Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - Azerbaijan (Ratification: 1993)

The Committee notes the report and statistical data provided by the Government in August 2010, including replies to the 2005 direct request.

Articles 1–3 of the Convention. Contribution of the employment service to employment promotion. The Government reports that regional and municipal employment centres of the Central Employment Agency operate in all the geographical administrative divisions of the country. It further states that the staffing establishment of the Central Employment Agency and its local offices is determined by the Cabinet of Ministers. The Central Employment Agency carries out its activities in close cooperation with other state agencies, local government and autonomous authorities, trade unions and employers, irrespective of their form of ownership and organizational/legal status. The Committee refers to its 2010 comments on the application of the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), and invites the Government to describe in its next report on Convention No. 88 the functioning of the public employment service in order to meet the needs of employers and workers throughout the country. Please also continue to provide statistical information concerning the number of public employment offices established, the number of applications for employment received, the number of vacancies notified, and the number of persons placed in employment by such offices (Part IV of the report form).

Articles 4 and 5. Cooperation of the social partners. The Government refers to the Employment Act which provides that national and local coordinating committees are established for the purpose of preparing coordinated decisions in the employment sphere. The committees are made up of representatives of trade unions, employers’ organizations, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, relevant national and local government agencies and voluntary organizations representing the interests of citizens in special need of social protection. The national coordinating committee reports to the Cabinet of Ministers on the implementation of the national employment programme and prepares and presents proposals to improve current legislation. The Government indicates that local coordinating committees receive information from enterprises and organizations on employment problems, examine complaints from the public on employment matters and present proposals to the national coordinating committee on questions of improvement of current employment legislation. The Committee invites the Government to provide information in its next report regarding the specific arrangements made through national and local advisory committees for the cooperation of employer and worker representatives in the organization and operation of the employment service and in the development of employment service policy.

Article 7 and 8. Measures for particular categories of applicants for employment. The Government indicates that employment exchanges have been set up and are operating in temporary employment agencies for people in special need of social protection, such as pensioners, persons with disabilities, women, students, young persons, part-time workers, short-time workers, including seasonal workers. As for special arrangements for young persons, the Government indicates several basic approaches to resolving youth employment. Among these approaches, the Committee notes progressively securing permanent work for young people who have completed vocational training and providing vocational training for young people in occupations and specialist trades required in the labour market. The Government also refers to the Employment Strategy 2007–10 which envisaged the preparation and implementation of the youth employment plan aimed at creating job opportunities for young people through, inter alia, the provision of microcredits to start up small businesses. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information concerning the impact of the arrangements made to promote employment for young persons, other vulnerable groups and special categories of applicants for which specialized arrangements have been made.