Sixty-six labour inspectors walked out of a technical workshop in Mongolia with something they didn't have before: a blueprint for protecting some of the country's most invisible workers. The two-day training session, held in partnership with the International Labour Organization, was the first of its kind since Mongolia revised its Labour Law in 2021—a legislative milestone that finally extended formal legal recognition and protections to domestic workers and assistant herders, groups who had long operated in legal shadows.
The vulnerability of these workers runs deep. Assistant herders and domestic workers in Mongolia face some of the harshest conditions imaginable: punishing work hours, unsafe living quarters, and virtually no access to social protection or social services. These are people who hold the fabric of rural and urban households together, yet their labour has historically fallen outside the reach of formal labour law. The revised 2021 Labour Law changed that on paper, but enforcement required something more—it required inspectors trained to understand the unique challenges these sectors present.
That's where the workshop stepped in. The 66 state labour inspectors, drawn from 30 provinces and districts across the country, participated in specialized modules developed by the ILO's Curriculum on Building Modern and Effective Labour Inspection Systems. They focused specifically on Module 9, which addresses dealing with vulnerable groups of workers, and Module 16, which zeroes in on labour inspection in domestic work. During the sessions, inspectors worked in groups to map out the real obstacles they encounter in the field—practical problems that require practical solutions.
Changhee Lee, the ILO Country Director for China and Mongolia, used his opening remarks to acknowledge the weight on these inspectors' shoulders. "Many of you work at local and provincial levels, often under challenging conditions and with limited resources," he said. "You play a vital role in ensuring that workers' rights and protections reach workplaces and communities across Mongolia." It was a recognition that enforcement capacity isn't just about having laws on the books—it's about having trained people on the ground, in remote provinces and tight urban quarters, armed with the tools to make those laws stick.
Batzorig, Head of the Labour Inspection Division of Mongolia's Ministry of Food and Light Industry (MFLSP), brought the national perspective, briefing inspectors on current labour legislation and the informality challenges that plague enforcement efforts. Deepa Bharathi, a Senior Specialist on Gender Equality, Non-Discrimination and Inclusion at the ILO's Bangkok office, presented international best practices, focusing on the Domestic Workers Convention of 2011 and how other countries have successfully implemented it.
By the workshop's end, these inspectors had gathered something tangible: practical field strategies, inspection methodologies tailored to domestic work and herding sectors, and enforcement tools designed for their specific context. For domestic workers and assistant herders—people who have historically operated outside formal protections—these trained inspectors represent a real shift. They carry back to their provinces concrete knowledge about how to identify violations, how to work within informal settings, and how to ensure that Mongolia's revised labour law actually reaches the people it was designed to protect. That collective capacity represents meaningful progress toward bringing Mongolia's informal economy workers into the light.