In October 2023, the Central America Committee of the Americas Group (AG) published Employer Guidance: Ensuring Respect for Freedom of Association (FOA) in El Salvador. The comprehensive Guidance tool provides employers in El Salvador’s garment sector with clear expectations of the Americas Group on the policies they should adopt and actions they should take to ensure that workers’ right to freedom of association and to bargain collectively is respected in the workplace.

The document is divided into five sections: El Salvador: Challenges to Ensuring Respect for FOA; Freedom of Association: A Fundamental Human Right; Benefits for Employers of Effective Industrial Relations Between Management and Workers; Employer Actions to Ensure Respect for Freedom of Association – which is the main section of the document; a Model FOA Policy; and a Glossary. The document concludes with an annex which includes an extensive listing of practices that violate or restrict freedom of association and that therefore should be avoided by employers.

• Employer Guidance: Ensuring Respect for Freedom of Association in El Salvador