Americas
Softer-protection cluster: 25 Americas economies with composite scores, source tags, and the latest reporting year.
Americas's regional EPLex mean (0.352) is the softest of the four-region set, with Costa Rica at 0.179 the lightest in-region reading; Bolivia still leads locally at 0.548 on the ILO EPLex scale.
15 EPLex · 13 B-READY · 23 OECD · #4 of 4 regions by inventory. Higher = stronger statutory protection.
ILO EPLex Regional Atlas
Americas's ILO EPLex regional average (0.352 / 15 reporters) trails the other regions: Europe 0.468, Asia-Pacific 0.456, Middle East & Africa 0.401.
Region EPLex year-mean
Down 0.030 from 2009→2019 · peak 0.357 in 2009 (n=10)
Mean ILO EPLex composite across Americas countries with at least five reporters in a year (2009–2019). Latest panel: 0.327 (n=7). Source: ILO EPLex yearly panel via PlainEmploy.
| # | Country | Protection score | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colombia 🇨🇴 | 69.6 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 2 | Jamaica 🇯🇲 | 68.8 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 3 | Barbados 🇧🇧 | 65.9 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 4 | Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹 | 65.9 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 5 | Ecuador 🇪🇨 | 61.0 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 6 | Paraguay 🇵🇾 | 59.6 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 7 | Uruguay 🇺🇾 | 57.6 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 8 | Bolivia 🇧🇴 | 0.548 (EPLex) | 2017 |
| 9 | Mexico 🇲🇽 | 0.471 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 10 | Venezuela 🇻🇪 | 0.452 (EPLex) | 2016 |
| 11 | Panama 🇵🇦 | 0.445 (EPLex) | 2018 |
| 12 | Honduras 🇭🇳 | 0.410 (EPLex) | 2019 |
| 13 | Peru 🇵🇪 | 0.374 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 14 | Antigua and Barbuda 🇦🇬 | 0.358 (EPLex) | 2018 |
| 15 | Chile 🇨🇱 | 0.357 (EPLex) | 2019 |
| 16 | El Salvador 🇸🇻 | 0.329 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 17 | Bahamas 🇧🇸 | 1.94 (OECD) | 2014 |
| 18 | Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 | 1.91 (OECD) | 2014 |
| 19 | Argentina 🇦🇷 | 0.318 (EPLex) | 2019 |
| 20 | Guatemala 🇬🇹 | 0.300 (EPLex) | 2019 |
| 21 | Canada 🇨🇦 | 0.294 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 22 | Brazil 🇧🇷 | 0.225 (EPLex) | 2019 |
| 23 | United States 🇺🇸 | 0.222 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 24 | Nicaragua 🇳🇮 | 1.24 (OECD) | 2014 |
| 25 | Costa Rica 🇨🇷 | 0.179 (EPLex) | 2025 |
The magnitude bar normalizes each country to a 0–100 protection index for visual comparison; the score column shows the raw value and its source, ILO EPLex (0–1), World Bank B-READY (0–100), or OECD EPL (0–6). Higher = more protective.
Source: ILO EPLex + World Bank B-READY 2025 + OECD Employment Protection Legislation Termination protection composites (EPLex 0-1, B-READY 0-100, OECD 0-6); 25 countries in Americas · 2025 EPLex updated periodically by ILO; B-READY released by World Bank in 2025; OECD EPL maintained as a multi-year panel for member countries.
Read our methodology for how this data is sourced, computed, and verified. ILO EPLex eplex.ilo.org