Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1991, published 78th ILC session (1991)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Poland (Ratification: 1966)

1. The Committee takes note of the detailed information submitted by the Government in its reports. Economic measures and reforms have been implemented to attempt to secure rapid stabilisation of the economy and the transformation of the economic system. With reference to the difficulties encountered in employment, the Government recognises that there is a contradiction between the right to work established by the Constitution and the constant drop in the number of persons employed. The Government states that the problem of the protection of the right to work will be a major component of the measures envisaged. The Committee trusts that the Government will be in a position in its next report to provide information on the progress made in achieving the employment objectives in its development plans and programmes, specifying the particular difficulties encountered in achieving the objectives of full, productive and freely chosen employment, as defined in Article 1 of the Convention. It would be grateful if the Government would provide information on overall and sectoral development policies, particularly measures in such fields as investment policy, fiscal and monetary policy, trade policy, and prices, incomes and wages. The Committee hopes that the report will also contain information on the procedures adopted to ensure that the effects on employment of the measures adopted as part of the stabilisation programmes receive due consideration (Article 2).

2. The Committee notes the data concerning the labour market. Statistics show a drop of 1.5 per cent of the overall employment level between 1989 and 1990 (first semester of each year), despite an increase (3.9 per cent) in the number of workers in the non-socialist sector of the economy. The drop in the overall level of employment is due to reduced employment in the socialist sector of the economy; this trend, which is a result of the transition to a market economy, is likely, according to the Government's report, to continue and even increase. The report also contains statistical data on unemployment which is increasing steadily: it was an estimated 6.9 per cent of employed persons in the national economy (excluding individual farms) at 30 September 1990, and the Government was expecting an estimated 1.2 to 1.3 million unemployed at December 1990. The increase in unemployment particularly affects women and young high school graduates (general technical). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide information on the situation, level and trends of employment, particularly for the branches of activity where employment has declined (see the questions for Article 1 of the Convention in the report form).

3. The Committee takes note of the Employment Act of 29 December 1989 (published by the ILO in the series Social Law Documents 1990/2, 1989-POL 2), which provides for various measures on placement and occupational guidance, unemployment benefit, benefits for workers who have to change domicile to take up a new job, and special measures for disabled workers and migrant workers. The 1989 Act also establishes an Employment Fund destined essentially for the training and retraining of unemployment persons. In its report, the Government indicates that it has asked the ILO for assistance to improve the organisation of the employment services and particularly to train the employees of these services. The Committee welcomes these developments as they will help to ensure better practical knowledge of the international labour standards on employment. It hopes that the Government will provide indications in its next report of the action taken as a result of the ILO technical co-operation projects (Part V of the report form) and, more generally, of the implementation of the measures provided for in the Act of 29 December 1989, particularly in the areas of training, retraining and the social protection of workers who have lost their jobs.

4. In its 1989 direct request, the Committee noted the importance given to handicrafts and individual skills. It notes from the report that it has examined this year that, while as indicated previously, employment has increased in the non-socialist sector of the economy overall, there was a considerable drop in employment in the handicraft sector between 1989 and 1990. It would be grateful if the Government would indicate in its next report any particular measures that have been taken or are contemplated to promote the creation of productive jobs in the economic activities engaged in the by self-employed or outside the institutionalised economic structures. In this connection, the Government might find it useful to consult the texts appended to the report form in the Convention (see in particular Chapter V of Recommendation No. 169 on the informal sector).

5. With reference to Chapter V of the above-mentioned Act of 29 December 1989 respecting employment, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would describe the results obtained by measures to promote the employment of the disabled. In formulating its policy in this area, the Government might find some useful suggestions in the appropriate provisions of the 1983 standards on the occupational rehabilitation and employment of the disabled.

6. Please also provide information on the effects of the measures taken in the context of the new legislation for workers entitled to retirement pensions, referring in particular to the use made of part-time work or any other flexible practices.

7. The Committee notes that, according to the information supplied by the Government, employment in agricultural activities in the non-socialist sector dropped by 120,000 units between 1989 and 1990. Please indicate the measures that have been taken or are envisaged to meet the employment and income needs of workers in the agricultural sector.

8. Article 3. The Government indicates in its report that the Economic Foundation of the Trade Union "Solidarity" and the placement offices of the trade unions play and important role in limiting the scale of unemployment. Furthermore, the Committee notes that a central employment council - made up of an equal number of employers' and workers' representatives - is provided for in section 40 of the Employment Act of 29 December 1989. The Committee hopes that the next report will contain information on the advisory activities of this council and on the policies and programmes developed as a result of consultations with representatives of the organisations of employers and workers and of other sectors of the active population, such as persons working in the rural and informal sectors.