CMNT_TITLE

Employment Promotion and Protection against Unemployment Convention, 1988 (No. 168) - Albania (RATIFICATION: 2006)

The Committee thanks the Government for attaching to its first report on the Convention the texts of all mentioned legislation presenting the complete picture of its application in the national law. Taking into account the volume of legal texts in Albanian, the Committee would ask the Government, when preparing its next detailed report on the Convention due in 2012, to systematically indicate under each Article of the Convention the main relevant national provisions and explain their content.

Article 6 of the Convention. Non-discrimination. The report referred to the Council of Ministers Decision No. 708 of 16 October 2003 on “The way of licensing and operation of private employment agencies”, which obliged these agencies to observe the principle of equal treatment and non-discrimination in their activities. Please indicate the provisions of the national legislation ensuring the observance of these principles in employment promotion measures and protection against unemployment carried out by other public and private agents and institutions on the labour market.

Article 15(1)(b). Rate of benefit. The report stated that unemployed persons who fulfil the qualifying conditions receive a flat-rate monthly benefit at the basic level (5,240 lekë (ALL) in 2007) assuring at least a minimum standard of living. The basic level is defined by the Council of Ministers and indexed every year according to changes in the index of prices of selected goods. In addition, unemployment benefit recipients may be entitled to cash compensation for bread and food and electric energy prices, and for maintenance of children under 15 years of age, bringing the total amount of the benefit up to ALL7,600 per month. The Committee recalls that, according to Article 15(1)(b) of the Convention, the amount of a flat-rate unemployment benefit shall be fixed at not less than 50 per cent of the statutory minimum wage or of the wage of an ordinary labourer, or at a level which provides the minimum essential for basic living expenses, whichever is the highest. In order to assess whether the rate of the unemployment benefit in Albania satisfies this condition, the Committee requests the Government to provide in its next detailed report due in 2012 the statistical data for the previous year on the statutory minimum wage in the country, the wage of an ordinary labourer and the minimum standard of living, in comparison with the basic amount of the unemployment benefit fixed for the same year. The Government’s report on Convention No. 168 should be based on the same statistical data as its report on Convention No. 102.

Articles 17(2) and 19(6). Seasonal workers. The report stated that seasonal workers are subject to the same qualifying period of 12 months of contributions as other workers. Please indicate whether there is a need to adapt this qualifying period and/or the duration of the payment of unemployment benefit to the occupational circumstances of seasonal workers in Albania.

Article 24(1). Coordination with other benefits. Please indicate whether and under what conditions the periods during which unemployment benefits are paid are being taken into consideration for acquisition of the right to other social security benefits specified in this Article.

Article 26. New applicants for employment. The report indicated that unemployment benefit was provided to the following categories of persons who were seeking work after a break in employment relations, if they had been previously insured for 12 months: soldiers released from obligatory military training service if they have interrupted previous job relation because of joining the military service, and women who became redundant after their pregnancy benefits expired. The report also referred to the Council of Ministers Decision No. 873 of 27 December 2006, which provided financial support for participation in vocational training programmes (internship in enterprises or institutions for up to six months) for young persons who have graduated from higher education but remained unemployed due to the lack of working experience. Please indicate what other categories of the new applicants for employment, among those listed in Article 26(1) of the Convention, receive unemployment or other social benefits, including vocational guidance and training services, and under what conditions.

Article 27. Right to complaint and appeal. The report stated that unemployment benefit was administered by the National Employment Service and that there were no cases of refusal of unemployment benefit or disagreement about its amount. The Committee would nevertheless ask the Government to provide a detailed description of the procedures of complaint and appeal in unemployment insurance established in the national social security legislation and, as the case may be, in the internal rules of the National Employment Service, indicating in particular whether these laws and rules contain express provisions requiring that:

• -claimants shall be informed in writing of the procedures available;
• -complaint and appeal procedures shall be simple and rapid;
• -claimants shall have the right to be represented or assisted in the appeal procedure by appropriate persons.

The Committee wishes to refer the Government in this respect to the 2011 General Survey concerning social security instruments, Part III, Chapter 3 “The right of the beneficiary to complain and appeal in social security”.

Article 30. Subsidies to safeguard employment. The report indicated that under the programme to promote employment of jobseekers in need (Council of Ministers Decision No. 48 of 16 January 2008), employers who hired such jobseekers for a one-year period received financial subsidies covering 100 per cent of the employers’ social insurance contributions for that year and four months payment of the national minimum wages for each hired jobseeker. Similar financial subsidies were provided also to employers participating in the Programme for promoting employment of women and young girls (Council of Ministers Decision No. 632 of 18 September 2003). According to the report, in 2007, 112 projects of employment promotion were financed from the State budget fund of ALL101.7 million resulting in hiring 2,128 jobseekers. The Committee would like the Government to explain how supervision of the use of the financial subsidies by the employers is ensured in order to prevent fraud or abuse, and how the effectiveness of these measures in terms of employment created or safeguarded is monitored, in accordance with Article 30 of the Convention. The Committee wishes to refer the Government in this respect to the explanations given in its 2011 General Survey concerning social security instruments, paragraphs 529–532.