This paper outlines the challenges facing policymakers seeking to bridge the gap between what the Constitution says are workers' rights, and what obtains in the real world of work. The paper summarizes the rights enjoyed by the regular workers in the formal sector, and discusses why the working poor are unable to enjoy these rights. The paper then concludes with an analysis of what policy reform measures the government can adopt to correct the policy and legal imbalances that prevent the working poor from enjoying the basic rights that all workers, without exception, are supposed to enjoy, based on the Constitutional mandate.