Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

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

Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention. Formulation of an active employment policy. In reply to the observation of 2007, the Government states in its report for the period ending in May 2008 that, although no national employment plan is in force, the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion has developed Guidelines on Social and Labour Policy 2007–2011. The Guidelines are for management purposes and aim to improve the performance of the labour administration and the promotion of employment and micro- and small enterprises. According to the Guidelines, the Ministry’s role is to build capacity to direct the implementation of policies and programmes to generate productive employment and to encourage the creation and/or “formalization” of micro- and small enterprises, to facilitate access to business information and other business and financial development services, to contribute to improving employability and/or labour market integration, particularly among vulnerable sectors of the population and to contribute to improving the production, quality and dissemination of social and labour-related information. According to an opinion from the Autonomous Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CATP) which was included in the Government’s report, since there is no national employment plan, implementation of the Guidelines on Labour and Social Policy 2007–2011 is very difficult. The Committee refers the Government to Article 1(1), of the Convention, which requires an active policy to be declared and pursued in order to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment. Furthermore, according to Article 3 of the Convention, the full cooperation of the social partners must be enlisted in formulating the abovementioned policy and the necessary support obtained for its implementation. The Committee hopes that, in the Government’s next report, it will find information indicating the manner in which implementation of the Guidelines on Social and Labour Policy 2007–2011 has contributed to attainment of the Convention’s objectives. The Committee further hopes that the next report will include the texts in which, with the participation of the social partners, an active employment policy has been defined, as required by the provisions of the Convention.

Labour market trends. The Committee observes that in 2008 the persistently high growth rates boosted expansion of the demand for labour. Employment in urban areas registered an 8.7 percentage point improvement between January and October 2008 over the same period in 2007. Furthermore, the Household Survey of metropolitan Lima shows that the unemployment rate dropped from 8.8 per cent to 8.6 per cent in the first three quarters of 2007 and 2008, respectively, with a 0.4 percentage point reduction in the employment rate. According to the National Statistics Institute (data published in May 2008), poverty rates have dropped since 2004. According to the National Household Survey, in 2007, 39.3 per cent of the population were living in poverty, 64.6 per cent of whom were to be found in rural areas and 25.7 per cent in urban areas. The Committee notes with interest that these figures indicate a 5.2 percentage point drop in poverty rates as compared with the figures for 2008 and 2006. Furthermore, extreme poverty levels have likewise fallen. While in 2006, 16.1 per cent of the population lived in extreme poverty, in 2007 this figure dropped to 13.7 per cent. The Committee notes that one of the strategies set forth in the Guidelines on Labour and Social Policy 2007–2011 is to promote the development of employment-generating programmes for the most vulnerable population groups. According to the Government, the RED CIL Pro-Employment Programme has extended its coverage nationwide by strategic alliances with public and private institutions involved in employment promotion, both in urban and in rural areas. The Government also provides information on the work done to strengthen the strategies for rural action, with emphasis on self-employment, so as to enable rural inhabitants to improve their standards of living and join the labour market on an independent footing. In the CATP’s view, progress is insufficient in terms of job quality, as can be seen from the high rate of employment in the informal sector. The CATP states that there are gender and age-group differentials, young people being among the most vulnerable groups.

The Committee refers to the information received in September 2009 in the report on the Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88). The Government states that in January 2009, 15 sets of guidelines agreed on in an Anti-Crisis Task Force were approved to counteract the effects of the international crisis in the economy, production and the labour market. The Committee notes with interest that the proposals agreed on include the implementation of a programme designed to retrain workers laid off as a result of the crisis and place them in new jobs. The Committee asks the Government to include information in its next report on the implementation of the proposals to counteract the effects of the international crisis in the labour market.

The Committee notes in this connection that work is being done to identify the information needs of vulnerable groups (older and disabled persons) and mechanisms for dissemination in order to provide relevant information so that they can render adequate decisions facilitating their access to the labour market. The RED CIL Pro-Employment Programme has developed and implemented measures for intermediation focused on the regions of Ica, La Libertad, Piura and Lambayeque to respond to the needs of the agro-industrial sector employing unskilled labour, organizing workshops to improve their employability and facilitate access to job offers. Work has been done to strengthen the strategies for rural action, with emphasis on self-employment, which will enable rural dwellers to improve their standards of living and join the labour market on an independent footing. However, according to the document attached to the report produced by the Technical Secretariat of the National Council for Labour and Employment Promotion (CNTPE), the Operational Plan for the Agricultural Sector has not been revised in a tripartite framework. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the measures taken (and results achieved) to enable vulnerable groups to obtain productive employment, particularly in rural areas, where poverty rates are still very high. The report should provide information on the nature, extent and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment in the urban as well as the rural areas of the country.

Training and employment promotion policies. The Government states that, since 52.7 per cent of the population is affected by underemployment, conditions must be created that are conducive to appropriate training for employment so that the demand for jobs can be met. The Committee observes that the strategies set out in the Guidelines on Social and Labour Policy 2007–2011 include improving levels of occupation adjustment so as to match skills supply and demand. The objective is to develop permanent monitoring machinery and disseminate information on occupational training needs. In July 2006, national policy guidelines for vocational training were approved which involved the design of regional policies for vocational training and approval of a regional vocational training plan for every region in the country. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on progress made in designing regional policies and plans to facilitate the coordination of education and vocational training policies and employment prospects. The Committee notes the proposals and diagnoses carried out by the Technical Committee on Vocational Training and the policy proposals for systematizing vocational training programmes prepared in conjunction with the CNTPE. The National Directorate for Employment has conducted studies on the quantitative and qualitative qualification of human resources in the textile, plastic, pharmaceutical, tourism, agro-industry and maritime and dock work sectors. In 2008, a study was launched on the manufacturing sector. The Committee hopes that the next report will contain information on coordination that has been set up to link the various initiatives mentioned above in order to meet the training needs identified to improve the skills of the workers in the sectors concerned. According to the CATP, employers do not provide training for their workers because it is not tax deductible, despite the submission of proposals to amend the tax law. The CATP also suggests that the State does not invest in improving the education of its citizens or prepare young persons for the world of work. The Committee hopes that the next report will also include information on support obtained in this area from the social partners. It refers in this connection to the Human Resources Development Recommendation, 2004 (No. 195), in which members are invited to “define, with the involvement of the social partners, a national strategy for education and training, as well as establish a guiding framework for training policies at national, regional, local and sectoral and enterprise levels” (Paragraph 5(a) of Recommendation No. 195).

Informal economy. The Committee notes from the ILO data published in Panorama Laboral 2008 that, between 2006 and 2007, Peru’s informal economy has shrunk  more than in other countries of the region. This is due to the growth of financial establishments and to the manufacturing industry, two sectors with a high number of registered workers. The Government states in its report that in June 2007 a special tripartite committee was set up to address the problems of the informal economy in Peru. The special committee established criteria for defining the economy and informal employment and analysed statistics allowing it to characterize informal workers. The studies carried out by the special committee show that due to the large proportion of informal jobs in micro-enterprises, the cost of joining the formal economy would be too high. Many of the informal micro-enterprises in rural areas have workers with little training and virtually no management capacity, and they see little point in paying taxes or contributions to services in the formal sector to which they have no access. Micro-enterprises in the urban sector likewise have a high proportion of informal jobs, as they opt not to join the formal sector because of the high costs involved. According to the Government, the 2006 National Household Survey shows that 53 per cent of the active population work in micro- and small enterprises and inadequate access to training and on-the-job training is one of the major problems currently affecting the sector, where 89 per cent of the workers have gone no further than secondary school. The Committee notes that the National Promotion and Formalization Plan for the Competitiveness and Development of Micro- and Small Enterprises 2005–2009 has been implemented only in part. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in establishing and formalizing micro- and small enterprises, facilitating access to business information, advisory and other business and financial development services that foster the expansion of such enterprises in a favourable environment, and the implementation of policies and programmes that contribute to making them more productive.

Cooperatives. The Committee notes that in April 2008 a new general Cooperatives Act was drafted. The Committee refers to the Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (No. 193), the provisions of which encourage governments to “introduce support measures, where appropriate, for the activities of cooperatives that meet specific social and public policy outcomes, such as employment promotion or the development of activities benefiting disadvantaged groups or regions”. The Committee hopes that the next report will include information on the manner in which cooperatives have contributed to the promotion of productive employment in Peru.