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Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - El Salvador (RATIFICATION: 1995)

1. The Committee notes the Government's first report on the application of the Convention, received in April 1997, and the report received in May 1998. In its report, the Government refers to such documents as the Government's Plans 1994-99 and the Government's National Plans for the Development of Agriculture and Stock-raising, as well as the public investment stabilization and structural adjustment programmes, in which measures are envisaged to apply an active policy to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment. The Committee trusts that, in its next report, the Government will include a copy of the above documents (Part I of the report form). Similarly, the Committee requests the Government to specify whether it has encountered any particular difficulties in achieving the employment objectives defined in the above plans and programmes and to indicate the extent to which these difficulties have been overcome.

2. The Committee notes that, according to the household surveys carried out, the employment rate has increased from 90 per cent in 1990 to 92.4 per cent in 1995. Nevertheless, the Government's report contains no other information on the situation, level and trends of employment. According to the information published by ECLAC despite the dynamism of production (in 1997 the gross domestic product rose by approximately 4 per cent), it is estimated that in 1997 open unemployment will be in excess of 8 per cent compared with 7.7 per cent in 1996 and that an insufficient number of new jobs will be created, which ECLAC attributes to the very early stages of an increase in investment. In the light of these difficulties, the Committee hopes to be able to appreciate fully the manner in which the Government is endeavouring to implement an active employment policy within the meaning of the Convention. In this regard, the Committee wishes to emphasize that many aspects of the employment policy go beyond the immediate competence of the Labour Ministry so that the preparation of a full report on Convention No. 122 may require consultation with other ministries or other agencies concerned, such as those responsible for planning, economic affairs and statistics. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the following points:

(a) please provide information as required by the report form on the situation, level and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment and the manner in which they affect particular categories of workers such as women, young persons, older workers, migrant and indigenous workers who are experiencing difficulties in finding lasting employment (see under Article 1 of the Convention);

(b) please specify the extent to which the objectives of the economic policy referred to in the first report (increased production, employment and price stability) have enabled the demands for employment to be satisfied. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide, in its reports, information on references to global and sectoral development policies, the development of the infrastructure and industrial development, including quantitative evaluations of the creation of productive employment by the measures adopted by the Government;

(c) please specify the manner in which the development credits policy for macro and small enterprises has enabled the creation of sustainable employment in the industrial sector;

(d) please indicate the manner in which the new agricultural entrepreneurship concept has promoted employment in the rural sector, taking account of the former macroeconomic policies, adverse international conditions and the violent armed conflict, referred to by the Government in its first report. In view of the high percentage of labour in the rural sector, the Committee wishes to draw the Government's attention in particular to Paragraph 27 of the Employment Policy Recommendation, 1964 (No. 122) - the text of which is included in the report form - which contains suggestions on the creation of employment opportunities in agriculture and stock-raising and the promotion of structural measures to create productive employment in the rural sector;

(e) please provide information on the manner in which productive employment opportunities are being created in the tertiary sector, and particularly in tourism;

(f) please indicate whether population policies and programmes, such as those suggested in Paragraph 14 of the Employment Policy (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1984 (No. 169), have been included in the measures taken under the employment policy;

(g) please indicate the manner in which the export processing zones and export activities have contributed to the creation of productive and sustainable employment.

3. Please describe the procedures adopted to ensure that the effects on employment of measures taken to promote economic development receive due consideration. Please also specify the manner in which the principal measures of employment policy are decided upon and kept under review, within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy (Article 2).

4. The Committee wishes to emphasize the importance of consulting the representatives of the persons concerned as laid down in Article 3 of the Convention. The Committee takes account of the role played by the Higher Labour Council and would be grateful if the Government would provide information in its next report on the manner in which the Higher Labour Council ensures that the experiences and views of the representatives of the persons concerned (employers' and workers' organizations, representatives of other sectors of the economically active population, such as those working in the rural and informal sectors) are taken into account in matters of employment policy. Please also provide examples of the recommendations or suggestions made by the Higher Labour Council in matters of employment policy to enable the Committee to examine the manner in which full cooperation of the sectors consulted is secured in formulating employment policy and in obtaining the necessary support for its implementation.

In general terms, the Committee considers it appropriate when responding to the points raised to take into account the comments made relative to the application of other Conventions ratified by El Salvador, closely linked to Convention No. 122, such as the Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88), the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142) and the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159). <