Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Jamaica (Ratification: 1975)

Other comments on C122

Direct Request

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Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Adoption of a national employment policy. In its previous comments, the Committee invited the Government to provide information on progress made towards the adoption of a national employment policy. The Government indicates in its report that the final draft of the National Employment Policy Concept Paper is not yet available. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on developments in relation to the formulation and adoption of a national employment policy, and to provide a copy of the draft National Employment Policy Concept Paper as well as of the National Employment Policy as soon as these become available.

Active labour market measures. The Government indicates that it has made improvements to the Labour Market Information System (LMIS) services. The LMIS is a job-matching tool as well as a database of qualitative and quantitative information and three components: the Electronic Labour Exchange (ELE); the Skills Bank; and the Labour Market Intelligence. The ELE facilitates the matching of jobseekers with employers and its services are available both online and offline. The Skills Bank is a database of people with certified skills. Qualified persons are encouraged to register online so that employers can find workers with the competencies required. Labour Market Intelligence is a combination of current and historical data on the local economy, population and labour market. It also includes information on training opportunities for youth, sources of funding for education, the most frequently advertised jobs and summaries of labour market research conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS). The LMIS has helped hundreds of persons to access employment. The Committee requests the Government to transmit detailed information on measures taken or envisaged to improve access to information for jobseekers and to ensure the matching of labour supply and demand. It also requests the Government to provide information on the general labour market situation, levels and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment, disaggregated by age and sex.

Youth employment. The Committee previously requested the Government to continue to include information and evaluation data on the impact of the measures adopted to meet the employment needs of young workers, including information on the implementation of the Youth Entrepreneurship Programme. The Government indicates that, as of July 2012, the unemployment rate for young Jamaicans aged 14–19 stood at 47 per cent while the unemployment rate for those aged 20–24 in 2012 stood at 30.1 per cent. The Committee notes that the unemployment rate for these two groups of young people is almost twice that of the unemployment rate of Jamaicans aged 25 and over. Unemployment rates for young people aged 15–24 has increased significantly compared to the overall youth unemployment rate in Jamaica in 1990 (25.4 per cent). Young Jamaican females are more likely to have higher rates of unemployment than males, on average, despite having higher enrolment and daily attendance rates in school. The Government indicates that, to address youth unemployment issues over the past two decades, it implemented the 1994 National Youth Policy and the Digital Jam 2.0 programme. Thanks to the Digital Jam 2.0, 4,400 young people found jobs in the fields of micro-work and e-lancing platforms. This programme promotes jobs for youth in information and communications technologies and seeks to facilitate youth employment in the globalized digital economy in the virtual global economy. The Government indicates that the Youth Entrepreneurship Programme is still ongoing. Its main purpose is to provide young persons with entrepreneurship education, assisting them in discovering their special skills and abilities and helping them channel these into business opportunities. The Youth Entrepreneurship Programme will train, for a period of nine months, 50 young people who have completed high school and are currently unemployed, interested in becoming entrepreneurs and at risk of human trafficking. To ensure that the project is sustainable and continues to operate, the Government is seeking funding and sponsorship from several entities. The Committee requests the Government to communicate information on measures taken or contemplated to reduce the youth unemployment rate. The Committee also requests the Government to provide detailed information on the Youth Entrepreneurship Programme, specifying the number of participants that have benefited and whether it is still operational.

Women. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide detailed information on progress achieved in improving the participation of women in the labour market. The Government indicates that women are still more at a disadvantage in the Jamaican job market than men and that, as a result, many of them have turned to the informal economy in order to meet their financial needs. The Government further notes that many rural women are more likely to be found in the informal economy, as they encounter difficulties in acquiring formal jobs in some rural areas, particularly if they have little or no academic or technological qualifications. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed information on the impact of vocational education and guidance programmes on increasing the participation of women in the labour market. Referring to the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204), the Committee also requests the Government to provide information on measures taken to facilitate the transition of women workers from the informal economy to the formal labour market.

Persons with disabilities. In response to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government indicates that there has been an overall decrease in employment opportunities as a result of the economic crisis, which has also affected persons with disabilities, who face difficulties in accessing employment. The Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) nevertheless continues to assist persons with disabilities to develop their skills and qualifications. Moreover, the Government has been intensifying its efforts to encourage employers to offer employment to persons with disabilities. In this regard, the Government’s main technical training institute, HEART Trust NTA, is currently formulating new training programmes specifically tailored for persons with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to improve the employability of persons with disabilities and on their impact. The Committee also requests the Government to provide detailed information on the HEART Trust NTA training programme and to clarify whether the programme promotes access to the open market for persons with disabilities.

Article 3. Consultation with the social partners. The Government indicates that the social partners have always played an active role in the formulation and development of employment policies. The Labour Advisory Committee (LAC) is the tripartite body designed to facilitate consultation on such matters, as well as on matters related to other ILO Conventions. Since the start of 2016, LAC meetings are held regularly every three months. The Committee requests the Government to provide more specific information on the manner in which it is ensured that active labour market measures are developed and adopted in collaboration with the social partners. It also requests the Government to provide information on the nature and outcome of consultations held with the social partners with respect to the formulation of a national employment policy.