Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Denmark (Ratification: 1970)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report for the period 1 September 1998 to 31 May 2000, as well as the Labour Market Reforms - a Status, 1999, and the evaluation report on training.

1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. The Committee notes that during the period from 1997 to 1999 employment increased from 71.9 per cent to 73.9 per cent; total unemployment decreased from 7.9 per cent to 5.7 per cent; for men, unemployment dropped from 6.7 per cent to 4.9 per cent, and for women from 9.3 per cent to 5.7 per cent. Unemployment also declined significantly for youth and older workers. Please supply information on the employment trends of other categories of workers, such as workers with disabilities, as requested in the report form under Article 1.

2. The Government states that it has implemented the third phase of its labour market reforms. This phase continues the reforms agreed with the Employers’ Confederation (DA) and the Confederation of Trade Unions (LO). The Government’s long-term objective is to increase employment by an average of 0.5 per cent per year until 2005. Labour policy measures are set based on regional labour market conditions, and the public employment service and local authorities can choose among a range of programmes.

3. Further to previous comments, the Government states that its 18-month training programme for unemployed youth is limited to a target group of people under 25 years of age who have been receiving social assistance for at least three months or who did not complete formal education or training and have been unemployed for at least six months. The goal is to motivate these jobseekers to go into ordinary education, training or employment. The Government states that as a result of the programme, the target group has fallen from approximately 7,000 in 1996 to about 700 in 2000, and appears to have the spillover effect of motivating youth outside of the target group to stay in school and to look more aggressively for a job. The Committee notes this information with interest and would appreciate continuing to receive information on the impact of this programme on youth employment.

4. The Committee also notes with interest the Government’s reply that older people are continuing to work due to tighter restrictions on taking early retirement, incentives to stay in work, special job search assistance, assistance to employers introducing senior policy initiatives, and subsidized employment in the public sector. These programmes have the benefit of allowing older workers to phase in retirement more gradually. The Senior Policy Initiative Committee advises the Government on employment promotion for older workers.

5. The Committee notes that the numerous programmes described in the Government’s report all refer to insured persons. However, the statistics provided by the Government indicate that there are numerous unemployed people who are not insured. For instance, in 1999, total unemployment reached 158,000, of whom 131,600 were insured, indicating that 26,400 were not covered. Please indicate what programmes exist to promote employment opportunities for uninsured jobseekers.

6. The Government states that more needs to be done to promote employment opportunities for people who do not speak Danish well. Please supply further information on progress made in this respect.

7. The Committee notes that there is no information in the Government’s report on how employment policy is coordinated with other economic and social policies. Please provide further information on the overall and sectoral development policies in areas such as investment, trade, fiscal and monetary policies and regional development, as requested in the report form under Article 1.