Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1992, published 79th ILC session (1992)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Netherlands (Ratification: 1967)

1. The Committee has taken note of the Goverment's report for the period ending June 1990 and of the comments made by the Federation of Netherlands Industry (VNO). In addition, it has taken into account information given in OECD surveys, and notes that the increase in employment of 1.7 per cent in 1989 and 1.9 per cent in 1990 made it possible for the fall in the unemployment rate to continue, from 8.3 per cent in 1989 to 7.5 per cent in 1990 according to the OECD standardised rates. While the ratio of unemployment among young people (under 25 years of age) to total unemployment declined appreciably between 1989 and 1991 (from 27.5 to 22.5 per cent), the proportion of long-term unemployment (for a year or longer) remained high (54-55 per cent).

2. The Committee notes the information concerning the measures adopted during the period under consideration, which are aimed mainly at promoting the vocational reintegration of the long-term unemployed. The new Act to promote employment for the long-term unemployed, adopted in 1989, has instituted a subsidy scheme for the employment of long-term unemployed persons in regular jobs. Under this programme, employers are encouraged to take on long-term unemployed persons and to create new jobs for them, by the suspension of their social contributions and the payment of a guidance and training allowance. Furthermore the Government states that the Regional Employment Offices have undertaken, in collaboration with municipal social services, to extend to all long-term unemployed persons the practice of reorientation interviews as a means of promoting entry or re-entry into the labour market through a personal approach. The Government's report also contains information on measures designed to promote the employment of particular groups such as young people, members of ethnic minorities and the handicapped. In that connection the Committee has taken note with interest of the Government's first report on the application of the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159). The Government also refers to the effects which voluntary early retirement has on employment. In its view, the increase in the rate of replacement of workers taking early retirement shows that voluntary early retirement schemes are making a significant contribution to the fight against unemployment. The Federation of Netherlands Industry states in its aforementioned comments that extensive use has been made of these measures in cases of collective dismissal.

3. The Committee notes the entry into force on 1 January 1991 of the new statute of the Netherlands Employment Organisation, the main features of which are tripartism and decentralisation. The Employment Service Organisation has become an autonomous public service headed by a Central Employment Promotion Board (CBA) which is composed of equal numbers of representatives of the Government, of employers' organisations and of workers' organisations. The Regional Employment Offices, which are similar in structure, are given broad discretion to determine their own regional policy. In this context, as it has mentioned elsewhere in its report, the Committee has taken note of the denunciation of Part II of Convention No. 96 concerning Fee-Charging Employment Agencies, 1949 and the simultaneous ratification and acceptance of Part III concerning the Regulation of Fee-Charging Employment Agencies. The Committee has further noted with interest the documents attached to the Governent's report concerning the main lines of labour market policy for the years 1991-95. According to the Government's forecasts, the evolution of the labour market during that period should be characterised by increasing divergence between supply and demand, owing in particular to the fall in demand for unskilled labour. Long-term unemployment, which mainly affects the least-skilled workers, will consequently remain a priority concern of the employment services. The quality of employment services will be improved by intensifying contacts with their employer and jobseeker users. Quantitative objectives are set for the employment services in terms of registration of offers of employment and the placement of workers in categories particularly affected by unemployment. The Committee has no doubt that the Government will supply, in its forthcoming reports information on the results achieved.

4. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply the information required by the report form on economic policy measures in such fields as investment policy; fiscal and monetary policies; trade policy; prices, incomes and wages policies, and on the procedure adopted to ensure that the effects of these measures on employment receive due consideration. The Committee further hopes that the next report will include detailed information on the volume and distribution of labour, the nature and extent of unemployment and underemployment, and trends in those matters.