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The Committee notes the Government’s detailed report for the period ending May 2010, received on 12 August 2010. The Single Confederation of Workers (CUT) and the Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CTC) formulated comments on the application of Convention No. 88, which the Office sent to the Government on 6 September 2010. In order to carry out a complete examination of the application of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to send its own comments concerning the observations received from the CUT and the CTC.
[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2011.]
1. Contribution of the employment service to employment promotion. With reference to its previous direct request, the Government provides detailed information in its report received in October 2005 on the activities of the Public Employment Service of the National Apprenticeship Service (SENA). It also provides information on the progress achieved by the Programme of Direct Support for Employment (PADE), which has the backing of the private sector to provide employment for the unemployed. The Government adds that between June 2004 and June 2005 the national unemployment rate fell from 14.1 per cent to 11.4 per cent. The Government states that this progress is due to the action taken to increase the coverage of education and vocational training. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue providing information on the results attained by the public employment service in achieving the best possible organization of the employment market (Articles 1 and 3 of the Convention). The Committee reaffirms its interest in receiving information on the operation of existing employment offices, both those of the SENA and of the territorial employment councils, so that it can ascertain the number of public employment offices established, the number of applications for employment received, the number of vacancies notified and the number of persons placed in employment by such offices (Part V of the report form).
2. Cooperation of the social partners. The Government indicates that the various employment councils existing in the country have been evaluated. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide examples with its next report of the consultations held in the framework of the territorial employment councils with representatives of employers and workers concerning the organization and operation of the employment service (Articles 4 and 5).
3. The Committee noted previously that information had been requested from the municipal authorities of the city of Bogotá on the public employment service and workers in the informal economy. The Committee hopes that in its next report the Government will provide information on the manner in which the public employment service ensures the effective discharge of the functions set out in Article 6 of the Convention in relation to workers in the informal economy in the main cities of the country, as well as in rural areas.
With reference to its direct request of 1998, the Committee notes the detailed report sent by the Government.
1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. The Government states that a network of employment agencies has been set up in the form of employment information centres which come under the National Apprenticeship Service (SENA). The SENA has established strategic links with various chambers of commerce to open up offices, thus achieving significant extension of coverage. Furthermore, in several departments of the country Territorial Employment Councils have been established to deal with the problems of employment and low income affecting part of the population of Colombia. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would include information in its next report on the operation of existing employment offices - of both the SENA and the Territorial Employment Councils - to enable the Committee to ascertain the number of public employment offices established, the number of applications for employment received, the number of vacancies notified, and the number of persons placed in employment by such offices (Part IV of the report form).
2. Article 3. In view of the high level of unemployment (in 2000 urban unemployment reportedly affected 20 per cent of the economically active population), the Committee would be grateful if in its next report the Government would indicate the extent to which existing employment offices are able to meet the needs of employers and of workers.
3. Articles 4 and 5. Further to the comments it has been making for many years, the Committee notes with interest the establishment of Territorial Employment Councils as part of a participatory strategy for regional and local cooperation. The Committee would be grateful if in its next report the Government would include instances of consultations held within the Territorial Employment Councils with representatives of employers and workers concerning the organization and operation of the employment service.
4. The Committee notes an observation by the Foundation of Women of the Informal Sector (FUNDASIM), referring among other things to unemployment and the lack of any strategy or programmes to generate stable and lasting employment for workers in the informal sector. In August 2001 the Office sent the above observation to the Government. The Committee would be grateful if in its next report the Government would indicate how the public employment service carries out effectively the functions listed in Article 6 of the Convention in respect of workers in the informal sector.
The Committee notes the Government's report which refers to the adoption on 30 December 1997 of Decree No. 3115 regulating the activity of private (profit-making and non-profit making) agencies, as well as the public placement and employment agencies. The Government states that, in addition to the offices of the National Apprenticeship Service, which exists to introduce job applicants to prospective employers, certain employers' associations and public and private colleges provide the same service. The Committee recalls the obligation under the terms of Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention to maintain or ensure the maintenance of a free public employment service consisting of a national system of employment offices. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the powers and mandate of the national authority responsible for administering a national system of employment offices. The Government is also asked to provide the practical information on this point requested in Part IV of the report form.
Article 3. Please provide information on the measures taken to revise the national network of employment offices in response to the new requirements resulting from the changes in the economy and working population.
Articles 4 and 5. In its previous report, the Government referred to a National Tripartite Commission responsible, among other things, for examining and proposing standards on mediation in the labour market. In its last report, the Government indicated that the Ministry of Labour had established employment committees at a departmental or municipal level. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would describe the manner in which employers' and workers' representatives are consulted in these committees with regard to the organization and operation of the employment service and the development of the employment service programme. Please also provide examples of specific arrangements made through the employment committees with regard to the development of the employment service programme.
[The Government is asked to report in detail in 2001.]
The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in reply to its earlier comments.
Article 3 of the Convention. It notes, in particular, the adoption of Decree No. 2149 of 1992 concerning the modernization of the National Service on Apprenticeship (SENA) and the establishment of the Information System on Employment, as well as the Government's indications concerning the establishment of Employment Information Centres in a number of the cities of the country. The Government also refers to the efforts made with the assistance of the National Employment Institute of Spain, to improve the functioning of the existing employment offices and their revision, which may also contribute to the development of guidelines for restructuring of the national network of employment centres. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to describe in its future reports, any new developments in this field and supply any other information on any measures taken to revise the existing network of employment offices in order to meet the changing requirements of the economy and the working population.
Articles 4 and 5. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government concerning the organization and functioning of the Supreme Council on Employment, Labour and Social Security and the National Labour Council with its six tripartite committees, including the National Committee on Technological Employment and Human Resources, which is functioning at the national level as an advisory body on the matters concerned. The Government indicates that the above-mentioned National Committee, which includes representatives of employers and workers, may, inter alia, "study and propose standards concerning the intermediation at the labour market". The Committee would be grateful if the Government would state more clearly in its next report, whether this body is consulted on questions relating to the organization and operation of the employment service and to the development of employment service policy. The Government also refers in its report to the Regional Institutional Committees on Employment established in several regions of the country, which include among other members, representatives of certain employers' and non-governmental organizations. Please indicate whether these regional committees include also workers' representatives and whether the representatives of employers and workers on these committees are appointed in equal numbers. Please describe the manner in which representatives of employers and workers on these bodies are consulted on the organization and operation of the employment service and on the development of employment service policy. Please also indicate whether local advisory committees are established, where necessary, in accordance with this Article.
Article 3 of the Convention. It notes the Government's statement in the report to the effect that the organizational structure of the National Service on Apprenticeship (SENA), to which the administration of the employment service has been transferred, covers the whole of the national territory by means of the regional branch offices which are sufficient in number to serve each geographical region of the country. The Committee recalls, however, that in its previous report received in 1991 the Government referred to its plans to establish employment offices in all the cities - department capitals (31 in all), as well as mobile and temporary offices. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate, in its next report, any new developments in this field and supply any other information on measures taken, where necessary, with a view to revise the existing network of employment offices in order to meet the changing requirements of the economy and the working population.
Articles 4 and 5. The Committee notes from the Government's report that the tripartite Supreme Council on Employment, Labour and Social Security is functioning at the national level as an advisory body on the matters in question. It would be grateful if the Government would supply, in its next report, more detailed information on the composition and functions of this Council, describing in particular the manner in which representatives of employers and workers on this body are consulted on the organization and operation of the employment service and on the development of employment service policy. Please also indicate whether regional and local advisory committees are established where necessary, apart from the advisory committee in the city of Bogotá to which the Government referred to in its previous report.
The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in reply to its earlier comments, and in particular, statistical information requested under Point IV of the report form.
Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government's indications in the report concerning the reorganisation of the public employment service provided for by Decrees Nos. 1421 and 1422 of 1989 and No. 1802 of 1990. It would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply, in its future reports, information on any further developments in this sphere, indicating in particular, whether such reorganisation has contributed to "maintain or ensure the maintenance of a free public employment service" and to "the best possible organisation of the employment market", as required by this Article.
Article 3. The Committee notes from the Government's report that certain regions of the country are still not covered by the employment services. It therefore asks the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged with a view to further develop the employment service on a nationwide scale in order to cover the whole territory of the country, noting in particular the requirement under this Article of the Convention that the system of employment offices shall comprise a network of local and, where appropriate, regional offices, sufficient in number to serve each geographical area of the country and conveniently located for employers and workers.
Articles 4 and 5. The Government indicates that an advisory committee on employment which includes representatives of the Government, employers and workers has been set up in the city of Bogota and that it has adopted an employment plan for the city of Bogota. The Committee recalls that in its previous reports on this Convention and on the Unemployment Convention, 1919 (No. 2), the Government mentioned a tripartite committee set up by virtue of an agreement between the National Service on Apprenticeship (SENA) and the National Employment Service (SENALDE), and the creation of the National Labour Council and a tripartite employment committee. The Committee requests the Government once again to indicate whether this committee has been established and the manner in which it is planned to consult representatives of employers and workers on this committee on the organisation and operation of the employment service and on the development of employment service policy, in accordance with these Articles.
1. Article 1 of the Convention. In its previous comment, the Committee noted that a labour market planning system had been created by Regulatory Decree No. 099 of 1984. In its last report, the Government indicates that this system was not operative. Under Decree No. 1421, of 1989, the National Service on Apprenticeship (SENA) was entrusted with the function of promoting and carrying out the administration of a free public employment service. The Government indicates that at the present time the administration of the employment service is being transferred to the SENA and that the General Directorate of Employment of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security is going through a phase of technical and organisational adaptation. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate in its next report the extent to which this reorganisation has contributed to "maintain or ensure the maintenance of a free public employment service" (paragraph 1) and to "the best possible organisation of the employment market", as required by Article 1, paragraph 2 of the Convention.
2. Article 3. The Committee notes that the employment service in its current form has 25 local offices in 22 Departments. It would be grateful if the Government would supply in its next report statistical information published in annual or periodical reports concerning the number of applications for employment received, the number of vacancies notified, and the number of persons placed in employment by the employment service in its current form (point IV of the report form). In relation to the observation made in 1990 on the application of the Placing of Seamen Convention, 1920 (No. 9), the Committee requests the Government to indicate the extent to which the employment service in its present form covers seafarers.
3. Articles 4 and 5. In comments that it has been making since it examined the Government's first report on the application of the Convention, the Committee has requested information on the measures that have been adopted to give effect to the above provisions of the Convention. In reports on the Convention and in reports on the Unemployment Convention, 1919 (No. 2), the Government mentioned a tripartite committee set up by virtue of an agreement between the SENA and the SENALDE (National Employment Service), and the creation of the National Labour Council and a tripartite employment committee. In view of the recent administrative reorganisation referred to by the Government in its last report on this Convention, the Committee requests it to indicate whether this committee has been set up and the manner in which it is planned to consult it on the subjects set out in these provisions of the Convention.
4. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would supply information on the measures taken following the technical co-operation agreements concluded with other governments, as noted in the Government's general report for the period between 1 July 1986 and 20 June 1987. [The Government is asked to report in detail for the period ending 30 June 1991.]