The ILO accomplishes its work through three main bodies, all of which comprise government, employer and worker representatives.
International Labour Conference
The member States of the ILO meet at the International Labour Conference in June of each year, in Geneva. Two government delegates, an employer delegate and a worker delegate represent each Member State. Technical advisors assist the delegations, which are usually headed by Cabinet Ministers who take the floor on behalf of their governments.
Employer and worker delegates can freely express themselves and vote according to instructions received from their organizations. They sometimes vote against each other or even against their government representatives.
The Conference establishes and adopts international labour standards and is a forum for discussion of key social and labour questions. It also adopts the Organization's budget and elects the Governing Body.
The Governing Body
The Governing Body is the executive council of the ILO and meets three times a year in Geneva. It takes decisions on ILO policy and establishes the programme and the budget, which it then submits to the Conference for adoption. It also elects the Director-General.
The ILO Governing Body is composed of 28 government members, 14 employer members and 14 worker members. States of chief industrial importance permanently hold ten of the government seats. Government representatives are elected at the Conference every three years, taking into account geographical distribution. The employers and workers elect their own representatives respectively.
The International Labour Office
The International Labour Office is the permanent secretariat of the International Labour Organization. It is the focal point for ILO's overall activities, which it prepares under the scrutiny of the Governing Body and under the leadership of a Director-General, who is elected for a five-year renewable term.
The Office employs some 1,900 officials of over 110 nationalities at the Geneva headquarters and in 40 field offices around the world. In addition, some 600 experts undertake missions in all regions of the world under the programme of technical cooperation. The Office also contains a research and documentation centre and a printing facility, which issue many specialized studies, reports and periodicals.