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

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

Adoption and implementation of an active employment policy. Participation of the social partners. Referring to its observation of 2011, the Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in February 2012 and in the reports received in May 2012 and September 2013. It also notes the observations sent in August 2013 by the Costa Rican Federation of Chambers and Associations of Private Enterprises (UCCAEP), which were endorsed by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE). The Government confirms that there was no consensus in the National Labour Council on adopting a national employment policy. The UCCAEP reports that discussion of the policy is on the standing agenda of the National Labour Council; furthermore, statistics militating in favour of the policy have been reviewed and the policy has been updated, with a view to launching discussion of the National Employment Plan. In the report on the Social Policy (Basic Aims and Standards) Convention, 1962 (No. 117), the Government indicates that between 2010 and 2012, the average household income increased and job quality improved. Between 1990 and 2012, the percentage of households living in poverty and extreme poverty fell. Rural poverty declined between 2010 and 2012. The Government refers to the adoption of the National Development Plan 2011–14, which incorporates the Millennium Development Goals. The Committee notes the information contained in the report on this Convention concerning the statistics sources used in compiling and analysing labour market information, the establishment and consolidation of the Labour Market Observatory and the publication of a statistical yearbook. The Committee requests the Government to supply, in its next report on this Convention, information on progress made in the formulation and application of an active employment policy (Article 1 of the Convention). It invites the Government to include up-to-date statistical information on the size and distribution of the work force, and the nature and extent of unemployment, such information being essential to the implementation of an active employment policy (Article 2). In this connection, the Committee reiterates its request that full account be taken of the experience and views of the persons affected by the employment policy measures, particularly those working in the rural sector and the informal economy (Article 3).

Youth employment. The Committee notes with interest the implementation of the Empléate strategy to facilitate the entry of persons between 17 and 24 years of age in the labour market. According to the information provided by the Government, Empléate has a platform of information, guidance and labour intermediation services for its beneficiaries. In joint activities with the municipalities, 11 “one-stop-shops” and a web page (www.empleate.cr) have been set up. The strategy, launched in 2011, has delivered positive results: more than 4,000 young people received grants and some 6,000 were involved in the so called “Empléate challenges”. In 2012, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Trade (COMEX), and the Costa Rican Development Initiatives Coalition (CINDE), a labour market survey was conducted that included content on the formative careers most in demand. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report information allowing it to ascertain whether the young persons benefiting from the “Empléate” strategy have found and retained employment. The Committee also invites the Government to provide information on the measures taken to promote youth employment and to continue to report on the discussion and adoption of a national youth employment plan.

The Committee is raising other points, including the impact on the labour market of the activities of the National Institute for Learning, the status of women’s employment and the manner in which microenterprises, cooperatives and export processing zones have contributed to the creation of productive employment, in a request addressed directly to the Government.