colombia joined the OECD in 2020, bringing to a successful conclusion an accession process that began in 2013. During the accession process, Colombia made important reforms and progress in its labour market and social policies, converging towards OECD best policies and practices. However, OECD member countries invited the Colombian Government to reinforce its reform agenda in four areas in particular: 1) labour informality and subcontracting; 2) labour law enforcement; 3) collective bargaining; and 4) crimes against trade unionists. Members also requested regular progress reports by the Colombian authorities and the OECD Secretariat on these four specific areas. This report is the second post-accession progress report by the OECD Secretariat since Colombia’s accession. The Colombian authorities have released four reports so far, one for each year since 2021.
The assessment provided in this report benefitted from input from a wide range of stakeholders in Colombia, including the Ministry of Labour, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the National Protection Unit, the National Planning Department, trade union and employer federations, the National Trade Union School and other civil society organisations; as well as international actors, including the US Department of Labor, and Employment and Social Development Canada. A draft version of the report was shared with the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) and Business at OECD (BIAC) for comments. The OECD received written comments from the Colombian Ministry of Labour, the National Association of Employers in Colombia (Asociación Nacional de Empresarios de Colombia, ANDI) and the Association of Banks and Financial Entities in Colombia (Asociación Bancaria y de Entidades Financieras de Colombia, Asobancaria). This document was approved by the Employment, Labour and Skills Committee at its 145th session on 11 April [DELSA-ELSA-ACS(2024)2] and prepared for publication by the OECD Secretariat.
This report was written by Veerle Miranda and Juliana González Rodríguez, under the senior leadership of Monika Queisser, Head of Social Policy Division. Stefano Scarpetta, Director for Employment, Labour, and Social Affairs, reviewed and commented on the report. Hanna Varkki prepared the report for publication.