Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - Czechia (Ratification: 1993)

Articles 1 and 3 and 6, subparagraph (c), of the Convention. Contribution of the employment service to employment promotion. Collection and analysis of information. The Committee welcomes the comprehensive information provided by the Government on the organization, country-wide structure and functioning of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic under the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA), as well as the detailed overview of jobseekers, vacancies and allocations. The Committee notes that the Labour Office comprises a total of 448 offices across the country responsible for compiling statistics, providing analyses and evaluations of the situation of the labour market in their respective regions. The Committee notes with interest that, during the reporting period, the number of offices providing employment services grew from 231 to 254. In addition, the number of specialized staff providing services in programmes targeting young persons and persons with disabilities was increased. The Government indicates that the entry into force of the 2020 amendments to the Employment Act removed the previous requirement that a jobseeker needed to physically apply for employment intermediation. The Committee notes that this change constitutes an important step towards the further digitization of these activities. In addition to promoting labour mobility, these changes have also significantly increased the availability of services and efficiency of employment intermediation activities. The MoLSA, in cooperation with the social partners, began implementing the “Labour Market Predictions” (KOMPAS) project, which aims to create and develop a comprehensive system for monitoring, analysing and forecasting changes in the labour market. Moreover, the Government indicates that KOMPAS will also function as an indicator for the early identification of new opportunities and emerging risks for the labour market, based on a comprehensive database, and taking into account trends in global markets as well as technological developments. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the impact and effectiveness of the activities of the Labour Offices, in particular following the structural, organizational and administrative changes brought about by the amendments to the Employment Act. It further requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of Labour Offices established, the number of employment applications received, the number of vacancies notified and the number of persons placed in employment by them, including information on the impact of digitization of these services. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to keep it apprised of the activities and outcomes of the KOMPAS project, indicating the manner and extent to which information gathered through it and other projects is made available systematically and timely to the public authorities, the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned, and to the general public (Article 6, subparagraph (c)).

Articles 4 and 5. Cooperation with employers’ and workers’ representatives. The Committee notes the role played by the social partners in the adoption and implementation of the Strategic Framework for Employment Policy until 2030 and active labour market measures. The Committee notes that cooperation with the social partners continues to take place at the policy development level, including in the Council of Economic and Social Agreement, as well as at the implementation level, through the participation of the social partners, together with schools and self-governance structures in advisory councils organized at the level of contact offices, regional branches and at the Directorate General of the Labour Office – partly based on memoranda of understanding concluded between 2015 and 2018, through which the public employment services coordinate downstream measures and receive first-hand information upstream. In this regard, the Committee notes the Memorandum on cooperation between the Labour Office and the Prison Service of the Czech Republic, concluded on 13 February 2018 to foster cooperation in the integration of persons ending prison sentences into society through common retraining activities offered during their imprisonment. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide details of the outcome of the consultations held with employers’ and workers’ organizations at all levels of coordination, including within the Council of Economic and Social Agreement and the advisory councils, concerning the organization and operation of the employment service and in the development and implementation of employment service policy at national and regional levels.

Articles 7, subparagraph (b) and 8. Special arrangements for persons with disabilities and young persons. The Committee notes the Memorandum on cooperation of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic concluded with the Czech National Disability Council on 5 February 2018, which provides for the long-term cooperation and coordination of activities to increase the employment rate of persons with disabilities in the Czech Republic, in particular by exchanging experience, expertise and information, including through common trainings, consultation on legislative changes related to the employment of persons with disabilities, and through the transfer of information, knowledge and experience in the field of employment of persons with disabilities to current and potential employers of persons with disabilities. The Committee also notes that, in accordance with MoLSA Instruction No. 21/2017 on the Employment Support System for Persons with Disabilities and the Directive of the Director General No. 8/2015 Implementation of Work Rehabilitation and Cooperation of the Competent Divisions of the regional Labour Offices in the Integration of Persons with Disabilities into the Labour Market, the Government is implementing the “Development of the System of Support for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities on the Open Labour Market” focusing on targeted services, including vocational training for persons with disabilities, to improve their jobseeking prospects and increase their level of employment, for which the staff of the regional Labour Offices was increased by 85 disability-advisers and 14 disability-employment coordinators in addition to 99 the deployment of existing employees of the regional Labour Offices. The Committee also notes the regional Labour Offices’ continued involvement in the implementation of special arrangements for juveniles, such as the NUTS 2 Northwest project in the Karlovy Vary and Ústí nad Labem regions and the Youth Guarantee projects, with a focus on offering individual advice to young persons, in particular early school leavers, on their further professional orientation and on how to obtain and improve qualifications. The Committee also refers in this respect to its comments under the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122). The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the nature, scope and impact of the active labour market measures taken, including through the NUTS 2 Northwest and Youth Guarantee projects, to facilitate the transition of young persons, especially those in vulnerable situations, into the labour market.