Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Uruguay (Ratification: 1977)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Implementation of the employment policy within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy. Participation of the social partners. The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending May 2012 showing the positive developments in the economy (GDP grew by 5.7 per cent in 2011 and by 2 per cent in the first quarter of 2012). The Government also recalls that in 2011 the unemployment rate was at a historical low level and the employment rate at historically high levels, as a result of which enterprises encountered difficulties in the recruitment of the necessary personnel. Although employment remained stable in 2010 (with a growth of 0.5 per cent), in 2011 approximately 70,000 jobs were created. The Committee notes that the strategic directives to promote economic activity and employment adopted between 2010 and 2012 remain in force. The Committee notes with interest that since January 2012 a new Decree issued under the Investment Promotion Act has given greater importance to the quality of the employment generated, the promotion of labour market integration for vulnerable groups and training activities in enterprises. The Government adds that in Public Job Centres (CePEs), a total of 15,269 persons were interviewed in 2011 and that the number of CePEs in operation continued to increase (five in Montevideo and 21 centres in the rest of the country). The Government refers to the implementation of various programmes to promote employment and the launching of the National Dialogue on Employment. Within the framework of the dialogue on employment, various important subjects were discussed (training for young persons, policies to address the insufficiency of labour supply, adaptation of training structures to labour demand and supply, the situation of rural employed persons). The Committee invites the Government to include information in its next report on the impact of the measures implemented to improve the quality of the employment generated and to reduce unemployment and underemployment (Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention). The Committee also invites the Government to describe the policies and programmes adopted in the field of employment policy and to provide information on the participation of the social partners in the process of their formulation, implementation and evaluation (Article 3). Please continue providing disaggregated statistical data on the labour market situation and trends.

Strengthening and coordinating institutions. The Committee notes the information provided on the activities of the National Employment and Vocational Training Institute (INEFOP). The Government indicates that the decentralization of the INEFOP at the departmental level continued and that INEFOP committees were operating in 17 departments. Tripartite sectoral committees have been established for sectors such as shipbuilding, cargo transport, bio- and nanotechnology, forestry, etc. The Committee notes that the social partners are members of the Governing Board of the INEFOP and play an advisory role at the departmental level. The Committee invites the Government to provide updated information in its next report on the activities undertaken by the tripartite commissions of INEFOP on employment and vocational training at the departmental and sectoral levels. The Committee hopes that information will also be provided on the impact of the measures adopted during the period covered by the next report and on other initiatives for the training of active workers, those who have recently become unemployed and the long-term unemployed. Please also indicate the mechanisms that have been established to facilitate the necessary coordination between employment and education policies and economic and social development policies adopted at the ministerial level.

Youth employment. The Government has provided a review of youth policies and programmes in Uruguay, drawn up in 2012 in the context of the Labour Market Observatory of MERCOSUR. The overall review identifies the existence of growing inequality in terms of the knowledge acquired when leaving secondary school. It found that secondary school no longer fulfils the role of levelling inequalities and of a mechanism of social improvement and integration. The study provided figures for falling behind and repetition rates, which are directly associated with the high levels of disassociation among many young persons with the formal education system. Labour supply is concentrated among the poor, and young persons enter the informal labour market early and then experience great difficulty in improving their employment conditions. According to the study’s conclusions, the programmes implemented have little coverage and there is a lack of specific programmes for the categories with the highest levels of inactivity. The Committee invites the Government to provide data with its next report showing the positive impact of the active policy measures taken to promote the long-term integration of young persons into the labour market, particularly for the most vulnerable categories of young persons.

Workers in the informal economy. In its 2011 observation, the Committee observed that a negotiating group for the domestic service sector had been established in the Wage Council and that the Social Security Bank had adopted initiatives to reduce the lack of social security registrations, which had resulted in an increase in the number of contributors. Information was also provided on the activities of the smallest enterprises, the tax system and exports of products manufactured by micro-enterprises. The Committee invites the Government to provide updated information in its next report on the integration of informal economy workers into the formal labour market and on the impact of the support measures for the creation and consolidation of micro- and small enterprises.

Cooperatives. The Committee invites the Government to provide information in its next report on the activities of the National Cooperative Institute (INACOOP) for the promotion of labour cooperatives and social cooperatives.