R122 - Employment Policy Recommendation, 1964 (No. 122)

I. Objectives of Employment Policy

1. 1.
   • (1) With a view to stimulating economic growth and development, raising levels of living, meeting manpower requirements and overcoming unemployment and underemployment, each Member should declare and pursue, as a major goal, an active policy designed to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment.
   • (2) The said policy should aim at ensuring that--

• (a) there is work for all who are available for and seeking work;
• (b) such work is as productive as possible;
• (c) there is freedom of choice of employment and the fullest possible opportunity for each worker to qualify for, and to use his skills and endowments in, a job for which he is well suited, irrespective of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.

• (3) The said policy should take due account of the stage and level of economic development and the mutual relationships between employment objectives and other economic and social objectives, and should be pursued by methods that are appropriate to national conditions and practice.

II. General Principles of Employment Policy

1. 2. The aims of employment policy should be clearly and publicly defined, wherever possible in the form of quantitative targets for economic growth and employment.
2. 3. Representatives of employers and workers and their organisations should be consulted in formulating policies for the development and use of human capacities, and their co-operation should be sought in the implementation of such policies, in the spirit of the Consultation (Industrial and National Levels) Recommendation, 1960.
3. 4.
   • (1) Employment policy should be based on analytical studies of the present and future size and distribution of the labour force, employment, unemployment and underemployment.
   • (2) Adequate resources should be devoted to the collection of statistical data, to the preparation of analytical studies and to the distribution of the results.
4. 5.
   • (1) Each Member should recognise the importance of building up the means of production and developing human capacities fully, for example through education, vocational guidance and training, health services and housing, and should seek and maintain an appropriate balance in expenditure for these different purposes.
   • (2) Each Member should take the necessary measures to assist workers, including young people and other new entrants to the labour force, in finding suitable and productive employment and in adapting themselves to the changing needs of the economy.
   • (3) In the application of this Paragraph particular account should be taken of the Vocational Guidance Recommendation, 1949, the Vocational Training Recommendation, 1962, and the Employment Service Convention and Recommendation, 1948.
5. 6.
   • (1) Employment policy should be co-ordinated with, and carried out within the framework of, over-all economic and social policy, including economic planning or programming in countries where these are used as instruments of policy.
   • (2) Each Member should, in consultation with and having regard to the autonomy and responsibility in certain of the areas concerned of employers and workers and their organisations, examine the relationship between measures of employment policy and other major decisions in the sphere of economic and social policy, with a view to making them mutually reinforcing.
6. 7.
   • (1) Where there are persons available for and seeking work for whom work is not expected to be available in a reasonably short time, the government should examine and explain in a public statement how their needs will be met.
   • (2) Each Member should, to the fullest extent permitted by its available resources and level of economic development, adopt measures taking account of international standards in the field of social security and of Paragraph 5 of this Recommendation to help unemployed and underemployed persons during all periods of unemployment to meet their basic needs and those of their dependants and to adapt themselves to opportunities for further useful employment.

III. General and Selective Measures of Employment Policy

General Considerations

1. 8. Employment problems attributable to fluctuations in economic activity, to structural changes and especially to an inadequate level of activity should be dealt with by means of--
   • (a) general measures of economic policy; and
   • (b) selective measures directly connected with the employment of individual workers or categories of workers.
2. 9. The choice of appropriate measures and their timing should be based on careful study of the causes of unemployment with a view to distinguishing the different types.

General Measures: Long Term

1. 10. General economic measures should be designed to promote a continuously expanding economy possessing a reasonable degree of stability, which provides the best environment for the success of selective measures of employment policy.

General Measures: Short Term

1. 11.
   • (1) Measures of a short-term character should be planned and taken to prevent the emergence of general unemployment or underemployment associated with an inadequate level of economic activity, as well as to counterbalance inflationary pressure associated with a lack of balance in the employment market. At times when these conditions are present or threaten to appear, action should be taken to increase or, where appropriate, to reduce private consumption, private investment and/or government current or investment expenditure.
   • (2) In view of the importance of the timing of counter-measures, whether against recession, inflation or other imbalances, governments should, in accordance with national constitutional law, be vested with powers permitting such measures to be introduced or varied at short notice.

Selective Measures

1. 12. Measures should be planned and taken to even out seasonal fluctuations in employment. In particular, appropriate action should be taken to spread the demand for the products and services of workers in seasonal occupations more evenly throughout the year or to create complementary jobs for such workers.
2. 13.
   • (1) Measures should be planned and taken to prevent the emergence and growth of unemployment or underemployment resulting from structural changes, and to promote and facilitate the adaptation of production and employment to such changes.
   • (2) For the purpose of this Recommendation the term structural change means long-term and substantial change taking the form of shifts in demand, of the emergence of new sources of supply, national or foreign (including supplies of goods from countries with lower costs of production) or of new techniques of production, or of changes in the size of the labour force.
   • (3) The dual objective of measures of adaptation to structural changes should be--

• (a) to obtain the greatest benefit from economic and technical progress;
• (b) to protect from financial or other hardship groups and individuals whose employment is affected by structural changes.

1. 14.
   • (1) To this end, and to avoid the loss of production entailed by delays in filling vacancies, Members should establish and adequately finance programmes to help workers to find and fit themselves for new jobs.
   • (2) Such programmes should include--

• (a) the operation of an effective employment service, taking account of the provisions of the Employment Service Convention and Recommendation, 1948;
• (b) the provision or encouragement of training and retraining facilities designed to enable workers to acquire the qualifications needed for lasting employment in expanding occupations, taking account of the provisions of the Vocational Training Recommendation, 1962;
• (c) the co-ordination of housing policy with employment policy, by the provision of adequate housing and community facilities in places where there are job vacancies, and the provision of removal grants for workers and their dependants by the employer or out of public funds.

1. 15. Special priority should be given to measures designed to remedy the serious, and in some countries growing, problem of unemployment among young people. In the arrangements for young persons envisaged in the Employment Service Convention and Recommendation, 1948, the Vocational Guidance Recommendation, 1949, and the Vocational Training Recommendation, 1962, full account should be taken of the trends of structural change, so as to ensure the development and the use of the capacities of young persons in relation to the changing needs of the economy.
2. 16. Efforts should be made to meet the particular needs of categories of persons who encounter special difficulties as a result of structural change or for other reasons, such as older workers, disabled persons and other workers who may find it particularly difficult to change their places of residence or their occupations.
3. 17. Special attention should be given to the employment and income needs of lagging regions and of areas where structural changes affect large numbers of workers, in order to bring about a better balance of economic activity throughout the country and thus to ensure a productive utilisation of all resources.
4. 18.
   • (1) When structural changes of exceptional magnitude occur, measures of the kinds provided for in Paragraphs 13 to 17 of this Recommendation may need to be accompanied by measures to avoid large-scale, sudden dislocation and to spread the impact of the change or changes over a reasonable period of time.
   • (2) In such cases governments, in consultation with all concerned, should give early consideration to the determination of the best means, of a temporary and exceptional nature, to facilitate the adaptation to the structural changes of the industries affected, and should take action accordingly.
5. 19. Appropriate machinery to promote and facilitate the adaptation of production and employment to structural changes, with clearly defined responsibilities in regard to the matters dealt with in Paragraphs 13 to 18 of this Recommendation, should be established.
6. 20.
   • (1) Employment policy should take account of the common experience that, as a consequence of technological progress and improved productivity, possibilities arise for more leisure and intensified educational activities.
   • (2) Efforts should be made to take advantage of these possibilities by methods appropriate to national conditions and practice and to conditions in each industry; these methods may include--

• (a) reduction of hours of work without a decrease in wages, within the framework of the Reduction of Hours of Work Recommendation, 1962;
• (b) longer paid holidays;
• (c) later entry into the labour force, combined with more advanced education and training.

IV. Employment Problems Associated with Economic Underdevelopment

Investment and Income Policy

1. 21. In developing countries employment policy should be an essential element of a policy for promoting growth and fair sharing of national incomes.
2. 22. With a view to achieving a rapid expansion of production, investment and employment, Members should seek the views and active participation of employers and workers, and their organisations, in the elaboration and application of national economic development policy, and of the various aspects of social policy, in accordance with the Consultation (Industrial and National Levels) Recommendation, 1960.
3. 23.
   • (1) In countries where a lack of employment opportunities is associated with a shortage of capital, all appropriate measures should be taken to expand domestic savings and to encourage the inflow of financial resources from other countries and from international agencies, with a view to increasing productive investment without prejudicing the national sovereignty or the economic independence of the recipient countries.
   • (2) In order to utilise the resources available to these countries rationally and to increase employment therein as far as possible, it would be desirable for them to co-ordinate their investments and other development efforts with those of other countries, especially in the same region.

Promotion of Industrial Employment

1. 24.
   • (1) Members should have regard to the paramount need for the establishment of industries, public or private, which are based on available raw materials and power, which correspond to the changing pattern of demand in domestic and foreign markets and which use modern techniques and appropriate research, in order to create additional employment opportunities on a long-term basis.
   • (2) Members should make every effort to reach a stage of industrial development which ensures, within the framework of a balanced economy, the maximum economic production of finished products, utilising local manpower.
   • (3) Particular attention should be given to measures promoting efficient and low-cost production, diversification of the economy and balanced regional economic development.
2. 25. Besides promoting modern industrial development, Members should, subject to technical requirements, explore the possibility of expanding employment by--
   • (a) producing, or promoting the production of, more goods and services requiring much labour;
   • (b) promoting more labour-intensive techniques, in circumstances where these will make for more efficient utilisation of available resources.
3. 26. Measures should be taken--
   • (a) to promote fuller utilisation of existing industrial capacity to the extent compatible with the requirements of domestic and export markets, for instance by more extensive introduction of multiple shifts, with due regard to the provision of amenities for workers on night shift and to the need for training a sufficient number of key personnel to permit efficient operation of multiple shifts;
   • (b) to create handicrafts and small-scale industries and to assist them to adapt themselves to technological advances and changes in market conditions so that they will be able to provide increasing employment without becoming dependent on such protective measures or special privileges as would impede economic growth; to this end the development of co-operatives should be encouraged and efforts should be made to establish a complementary relationship between small-scale and large-scale industry and to develop new outlets for the products of industry.

Promotion of Rural Employment

1. 27.
   • (1) Within the framework of an integrated national policy, countries in which there is much rural underemployment should place special emphasis on a broadly based programme to promote productive employment in the rural sector by a combination of measures, institutional and technical, relying as fully as possible on the efforts of the persons concerned. Such a programme should be founded on adequate study of the nature, prevalence and regional distribution of rural underemployment.
   • (2) Major objectives should be to create incentives and social conditions favourable to fuller utilisation of local manpower in rural development, and to improve productivity and quality of output. Means appropriate to local conditions should be determined, where possible, by adequate research and the instigation of multi-purpose pilot projects.
   • (3) Special attention should be devoted to the need for promoting opportunities for productive employment in agriculture and animal husbandry.
   • (4) Institutional measures for the promotion of productive employment in the rural section should include agrarian reforms, adapted to the needs of the country, including land reform and improvement of land tenure; reform in methods of land taxation; extension of credit facilities; development of improved marketing facilities; and promotion of co-operative organisation in production and marketing.

Population Growth

1. 28. Countries in which the population is increasing rapidly, and especially those in which it already presses heavily on the economy, should study the economic, social and demographic factors affecting population growth with a view to adopting economic and social policies that make for a better balance between the growth of employment opportunities and the growth of the labour force.

V. Action by Employers and Workers and their Organisations

1. 29.
   • (1) Employers and workers in the public and private sectors, and their organisations, should take all practicable measures to promote the achievement and maintenance of full, productive and freely chosen employment.
   • (2) In particular, they should--

• (a) consult one another, and as appropriate the competent public authorities, employment services or similar institutions, as far in advance as possible, with a view to working out mutually satisfactory adjustments to changes in the employment situation;
• (b) study trends in the economic and employment situation, and in technical progress, and propose as appropriate, and in good time, such action by governments and by public and private undertakings as may safeguard within the framework of the general interest the employment security and opportunities of the workers;
• (c) promote wider understanding of the economic background, of the reasons for changes in employment opportunities in specific occupations, industries or regions, and of the necessity of occupational and geographical mobility of manpower;
• (d) strive to create a climate which, without prejudicing national sovereignty, economic independence or freedom of association, will encourage increased investment from both domestic and foreign sources, with positive effects on the economic growth of the country;
• (e) provide or seek the provision of facilities such as training and retraining facilities, and related financial benefits;
• (f) promote wage, benefit and price policies that are in harmony with the objectives of full employment, economic growth, improved standards of living and monetary stability, without endangering the legitimate objectives pursued by employers and workers and their organisations; and
• (g) respect the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation, taking account of the provisions of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention and Recommendation, 1958.

• (3) In consultation and co-operation as appropriate with workers' organisations and/or representatives of workers at the level of the undertaking, and having regard to national economic and social conditions, measures should be taken by undertakings to counteract unemployment, to help workers find new jobs, to increase the number of jobs available and to minimise the consequences of unemployment; such measures may include--

• (a) retraining for other jobs within the undertaking;
• (b) transfers within the undertaking;
• (c) careful examination of, and action to overcome, obstacles to increasing shift work;
• (d) the earliest possible notice to workers whose employment is to be terminated, appropriate notification to public authorities, and some form of income protection for workers whose employment has been terminated, taking account of the provisions of the Termination of Employment Recommendation, 1963.

VI. International Action to Promote Employment Objectives

1. 30. Members, with the assistance as appropriate of intergovernmental and other international organisations, should co-operate in international action to promote employment objectives, and should, in their internal economic policy, seek to avoid measures which have a detrimental effect on the employment situation and the general economic stability in other countries, including the developing countries.
2. 31. Members should contribute to all efforts to expand international trade as a means of promoting economic growth and expansion of employment opportunities. In particular, they should take all possible measures to diminish unfavourable repercussions on the level of employment of fluctuations in the international terms of trade and of balance-of-payments and liquidity problems.
3. 32.
   • (1) Industrialised countries should, in their economic policies, including policies for economic co-operation and for expanding demand, take into account the need for increased employment in other countries, in particular in the developing countries.
   • (2) They should, as rapidly as their circumstances permit, take measures to accommodate increased imports of products, manufactured, processed and semi-processed as well as primary, that can be economically produced in developing countries, thus promoting mutual trade and increased employment in the production of exports.
4. 33. International migration of workers for employment which is consistent with the economic needs of the countries of emigration and immigration, including migration from developing countries to industrialised countries, should be facilitated, taking account of the provisions of the Migration for Employment Convention and Recommendation (Revised), 1949, and the Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention, 1962.
5. 34.
   • (1) In international technical co-operation through multilateral and bilateral channels special attention should be paid to the need to develop active employment policies.
   • (2) To this end, such co-operation should include--

• (a) advice in regard to employment policy and employment market organisation as essential elements in the field of general development planning and programming; and
• (b) co-operation in the training of qualified local personnel, including technical personnel and management staff.

• (3) Technical co-operation programmes relating to training should aim at providing the developing countries with suitable facilities for training within the country or region. They should also include adequate provision for the supply of equipment. As a complementary measure, facilities should also be provided for the training of nationals of developing countries in industrialised countries.
• (4) Members should make all efforts to facilitate the release for suitable periods, both from governmental and non-governmental employment, of highly qualified experts in the various fields of employment policy for work in developing countries. Such efforts should include arrangements to make such release attractive to the experts concerned.
• (5) In the preparation and implementation of technical co-operation programmes, the active participation of employers' and workers' organisations in the countries concerned should be sought.

1. 35. Members should encourage the international exchange of technological processes with a view to increasing productivity and employment, by means such as licensing and other forms of industrial co-operation.
2. 36. Foreign-owned undertakings should meet their staffing needs by employing and training local staff, including management and supervisory personnel.
3. 37. Arrangements should be made, where appropriate on a regional basis, for periodical discussions and exchange of experience of employment policies, particularly employment policies in developing countries, with the assistance as appropriate of the International Labour Office.

VII. Suggestions Concerning Methods of Application

1. 38. In applying the provisions of this Recommendation, each Member of the International Labour Organisation and the employers' and workers' organisations concerned should be guided, to the extent possible and desirable, by the suggestions concerning methods of application set forth in the Annex.