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

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - Bosnia and Herzegovina (Ratification: 1993)

Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention. Part IV of the report form. Contribution of the employment service to employment promotion. The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending June 2010 which includes detailed information in reply to the 2006 direct request. It notes that there are 79 municipal public employment offices in the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), and 58 employment bureaus in the Republika Srpska (RS). Following certification and supervisory audits completed in the 2008–10 period, it appears that the network of employment bureaus is sufficient to serve unemployed persons and employers in the FBiH as each municipality has an employment bureau, although some improvements in the work arrangement of the employment bureaus are still needed. Furthermore, the Committee notes that the Convention has been implemented to a large extent in the Brčko District through the Employment Institute. However, the report indicated that there are still requirements which have not been fully implemented. The Committee further notes that Bosnia and Herzegovina has faced a major problem of high unemployment resulting from, among other issues, the transition towards a market economy. In this regard, efforts are being made to increase the employment rate and decrease the unemployment rate. The 2010–14 employment strategy of the RS aims at reorganizing the public employment services, strengthening the role of the Employment Institute in the RS and reducing the unemployment rate. The Committee wishes to continue receiving information on the number of applications for employment received, the number of vacancies notified and the number of persons placed in employment by the various employment services operating in each of the entities constituting Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Articles 4 and 5. Cooperation with the social partners. The Committee notes that the Federal Employment Institute of the FBiH shall include a Counselling Commission which will provide opinions in terms of employment and social security policies, and recommendations in terms of employment programmes. The Law on Agency in Employment and Social Security of Unemployed Persons of the FBiH prescribes that the Counselling Commission shall be formed by the Administrative Board composed of seven members, including Government representatives, two employer members and two trade union members. The Committee further notes that the FBiH and cantonal governments shall be required to ensure tripartite representation in the appointment of members on administrative boards. In the RS, the legislation provides that the Employment Institute shall be managed by the Administrative Board composed of five members, including one employer representative and one trade union representative. The social partners in the RS have been directly involved in employment policy creation tasks, in the management of the public employment service, and determining their respective representatives in the Administrative Board. With regard to the Brčko District, the Committee notes that there are no counselling commissions formed by employer and worker representatives. The Committee asks that the next report include information on the procedure adopted for the appointment of employer and worker representatives in the FBiH. It also requests information on how cooperation with the social partners will be made effective in the Brčko District. Please also continue supplying information in the next report on the participation of the social partners in the operation of the employment service.

Articles 6 and 7. Activities performed by the employment service. The Committee notes the provisions of the Law on Agency in Employment and Social Security of Unemployed Persons of the FBiH detailing the activities performed by the Federal Employment Institute. The Employment Institute of the RS is organized as a public service whose free of charge services are accessible to all unemployed persons and all employers regardless of the form of organization, activity or ownership structure. The report indicates that the Law on Employment in the Brčko District does not provide for sufficiently developed functions to employment agencies, in terms of counselling and career guidance. The Committee hopes that the next report will include information on the activities performed by the employment service in the FBiH. It also requests information on the activities performed by the public employment service in the Republika Srpska and Brčko District in order to better comply with Articles 6 and 7 of the Convention.

Article 8. Special arrangements for young workers. The Committee notes that the Federal Employment Institute of the FBiH and the cantonal employment services have continuously implemented various youth employment programmes. The Youth Employment and Retaining Programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2009–11 (YERP) plans to strengthen the capacity of the employment services in order to create conditions for the provision of professional and efficient services to young unemployed persons. Another youth programme in being prepared with the aim to improve the cooperation between the public employment services and private employment agencies, and the target group are unemployed youth aged 16 to 30 and students. The Committee notes from the report that a 36 month project has been implemented in the RS since September 2009 aimed at increasing the employability and retaining of youth. The Committee hopes that the next report will include information on special arrangements initiated and developed within the framework of the employment and vocational guidance services for young persons in each of the entities constituting Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Article 9. Staff of the employment service. The Committee notes the information provided in the report indicating that the Federal Employment Institute and the cantonal employment services of the FBiH are public institutions. The officers employed at the Employment Institute of the RS have the status of civil servants, and they obtain their positions following public competitions. In the Brčko District, the Employment Institute is a public service of general interest. However, the Committee notes from the report that the training of staff is at a low level. Please continue providing information on the status, conditions of service, methods of recruitment and selection, and training of the staff of the employment service.

Article 10. Outreach to employers and jobseekers. The Committee notes that the Federal Employment Institute of the FBiH is at the final phase to conclude the Agreement on Cooperation with the Association of Employers of the FBiH, aimed at, amongst others, improving the functioning of the labour market. In the RS, representatives of employers and workers have been directly involved in the management of the Employment Institute, and they have the opportunity to propose various schemes and models to motivate employers and workers to increase their usage of the public employment services. The Employment Institute of the Brčko District is intending to establish better communication with the representatives of employers and workers. The Committee wishes to receive, in the next report, information on the measures taken, in cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations, to encourage the full use of employment service facilities by employers and workers on a voluntary basis.

Article 11. Measures to secure cooperation with private employment agencies. The Committee notes from the report that the Decree on Private Employment Agencies of the FBiH, adopted in 2009, regulates their activities, method of registration and restrictions, as well as their access to public funds, prices of their services, maintenance of records and their cooperation with the public employment service. The Committee hopes that the next report will include information on the measures taken to secure effective cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies.