Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2007, publiée 97ème session CIT (2008)

Convention (n° 122) sur la politique de l'emploi, 1964 - Estonie (Ratification: 2003)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its 2006 direct request, which read as follows:

1. Implementation of an active employment policy. The Committee notes the detailed information contained in the Government’s first report on the application of the Convention received in September 2005. It notes in particular the Action Plan for Growth and Jobs (2005–07), which places active employment policies in the context of an overall economic development strategy. It further notes that the Inter-Ministerial Competitiveness Working Group set up to prepare the Action Plan has been charged with supervising its implementation and updating, as well as reporting on and evaluating its outcomes. The Committee asks the Government to communicate the progress and measurable achievements of the Action Plan on Growth and Jobs in promoting full, productive and freely chosen employment. It also asks the Government to provide information on the Inter-Ministerial Working Group’s deliberations on the Action Plan’s implementation and outcomes (Articles 1, paragraph 1, and 2 of the Convention).

2. The Committee notes that the unemployment rate has steadily fallen from 13.6 per cent in 2000 to 9.7 per cent in 2004 and that there were 2.9 per cent fewer unemployed persons in Estonia in 2004 as compared with 2000. It notes the Government’s objective to increase productive employment to 70 per cent of the labour force (i.e. create approximately 70,000 new jobs) in line with the European Union’s long-term targets for 2010. The Committee invites the Government to indicate what progress it has made towards meeting its objective of 70 per cent productive employment. In so doing, the Government is asked to continue providing up to date information on the employment levels in the country, both in the aggregate and with respect to particular categories of workers (e.g. women, young persons, older workers, workers with disabilities).

3. Consultation with the persons affected. The Committee notes from the Action Plan for Growth and Jobs that workers’ and employers’ representatives participated as members of the working group set up to formulate the plan. It notes that, despite collaboration with the social partners on this and other key employment policy issues, the Government indicates in its report that the efficiency of social partner consultations is not very high. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on how it intends to improve the effectiveness of social dialogue in the development and review of its employment policies (Article 3).

4. Employment of non-Estonians. The Committee notes from the Government’s National Action Plan for Social Inclusion that the unemployment rate among non-Estonians (in large part the Russian-speaking population) is nearly twice as high as that of Estonians due to the lack of local language skills and residence in areas of high unemployment. The Committee notes that in response to this situation, the Government makes available a number of options to non-Estonians under the National Integration Programme to improve their local language skills and to assist with their social and cultural integration in the community. The Government is asked to provide information on the number of non-Estonians who benefit from this programme and what measurable improvements have been achieved in the employment of non-Estonians as a result (Article 1, paragraph 2(c)).

5. Measures to assist specific categories of workers. Women. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that, apart from courses planned for female entrepreneurs, there are almost no special measures in place to improve the situation of women in the labour market. It notes that, although the unemployment rate among active women workers is in fact lower than that of active men, the number of women who are not active in the labour market is substantially higher (234,900 women compared with 153,800 men). The Committee asks the Government to indicate what policy measures are envisaged to promote equality of opportunity and treatment for women in employment and occupation. The Committee also asks the Government to indicate how it intends to mainstream gender issues into its employment policies.

6. Education and training. The Committee notes the Government’s statement indicating that in Estonia education, qualifications, skills and work experience often fail to keep pace with the changing demands of the labour market. It notes that, in order to correct this situation, the Government has embarked on a reform of the country’s vocational education system which, among other objectives, aims to prepare young people better for the labour market and ensure that skilled workers stay competitive both nationally and internationally. The reforms include the development and promotion of adult training and lifelong learning, as well as the improvement of labour market training for the unemployed provided through the public employment service. The Committee requests the Government to provide details in its next report on the outcomes of these reforms and how they have succeeded in improving employment opportunities, particularly for young people and the unemployed. Please also include information on the initiatives to develop adult training and lifelong learning, as well as on the implementation and effect of the National Strategy of Continuing Training prepared in 2004.

7. Employment services. The Committee notes from Estonia’s National Action Plan for Social Inclusion (2004) that access to labour market services has been limited in practice due to a lack of funding (e.g. in 2003, less than 10 per cent of unemployed persons participated in labour market training). The Committee notes, however, the Government’s plans to reform the public employment service by extending the maximum duration of labour market training from six to 12 months; enabling the public employment service to purchase labour market training from companies as well as training institutions; and developing cross-national criteria for planning and implementing training activities. The Committee asks the Government to provide information in its next report on the implementation of these reforms and to give details on their effectiveness in encouraging more unemployed workers to use the employment services and in improving job opportunities.

8. Regions with high levels of unemployment. In its National Action Plan for Social Inclusion (2004), the Committee notes that unemployment in Estonia is characterized by some regional inequalities – varying by more than three times between counties (5 per cent in Rapla compared with 18.2 per cent in Ida-Viru). It notes from the Government’s report that a National Employment Programme for Ida-Viru was approved in 2001 and that a comprehensive new strategy for increasing employment and competitiveness in the county was in preparation in 2004. The Government further indicates that several regional development programmes have been implemented, along with a planned labour force mobility initiative to help underdeveloped regions catch up with the others. The Committee requests the Government to outline the activities that make up the National Employment Programme for Ida-Viru county along with the new comprehensive strategy and what impact these measures have had in reducing unemployment in that county. The Committee also asks the Government, in light of its regional development and mobility policies, to indicate how these initiatives generate new job opportunities and what measurable impact they have had on the country’s other economically disadvantaged regions.