Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - Colombia (Ratification: 1967)

Other comments on C088

Observation

2015
2011

Direct Request

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Contribution of the employment service to employment promotion. In the report received in August 2010, the Government provided detailed information on the applications for employment received and the number of persons placed in employment between 2005 and 2010 by the 33 offices of the National Employment Service (SNE) of the National Apprenticeship Service (SENA). The Single Confederation of Workers (CUT) and the Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CTC) referred in their comments, which were forwarded to the Government in September 2010, to Articles 2, 3, 6 and 7 of the Convention and indicated that the number of offices is inadequate, there is no effective coordination between the various regions and there are no specialized employment offices. They reiterated their comments in a communication forwarded to the Government in September 2011. They added that there is also a mismatch between the training provided by the State through the SENA and the training required by enterprises, many of which do not make use of the employment service provided by the State. In another report received in August 2011, the Government enumerates its policies for the generation of new jobs in the formal economy, the strengthening of labour market institutions, the design and implementation of active and passive employment policies, the strengthening of the labour inspection system and the system for the training of human capital. The Committee refers to the comments that it has made in relation to the Unemployment Convention, 1919 (No. 2), in which it emphasizes the role played by public employment services and private agencies in ensuring the optimal operation of the labour market. The application of Conventions Nos 2 and 88, ratified by Colombia, would give effect to the right to work and would help to achieve full employment (Article 1(2) of Convention No. 88). In the 2010 General Survey concerning employment instruments, the Committee emphasized that the public employment service is one of the institutions that is necessary to achieve full employment. Together with the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), and the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), Convention No. 88 forms part of a structure that is necessary to sustain employment growth (see paragraphs 785–790 of the 2010 General Survey). The Committee invites the Government to provide more detailed information in its next report on the manner in which the public employment service contributes to achieving the best possible organization of the labour market, with an indication of the manner in which employment offices have been able to meet the needs of employers and workers in each of the regions of the country. The Committee invites the Government to provide information in its report on the new measures adopted for the establishment of institutions with a view to achieving full employment and it encourages the social partners to take into account the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), the ratification and application of which are important for governance.

Cooperation with the social partners. In reply to the previous comments, the Government indicated in the report received in August 2010 that consultations have not been held with the regional employment councils concerning the organization and operation of the employment service. The Government refers to information for 2003 concerning a survey carried out among employers on the employment generation achieved by Act No. 789 of December 2002, establishing measures to support employment and extend social protection. The trade union organizations, however, indicate that they are excluded and do not participate in the determination of general employment policies. In the report received in August 2011, the Government expresses its intention of involving public and private actors, as well as the permanent participation of partners such as trade unions and community organizations which are directly involved in fields relating to employment with a view of articulating and promoting the efficiency of employment services. The Committee emphasized in its 2010 General Survey that member States should promote genuine tripartite consultation on the subjects covered by the employment instruments. Priority needs to be given to consultations with the social partners in the formulation and implementation of labour market policies. The Committee requests the Government to provide tangible examples in its next report of the consultations held with representatives of employers and workers in relation to the organization and operation of the employment service (Articles 4 and 5).

Promotion of the voluntary use of the employment service. The trade union organizations indicate that the use of the National Employment Service does not provide or imply any benefit or incentive for enterprises making use of such instruments. The sole difference is the prejudice to the conditions of employment of those registered in SENA training programmes, as workers attached to the SENA receive lower wages than the others. In its 2010 report, the Government provided information on the number of unemployed persons who received guidance and additional training from the services of the SENA, as well as on the general labour market information made available to the public through the SENA employment observatory. Taking into account the policy orientations outlined in the new National Development Plan, 2010–14, the Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report the national or local measures adopted in collaboration with employers’ and workers’ organizations to promote the widest possible voluntary use of the employment service, including an evaluation of the manner in which beneficiaries of SENA apprenticeship contracts have succeeded in obtaining suitable employment on the labour market.

Employment service and workers in the informal economy. In reply to the previous comments, the Government indicates that the National Employment Service contributes to the decrease in informality by providing incentives for the participation of legally constituted employers in the process of employment mediation. However, the trade union organizations expressed their doubts concerning the benefits deriving from the application of Act No. 1429 of December 2010, which proposes incentives for formalization during the initial stages of enterprise creation. The Committee invites the Government to include an evaluation in its next report of the impact of Act No. 1429 in promoting the integration of informal workers into the formal labour market. The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate 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.