Abstract
Key points: - Since 2009, the ILO has been monitoring legal changes in employment protection for over a hundred countries, recording the information in the ILO EPLex database. - Using these data, this brief shows that the past decade was rich in reforms of employment protection in case of individual dismissals. Some countries decreased their level of employment protection, while others increased it. - Overall, the world has moved to a more uniform level of employment protection. - Despite this, there remains a variety of legal approaches for achieving such seemingly similar levels of protection.