Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

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

1. The Committee notes the Government's report for the period ending September 1998. The Committee also notes the discussion in the Conference Committee in June 1998.

2. In response to the Committee's request to be provided with the results of surveys that are being undertaken in the field of employment, the Government provided statistical tables on the level of urban employment: 50.5 per cent of the population was suitably employed, while 41.8 per cent were affected by underemployment and 7.7 per cent of the urban population were unemployed (the figures cover the third quarter of 1997). The Committee notes that, according to the statement by the Government representative to the Conference Committee, the Peruvian Government attaches primary importance to full employment within overall national policy. The Committee recalls that the Convention requires the declaration and pursuit, as a major goal, of an active policy designed to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment. This policy must be decided upon and kept under review within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy (Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention). The Committee would therefore be grateful if the Government would indicate in its next report the manner in which account is taken of the effects on employment of measures designed to promote economic development or achieve economic and social objectives (investment policy; fiscal and monetary policies; trade policy; prices, incomes and wages policies). For the preparation of its report, in addition to the contribution made by the Ministry of Labour, the Government may consult other ministries concerned with economic matters in order to enable the Committee to undertake a better examination of the employment policy that is being implemented.

3. The Government's report contains detailed information on the various programmes implemented by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. The Committee once again notes the progress achieved by the Programme for the Promotion of Self-Employment and Micro-Enterprises (PRODAME), the objective of which is to promote the generation of productive employment through the development in the formal sector of micro- and small enterprises by reducing the cost and time required to establish such economic units. The Government provides information on the establishment of the Micro-Enterprise Bank S.A. (MIBANCO). The Committee notes that the micro- and small enterprise sector accounts for 98 per cent of the enterprises in the country, which generate 75 per cent of national productive employment and contribute 42 per cent of the gross domestic product. The Committee would therefore be grateful if the Government would continue providing information on the measures taken in the framework of PRODAME and MIBANCO to increase employment opportunities and improve conditions of work in the informal sector, and to facilitate its progressive integration into the national economy. The Government may consider it appropriate to refer to the relevant provisions of the Employment Policy (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1984 (No. 169), and the Job Creation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Recommendation, 1998 (No. 189), which may provide guidance for its action. In this respect, it would also be useful to be provided with detailed information on the situation, level and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment, not only in urban sectors, but also in rural areas of the country.

4. The Government provides information in its report on the various programmes to train young people between 16 and 25 years of age, and on vocational training and pre-employment work experience contracts. The Committee raised the issue in its previous comments of the employment of young persons and workers wishing to return to the labour market. The Committee recalls that it requested an evaluation of the results obtained by the measures which had been adopted or were envisaged to guarantee that the application of the Employment Promotion Act with respect to employment contracts subject to special conditions, the promotion of self-employment and special enterprises, contributes effectively to the creation of new jobs. In the context of a representation made under article 24 of the ILO Constitution, it expressed concern at the considerable extension of vocational training contracts for young people, in view of the increase in the age limit to 25 years, the extension of their duration to 36 months and the increase in the maximum level of personnel authorized per enterprise to 30 per cent. The Committee trusts that the Government will continue providing information on the results achieved by programmes to promote the employment of young people. As suggested in Paragraph 17 of Recommendation No. 169, the Committee hopes that the Government will "carefully monitor" the measures taken to ensure that they result in "beneficial effects on young people's employment" and that they are consistent with the "conditions of employment established under national law and practice". The Committee once again emphasizes that it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that the measures adopted for the vocational training of young persons do not lose sight of their objective to insert, in an effective and lasting manner, those trained into suitable employment, and it requests the Government to describe the measures taken to this effect. Please also describe the manner in which the programmes which are implemented contribute effectively to the creation of new jobs, rather than to the redistribution of existing employment under more precarious conditions.

5. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to the fact that, as pointed out by the Governing Body, the Government has made the adjustment to the labour legislation a central component of its employment policy. The Committee notes that the Conference Committee considered that the effects of applying the employment promotion legislation should be carefully assessed with a view to making the necessary adaptations. The Committee also notes that a Government Representative stated that the modernization of industrial relations had involved the creation of a sufficiently flexible legal framework which promoted the efficient operation of the labour market and facilitated the achievement of higher levels of productivity by enterprises, thereby providing incentives for private investment and consequently for the creation of new jobs. The Committee refers to point 2 of this observation and considers it necessary in this context to recall once again that, in accordance with the Convention, the employment policy shall take due account of "the mutual relationships between employment objectives and other economic and social objectives" and that an employment policy, within the meaning of the Convention, should not have the effect of, directly or indirectly, prejudicing the rights protected by international labour standards. The Committee trusts that the Government will endeavour to ensure an equitable distribution of the social costs and benefits of its economic programme and that, in its next report, it will be in a position to provide information on the measures adopted to attenuate any negative effects on employment of the current economic reforms.

6. Article 3. The Conference Committee concluded by expressing the firm hope that the Government would take without delay appropriate legal and practical measures to ensure that the social partners are consulted on the measures to be taken to promote employment. In its report, the Government states that it is keeping open the possibility of participation of the social partners in respect of employment policies. Draft legislation is published in the Official Journal and a system of electronic mail has been established in the Congress of the Republic so that any organization or association can have access to the information in question. The Committee is bound to recall that the consultations required by this important provision must be held with the representatives of the persons affected by employment policy as a whole. The Committee urges the Government to establish effective, full and concrete social dialogue as a prerequisite for the success of its employment policies. The Committee is bound to emphasize the particular importance of this provision, which requires consultations with the representatives of the persons affected by employment policy "with a view to taking fully into account their experience and views and securing their full cooperation in formulating and enlisting support for such policies". In view of the characteristics of the economically active population in Peru, the consultations required by this provision of the Convention should also involve representatives of persons who work in the rural sector and the informal sector. The Committee once again urges the Government to give effect to this fundamental provision of the Convention, both in the formal sector and in the informal sector of the labour market.

7. The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the Government on ILO technical advisory and technical cooperation activities in the field of employment promotion. It requests the Government to continue supplying this information, and to indicate the action that has been taken or is envisaged, as a result of the ILO's assistance, to improve the application of the Convention (Part V of the report form).

8. The Committee notes the communication of the American Secretariat of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), conveying the concerns of the Peruvian Federation of Telephone Workers with regard to measures related to employment and the dismissals occurring as a consequence of the privatization and restructuring of the telecommunications sector. The observations of the organizations of workers referred to above were transmitted by the Office in November 1998 to the Government. The Committee invites the Government in its next report to make its own comments on the matters raised by the WFTU and their consequences on employment policy.