Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Algeria (Ratification: 1969)

1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Implementation of an active employment policy. In its previous comments, the Committee expressed its concern regarding the effective pursuit of an active policy designed to promote the objectives of the Convention. It emphasized the importance of consultations with the representatives of the persons affected in an environment of very high and persistent unemployment. In March 2008, the Government submitted a brief report indicating that the national employment policy has been characterized in recent years by the implementation of state-financed programmes to support employment, the creation of micro-enterprises and the reform of the public employment service. In its previous reports, the Government indicated that the national employment policy aimed to reduce the unemployment rate to less than 10 per cent by 2009, by creating 2 million jobs. The Committee understands that these objectives were confirmed in March 2008 in the context of a strategy to promote employment and combat unemployment. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the results achieved and difficulties encountered in implementing the strategy to promote employment and combat unemployment, including updated quantitative information on the development and results of the programmes implemented to promote growth and economic development, raise living standards, meet the needs of the labour force and resolve the problem of unemployment and underemployment (Article 1, paragraph 1).

2. Role of the employment services in employment promotion. In its report, the Government emphasizes the modernization of the National Employment Agency (ANEM) and its network of agencies, and the opening up of the possibility for private operators to offer employment services. The Committee noted the Government’s first report on the application of the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), and addressed a request to the Government concerning cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies. It hopes that in its next report on Convention No. 122 the Government will provide an account of the measures taken by ANEM and private employment agencies to ensure that the objectives of the Convention, in particular the objective of ensuring productive employment for all those available for work, have been pursued by all actors in the labour market.

3. Collection and use of employment data. The Government recalls in its report that, in June 2005, it created a National Employment and Poverty Reduction Observatory. However, the report does not contain the statistical information requested in the report form. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide an account of the progress made by the National Employment and Poverty Reduction Observatory in improving the labour market information system and to provide detailed statistics on the situation and trends in employment, specifying the manner in which the collected data have been used to determine and review employment policy measures.

4. Article 1, paragraph 2. Labour market policies in favour of young people. The Committee notes that priority will be given to practical measures to address the vocational integration needs of young people, who account for more than 70 per cent of the population seeking employment. Measures to support vocational integration and new employment contracts will be offered to young graduates. The Committee refers in this regard to paragraph 9 of the Conclusions on promoting pathways to decent work for youth, adopted at the 93rd Session of the Conference (June 2005), which states that while employment cannot be directly created but only encouraged by legislation or regulation, labour legislation and regulation based on international labour standards can provide employment protection and support increased productivity, which are conditions basic to the creation of decent work, particularly for young people. The Committee invites the Government to provide information in its next report on the results achieved through measures taken to promote decent employment for young people, particularly for those who have few or no qualifications.

5. Labour market policies in favour of workers with disabilities. The Committee recalls that, in previous reports, the Government had reported that regulatory provisions make it compulsory for employers to reserve a quota of 1 per cent of posts for workers with disabilities. The Committee once again asks the Government to provide information on the impact in practice of the measures taken to increase the level of participation of workers with disabilities in the labour market and to ensure that such workers are engaged in productive and lasting employment.

6. Article 3. Participation of the social partners in policy preparation and implementation. The Committee regrets that the Government has not provided the information requested on the manner in which the consultation of representatives of the persons affected, required under Article 3 of the Convention, is ensured in practice. The Committee can only emphasize once again the importance of giving full effect to this key provision of the Convention, in particular in an environment of very high and persistent unemployment. It hopes that the next report will contain information in that regard and that it will include information on the consultations held with representatives of the most vulnerable categories of the population, in particular with representatives of workers in the rural sector and the informal economy, in order to secure their cooperation in formulating and implementing employment policy programmes and measures.

7. Finally, the Committee recalls that the preparation of a detailed report, responding to the questions raised in this observation, will serve as an opportunity for the Government and social partners to evaluate the achievement of the objective of full and productive employment provided for by the Convention. Consequently, it once again asks the Government to provide detailed information so as to enable it to examine how the guiding principles of economic policy in areas such as monetary, budgetary, trade and regional development policy contribute, “within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy” (Article 2, paragraph (a)), to the pursuit of the employment objectives established by the Convention. The Committee once again asks the Government to provide information on the measures adopted to lower the unemployment rate, and on the results achieved by the measures taken in the public and private sectors in order to promote productive employment, particularly amongst young people.