In its statement, the World Bank recognized that "it is important
that government actions focus on the needs of the labor force and lower income
households as well as those designed to help businesses to survive and
grow." To this end, labor rankings in the 2010 Doing Business
report (to be launched in September 2009) will include "provisions for fixed
term workers and standards for severance payment, mandatory days
of rest and night work and holidays, and minimum wage levels." The
Bank plans to convene a working group of "representatives from the
ILO...trade unions, businesses, academics and legal experts" in order to
discuss further revisions to the EWI. The Bank also announced that it would
work to develop a new index, known as the Worker Protection Indicator (WPI),
which would evaluate how well governments adhere to core labor standards and
worker protections.

While this is all encouraging news, only time will tell how effectively and
thoroughly the World Bank can implement these changes. We'll keep our eyes out
for the upcoming edition of Doing Business, where the Bank has promised
to outline the concrete steps toward implementation of its new goals.