Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Türkiye (Ratification: 1977)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Implementation of an active employment policy. The Committee notes the Government’s report received in February 2013 containing detailed information in connection with its previous comments and highlights the substantial contributions from the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TİSK) and the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TÜRK-İŞ). The Committee observes that TİSK indicates that the National Employment Strategy is expected to be published and put into effect soon. The Committee notes that both TİSK and TÜRK-İŞ indicate that the Draft National Employment Strategy (2012–23) and the Draft Action Plan (2012–14) were shared with the social partners at the Tripartite Advisory Committee Meeting in February 2012. The Committee notes that while TİSK found the documents to be on track and positive, TÜRK-İŞ believes that the National Employment Strategy is far from solving the existing problems. The Committee takes notes from the Government’s report that a “New Incentive Package” consisting of various incentive and investment schemes was made public in April 2012. TİSK anticipates that this new incentive system package will make positive contributions to employment. In its report, the Government provides statistical information that shows that the general level of unemployment that had reached 14 per cent in 2009 fell to 11.9 per cent in 2010 and to 9.8 per cent in 2011. The Committee notes with interest that the annual rate of unemployment in 2011 was the lowest since 2006 and that the unemployment rate outside agricultural was also the lowest since 2006. The Committee notes that despite these positive results in the labour market, the Government, TİSK and TÜRK-İŞ all agree that when evaluating the labour market in general, significant structural problems such as high unemployment rates, low rates of participation in the workforce and employment particularly among women, the fact that approximately one in every five young people in cities is unemployed, the extensiveness of irregular employment, the low educational level and quality of the workforce and the weak link between employment and education are observed. The Committee takes due note of the detailed information provided by the Government on the different active labour measures implemented by the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR). The Committee observes that more than 250,000 persons enrolled in training courses in 2011; that between 20 to 50 per cent of the participants were youngsters aged 16–24 and that in most programmes almost half of the participants were women. Moreover, the Committee takes note from the Government’s report that Law No. 6111, which entered into force in February 2011, introduced important reforms including the extension of social insurance coverage, part-time employees’ social security contributions and an increase of pension amounts above inflation rate. The Committee once again invites the Government to indicate in its next report whether a national employment strategy has indeed been adopted and to provide information on its impact. The Committee also invites the Government to include information on active labour market measures adopted and their outcomes within the objectives of the Convention.

Women. The Committee welcomes the information provided by the Government on the pilot programme conducted in Ankara, Gaziantep and Konya in 2009 further to ILO technical assistance and notes that from the 1,000 women who attended training courses in the one-year project, almost 200 were employed. The Committee further notes that ISKUR employees benefited from training courses that increased their technical capacity about women’s employment and public employment services and that activities were completed in time and under budget. The Committee also notes the information provided by the Government regarding the project “Operation Promote Women’s Employment in Turkey” financed by the EU, according to which out of 10,000 women receiving training within the scope of the grant, 3,600 women were employed. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report an assessment of the effectiveness of the measures implemented to ensure productive employment opportunities for women and to further promote their participation in the labour market.

Youth employment. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the structural problems of the labour market, the obstacles concerning the transition from education to employment and the lack of skills needed for the labour force, push the young generation out of the labour market. The Committee notes that the Government’s report draws attention to an EU–IPA-funded project titled “Supporting Youth Employment” (2010–13) that aims to increase the employability of youth by organizing entrepreneurship training, providing consultancy and guidance services for those who want to start their own business, organizing apprenticeship vocational programmes that facilitate the transition from school to work. It is expected that at least 6,000 young people will attend vocational training courses and that 15,000 will benefit from internship, apprenticeships and employment guarantee courses, consultancy and guidance services. The Committee also notes the information provided by the Government in relation to the Project “Decent Jobs for All: Youth Employment Programme” in Antalya. The Committee notes in particular that under the coordination of ISKUR, the National Technical Team (UTE) composed of the representatives of various ministries and stakeholders, prepared the “National Youth Employment Action Plan” and made it public in November 2012. It also notes that workshops and trainings for the unemployed were organized taking into consideration the needs of Antalya and that a “Vocational Prospect Report” was completed in order to determine possible vocational trends. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report an evaluation of the active labour market measures implemented to minimize the impact of unemployment on young people and to encourage their sustainable integration in the labour market, in particular the most disadvantaged categories of young people. Please also include statistics on youth employment trends, including statistics disaggregated by age, gender and any other grounds in respect of which data on youth unemployment is available.

Undeclared employment. The Committee notes with interest the Government’s indication that a “Strategy for struggling with the unregistered economy action plan 2011–13” was adopted in December 2011. The Committee notes that activities under this action plan and also under the 2012 action plan of the Social Security Institution include increasing the number of social security supervisors to 1,500 and increasing the cooperation among relevant institutions. The Committee welcomes the information provided by TİSK regarding a project funded by the EU and implemented by the Social Security Institution “Promoting Registered Employment Project” (KITUP) (2010–12). The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on the results of the measures implemented with a view to reducing the number of undeclared workers and to facilitate their integration into the formal economy.

Article 3. Participation of the social partners. The Committee notes that TÜRK-İŞ indicates that the Draft National Employment Strategy and the Draft Action Plan were prepared by the Government and shared with the social partners at the tripartite advisory committee in February 2012 at their request. In its contribution, TÜRK-İŞ stresses that it played no part in the process of preparing the Draft Strategy and Action Plan and indicates that it has declared that it will not make known any additional or new views about the employment strategy and action plan in which severance pay, a regional minimum wage, private employment agencies and flexible ways of working appear. TÜRK-İŞ further indicates that given that the legal provisions from the employment strategy and action plan were assessed without any views made known, it has informed the Ministry that the employment strategy and action plan will not be approved and that any meeting that needs to be held on this matter will not be attended. The Committee notes that, in its contribution, TİSK highlights the participation of social partners in workshops where the drafting of the National employment strategy commenced (2009 and 2010), that the draft strategy and action plan were shared with social partners at the tripartite advisory committee in February 2012 and that the preparatory process for legal provisions of the strategy and action plan took a participatory approach, being carried out in dialogue and cooperation with social partners. The Committee takes note of TİSK’s indication that EKOSOK has not met since 2009. Moreover, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the social partners were part of the UTE which prepared the Youth Employment Action Plan in Antalya. The Committee invites the Government to take due account of the observations made by the social partners and to provide in its next report detailed information on the effective consultations held on the matters covered by the Convention.