Involving social partners—government, employers’ organizations and trade unions—in programme design and implementation is critical to building the consensus and partnership that make Better Work a success. In turn, the involvement of each social partner in improving compliance with labour standards strengthens their respective investments in good worker protection and industry competitiveness in global supply chains.

Better Work’s social partners participate at both global and country levels. At the global level, an Advisory Committee that provides input to the Management Group includes representatives of donor governments and international workers’ and employers’ organizations to help ensure key stakeholder engagement.

At the country level, Better Work programme design uses a participatory process over a period of 6–12 months, with active participation of social partners. Once operational, Better Work country programmes are advised by a tripartite Project Advisory Committee (PAC) that includes representatives from the national government (usually the Ministry of Labour) and local employers’ and workers’ organizations, representing the sector or industry level. 

Other partners that join in providing input and implementation assistance to the Better Work programme include international buyers and representatives of civil society and academia.