Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Belarus (Ratification: 1968)

Other comments on C122

Observation

Direct Request

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The Committee notes the observations of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), received on 30 August 2021, in which it indicates that the Government is not taking the necessary measures to promote full employment and decent wages. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect.

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Implementation of an active employment policy. The Government indicates in its report that one of its main objectives is to promote full and productive employment. It adds that the State employment policy is implemented mainly through the State programme on labour market and employment promotion for the 2021-25 period, approved by Council of Ministers Decree No. 777 of 30 December 2020. The Government aims to create the right conditions to achieve full employment by taking measures, such as stimulating the economically active population through active employment policy measures and social guarantees, encouraging the economically inactive population to engage in economic activity, ensuring a balance of supply and demand in the labour market and improving working conditions and occupational safety and health. The Committee recalls the BKDP’s 2017 observations, in which the BKDP expressed concern at the increase in precarious employment, adding that part-time employment had been steadily increasing and that some workers were forced to take leave without pay. The BKDP also expressed its concern that the Employment Act further distanced the national legal framework from the requirements of the Convention. In its response to the observations of the BKDP, the Government indicates that forced leave and part-time work are only used by enterprises as contingency measures to protect their workforces. It adds that mandatory part-time employment fell from 252,400 workers in 2016 to 71,200 workers in 2019, but that due to the difficult economic situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of workers placed on involuntary part-time employment by their employers increased to 148,100 workers in 2020. The Government reports that the situation has improved, indicating that over the first six months of 2021, there was a steady reduction in loss of working hours. According to the report, on 1 August 2021, 94,700 job vacancies were advertised by employers and demand for workers in non-professional occupations accounted for 65.8 per cent of total vacancies. The Government indicates that there are 12 vacancies on average for every unemployed person. It also highlights that, overall, employment measures taken from 2016 to 2021 have brought positive results in the form of employment growth, coupled with a decrease in unemployment. In 2016, the employment rate among the working age population was 80.9 per cent, while the unemployment rate stood at 6.0 per cent. In May 2021, these indicators stood at 83.5 and 3.9 per cent, respectively. In its observations, the BKDP indicates that the methodology used to calculate employment trends do not fully reflect unemployment and underemployment in the country, adding that the rate of decline in the number of people employed in the economy in 2021 is the highest in the last five years. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed updated information on the nature and scope of measures taken under the State programme on the labour market and employment promotion for 2021-25 and the impact of these measures on the promotion of full, productive, freely chosen and lasting employment. It also requests the Government to provide statistical data, disaggregated by age and sex, on the labour market situation and trends, including employment, unemployment and visible underemployment. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to include information on workers placed on involuntary part-time employment and leave without pay.

Freely chosen employment. In its observations, the BKDP highlights recent legislative changes to the unemployment benefits scheme, which introduced a provision to the effect that an unemployed person should not refuse a suitable employment offer, that is, if the proposed wages are no more than 30 per cent lower than the average earnings calculated for the last two calendar months at the last place of employment. The BKDP adds that low unemployment benefits and paid community work prompt a small proportion of the unemployed population to register with the employment services. Moreover, the BKDP recalls that Presidential Decree No. 1 of 2018, which replaced Presidential Decree No. 3 of 2015, introduced a new type of financial penalty as a “penalty tariff for parasitism”. According to the BKDP, able-bodied citizens who are not employed must pay for state-subsidized services at their full cost, including hot water and gas. It adds that such "promotion of employment" not only contradicts international and constitutional norms, but also humiliates human dignity. The Committee refers to its 2020 General Survey on promoting employment and decent work in a changing landscape, where it noted that the objective of freely chosen employment consists of two elements (see para. 69). First, no person shall be compelled or forced to undertake work that has not been freely chosen or accepted or prevented from leaving work if he or she so wishes. Second, all persons should have the opportunity to acquire qualifications and to use their skills and endowments free from any discrimination. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments on the observations raised by the BKDP regarding Presidential Decree No. 1 of 2018. It also requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to promote freely chosen employment with respect to employment services offered to the unemployed population.

Persons vulnerable to decent work deficits and exclusion. The Government reports that, in accordance with the Employment Act, additional employment measures target persons who are disadvantaged in accessing the labour market. The Committee notes that a total of 21,482 jobs were earmarked for disadvantaged persons in 2021, including 3,058 jobs for persons with disabilities, 3,520 jobs for first-time jobseekers under the age of 21, and 3,799 jobs for parents of large families and single parents. From January to June 2021, the employment authorities placed 5,004 disadvantaged unemployed persons in jobs. With respect to persons with disabilities, a total of 239 persons with disabilities obtained vocational training from January to June 2021. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the nature of different employment measures, including vocational guidance, vocational education and training and placement programmes, which target persons in vulnerable situations, including young persons, older workers and persons with disabilities. It also requests the Government to include updated statistical data, disaggregated by age and sex, on the impact of the employment measures and programmes implemented aimed at creating lasting employment for disadvantaged persons.

Promotion of women’s employment. Referring to the 2017 observations of the BKDP indicating that women’s position in the Belarusian labour market is more vulnerable than that of men, the Government indicates that, as of 1 July 2021, there were 7,900 registered unemployed persons, of whom 5,200 (66.1 per cent) were men and 2,700 (33.9 per cent) were women. According to the Government’s report, measures taken by the State from January to June 2021 to promote employment resulted in 583,000 people being employed in permanent work, including 23,000 women (3.95 per cent). The Committee notes the November 2016 report of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, where the Committee expressed concern about persistent discrimination against women in employment, including the significant gender wage gap in many fields of employment, and about horizontal and vertical segregation in employment (CEDAW/C/BLR/CO/8, para. 26). The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken to promote full, productive and decent employment opportunities for women, as well as information on the impact of these measures.

Regional development. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that employment promotion measures are being implemented in small and medium-sized towns and rural areas. In this context, from January to June 2021, the national employment services assisted 13,500 people to obtain employment, provided financial support for 183 unemployed people to become self-employed, and organized training for 456 people. During the same period, 5,200 people took part in paid community work. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed updated information, including statistical data disaggregated by age and sex, on the nature, scope and impact of the measures taken to increase employment rate in regions with high unemployment rates.

Article 3. Participation of the social partners. The Government reiterates that the social partners play an active role in developing and implementing national employment policy. It adds that the social partners participated in the implementation of the State Programme on Social Protection and Employment Promotion for 2016-2020 and the development of the State Programme on the labour market and employment promotion for 2021-2025. Moreover, according to the General Agreement for 2019-2021, the Government, employers’ and workers’ organizations have undertaken a number of commitments, including to promote employment for workers faced with the threat of lay-offs, to encourage the unemployed population to engage in economic activity, to develop a system of ongoing skills and vocational training in enterprises, and to facilitate increased employment opportunities for youth, women with young children, as well as persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that the National Council of Labour and Social Issues, the country’s main tripartite body, discussed various topics between 2017 and 2021, including employment and unemployment trends, labour market development and employment promotion, support for recent graduates in their first jobs; employment measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as enforced part-time employment and all-day work stoppages. The Committee requests the Government to provide concrete examples of the manner in which account is taken of the opinions and experiences of the social partners in the development, implementation and review of employment policy measures and programmes and their coordination with other economic and social policies. It also requests the Government to provide information on the nature and scope of consultations held with representatives of persons affected by such measures and programmes, as required under Article 3 of the Convention.