CMNT_TITLE

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - Belarus (RATIFICATION: 1995)

1. The Committee notes the information and statistical data provided by the Government in its report for the period ending in May 2005. It asks the Government to provide additional information on the following points.

2. Articles 4 and 5. The Government indicates that the National Council on Labour and Social Affairs, which includes government, employers’ and workers’ representatives in equal numbers, functions as an advisory body within the country. The National Council’s main task is to examine socio-economic policy issues and conclude general agreements. The Committee notes that a general agreement defining each party’s position regarding the main lines along which social and labour relations would be regulated was signed in 2004. The agreement contains a section on the development of the labour market and on guarantees with regard to employment. The Committee also notes that tripartite councils on labour and social affairs have been set up at industrial and local levels. It asks the Government to continue to report on discussions of employers’ and workers’ representatives in the National Council and any recommendations made in the Council on the subjects covered by the Convention. Please also provide information on the activities of the councils on labour and social affairs that have been set up at industrial and local levels in relation to the operation of the State Employment Service.

3. Article 7. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that there is no specialization by occupations and by industries within the various employment offices, except for the Minsk City Employment Office, where special departments have been set up in order to facilitate the placement in work of persons with disabilities and young people. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on any progress with regard to the arrangements envisaged in order to give effect to Article 7 in other regions of the country.

4. Article 10. The Government indicates that every year the State Employment Service devises the State Programme for the Employment of the Population. Its main priorities include encouraging employers to create jobs, promoting entrepreneurial initiative and supporting the self-employment of the unemployed. In 2004, 138 enterprises were given financial assistance amounting to 16,484 billion roubles, thus creating 1,833 jobs. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the measures adopted, in collaboration with employers’ and workers’ organizations, to encourage full use of the employment service by employers and workers on a voluntary basis.

5. Parts IV and VI of the report form. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide statistical information concerning the number of public employment offices established, the number of applications for employment received, the number of vacancies notified, and the number of persons placed in employment by such offices. Please also provide a general appreciation of the manner in which the employment service operates in practice.