ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how an understanding of basic human rights can help multinational enterprise (MNE) managers to produce morally innovative solutions to global labour challenges. It provides both a justification of the rights to freedom and well-being, and an application of those rights to the circumstances of MNE workers. The chapter examines the challenge that many MNE managers confront regarding global labour practices via a hypothetical example. It summarises the positive impact that MNEs can have on the welfare of workers in developing nations. MNE managers should regard respect for their employees’ rights to freedom and well-being as constraints on the activities they undertake on behalf of their employers. The most important component of well-being is basic goods. Basic goods are the general physical and psychological capabilities necessary for human functioning. The Articles of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights provide specific examples of what it means to respect an employee’s right to freedom at work.
