Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

1. The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending in June 2005, as well as the replies in response to its 2003 direct request.

2. Implementation of an employment policy in the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy. Supplemented by the data provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Government’s report demonstrates that the employment situation has been improving since 2003. While the number of employed people, both male and female, has been on an upward trend in the past two years, the unemployment rate, at 4.4 per cent in May 2005, has been decreasing steadily since its historic high of 5.4 per cent in 2002. Although the unemployment rate remains relatively low by OECD standards, the incidence of long-term unemployment, at 33.7 per cent, stands slightly above the OECD average. The Government indicates that, in terms of job vacancies, the number of new job offers has been increasing and the effective ratio of job offers to applicants has been in an upward trend. The report also contains information about the legislative amendments introduced by the Government to diversify working patterns. As regards training programmes on employment promotion, the Government indicates that, in order to actively cope with the needs of workers in wide-ranging fields, the outsourcing of training to private bodies has been increasingly utilized. The Committee asks the Government to indicate how the new legislative revisions mentioned by the Government in its report contribute to the promotion of the objectives of the Convention. It also reiterates its interest in obtaining information on how the measures taken to promote full and productive employment operate within a "framework of a coordinated economic and social policy", in particular those measures taken to increase flexibility of fixed-term contracts and the proliferation of other forms of temporary work. As requested in previous comments, please include information on the manner in which the measures taken in areas such as budgetary and monetary policy, investment policy and fiscal policy are helping to further employment aims (Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention).

3. Participation of the social partners. The Government indicates that the Employment Security Section Meeting and the Occupational Skills Development Section Meeting of the Council for Labour Policy, which is made up of governments’, employers’ and workers’ representatives, deliberate on important matters relating to the establishment, amendment and implementation of legislation concerning employment policies. These deliberations always involve discussions between workers’ and employers’ representatives on issues of their concern. The Committee would appreciate if the Government could continue to provide information on consultations with the social partners which have taken place on the subject of employment policies, as requested by Article 3 of the Convention, by giving examples of the opinions expressed and the manner in which they were taken into account.