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

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - Sao Tome and Principe (Ratification: 1982)

Articles 1 and 3 of the Convention. Contribution of the employment service to employment promotion. The Committee notes the Government’s report received in April 2013. In response to the comments made by the Committee over the previous years, the Government refers to the absence of employment offices, stating that employment is directly solicited with the institutions, and, in many cases, at the employment department of the Labour Ministry. According to the data provided for 2003, the employed population had risen to 43,846 workers, representing around 84 per cent of the active population. The Government also mentions a tendency toward equilibrium between the participation rates of men and women as a result of the increase in the number of working women and the policies launched to promote equality of opportunity. The Government indicates that jobseekers already employed but looking for a second job due to low wages, represented 45 per cent of all jobseekers. The Committee once again underlines the need to ensure the essential function of the employment service, in order to arrive at the best possible organization of the labour market and its adaptation to new requirements of the economy and the active population. The Committee invites the Government to specify in its next report which are the public and private bodies and institutions involved in the organization of a public and free employment service. The Committee also invites the Government to provide information on the number of jobseekers registered with the employment department of the Labour Ministry and on the number of placements secured by the department. It invites the Government to include existing data on the Agua Grande district and the rural areas of the country with respect to employment applications received, vacancies notified and persons placed in employment (Part IV of the report form).

Articles 4 and 5. Cooperation of the social partners. In response to previous comments, the Government indicates that the Centre for Vocational Training carries out various training activities in favour of managers and to respond to the needs of different areas of the country. The Government also mentions the existence of partnerships with institutions and associations in training activities and supervision. The Committee recalls the importance of social partners’ participation in the development of an employment service policy. The Committee observes once again that the provisions of the Convention require the establishment of advisory committees to secure the full cooperation of representatives of employers and workers in the organization and operation of the employment service. It invites the Government to include in its next report detailed information on the way in which representatives of the social partners have been associated with the operation of the public employment service, in conformity with the provisions of Articles 4 and 5 of the Convention.

ILO technical assistance. The Government indicates that the development of the national employment policy is still in an embryonic phase. In its 2010 General Survey concerning employment instruments, the Committee underlines that public employment services are part of the necessary institutions for the achievement of full employment. The Convention forms with the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), and the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), a structure that is necessary for employment growth (General Survey concerning employment instruments, 2010, paragraphs 785–790). In view of the difficulties noted since the ratification of the Convention, the Committee notes that technical assistance would be particularly useful in order for the Government and the social partners to examine the importance of the public employment service thus facilitating the adoption of a national employment policy aiming to achieve full employment. In that regard, the Government may avail itself of the technical assistance that can be offered by the competent units of the Office in order to fill the Convention’s implementation gaps.