Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1989, published 76th ILC session (1989)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Hungary (Ratification: 1969)

The Committee has noted the information provided in reply to its previous direct request. The Government has pointed to the long-term decrease in demand for labour and growing inequality in regional and professional labour markets. A system is being worked out to solve the problem of reallocation of labour that has become redundant due to restructuring or a decrease in numbers employed. The strategy of employment policy aims at creating an employment system which does not, in the first place, aid those losing their jobs in the form of unemployment benefit but which helps their re-employment. The Committee has also noted the specific measures described in the report. It would be grateful if the Government would indicate the manner in which the active employment policy pursued meets the requirements of the Convention as laid down in Article 1, paragraph 2(b) and (c). Please supply further information on the following specific points:

1. The Committee notes that the Government has established an employment fund designed to provide unemployment benefits for workers displaced under certain conditions, finance retraining and support employment-creation schemes. The Government states in its report that the major role in improving chances for re-employment is played by retraining. In 1984, 144; in 1987, 1,200; and in the first half of 1988 more than 7,000 people received retraining aid. The Committee trusts the Government will continue to provide detailed information on the operation of the employment fund, including data on the expenditure by category.

2. The Government indicates in its report that finding employment for people with low-level education or for unskilled workers is the most important problem and that, for this reason, public work is supported. The Committee notes the data supplied for the first half of 1988 on the average number of people employed for public work. Please supply details of the nature and type of work assigned and the conditions under which people are employed, taking into account the objectives and terms of the Convention (Article 1, paragraph 2). More generally, and as requested by the report form, please provide information on any measures taken to co-ordinate education and training policies with employment prospects.

3. The Committee notes the policy concerning early retirement of workers. Please indicate the impact on employment. Please describe the measures taken to meet the needs of other particular categories of workers, such as women and disabled workers.

4. The Committee notes that since July 1988 a restarting credit was introduced in three counties. Its aims are to encourage people who have lost their jobs or probably remain unemployed to create private enterprises or join such businesses, thus solving employment problems on their own. Please supply further information on the employment-creation impact of the restarting credit. Please also indicate whether measures have been taken or envisaged in order to extend the operation of the restarting credit to other counties.

5. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the employment problems of smaller regions have been somewhat reduced by state support of investments aimed at creating new jobs. Please provide details of any programmes to reduce the employment tensions of certain regions, including depressed areas and regions affected by crisis industries.

6. Please provide information on any new legislative or other measures affecting the application of the Convention, such as the implementation of a wage reform and the establishment of the National Council for the Reconciliation of Conflicts. Please state whether special difficulties have been encountered in attaining the policy employment objectives of the 1986-90 Five-Year Plan. Please supply information on the impact on the labour market of the Plan of austerity adopted on 14 July 1988, which is mentioned in the document submitted to the Committee on Employment of the ILO Governing Body (November 1988).

7. Please describe the measures taken by the State Office for Labour and Wages to collect and analyse information on trends in the labour market and on the impact of the new measures adopted by the Government on employment (Article 2).

8. Please indicate how the employment services assist workers in finding employment appropriate to their skills, in the context of the current increase in the demand for them. Please indicate what measures are taken or envisaged to encourage labour mobility.

9. Please supply information on the manner in which representatives of the persons affected by the measures to be taken are consulted and on the action taken by employers' and, in particular, workers' organisations, concerning retraining, transfers, social guarantees and protection for workers whose employment has been terminated.

10. Finally, the Committee notes with interest from the report that the Government discussed further development of the means of promoting employment policy with an ILO mission, which filed a report under the heading "Economic Reform and Employment in Hungary". Please indicate the action taken or envisaged as a result, as requested under Part V of the report form.