Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181) - Algeria (Ratification: 2006)

Application of the Convention in practice. In reply to the previous direct request, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government in March and August 2014. The Government reiterates that the National Employment Agency (ANEM) receives quarterly statistics on employment supply and demand and the job placements carried out. A partnership agreement concluded on 25 January 2012 between the ANEM and approved private employment agencies specifies that the ANEM shall provide its technical support to these agencies, particularly in relation to the organization and management of placement activities, employment guidance training sessions and statistics. The Committee notes that 20 private employment agencies have been approved at the national level. The Committee invites the Government to provide examples of the information supplied to the ANEM by private employment agencies and to specify both the nature and frequency of the information made available to the public (Article 13(3)(4) of the Convention). In this respect, the Committee would like to examine information on the skills of jobseekers, the occupational sectors concerned and their geographical distribution, and on the nature and number of support measures for jobseekers.

Article 5(1). Measures to promote equality. The Government indicates that private employment agencies are required to subscribe to the model terms of reference which provide that administrations and institutions shall avoid in their activities any distinction, exclusion or preference based on discrimination, in accordance with the legislative provisions and regulations in force. With a view to ensuring equity and preserving the equality of opportunity of jobseekers, it is necessary to comply with the chronological order of their registration and the profile that is sought. The Committee refers once again to the comments that it has been making for several years on the application of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), and recalls that certain grounds of discrimination, such as race, colour, religion and national extraction, are not covered by the 1990 Labour Code. The Committee once again invites the Government to provide more specific information on the measures taken to ensure that private employment agencies do not subject workers to any of the forms of discrimination set out in the Convention.

Article 5(2). Special services to assist the most disadvantaged workers. The Committee once again invites the Government to provide information on the special services or targeted programmes designed by private employment agencies to assist the most disadvantaged workers in their jobseeking activities.

Article 8. Protection of migrant workers. The Committee notes that private employment agencies are not allowed to place Algerian workers abroad. The Government indicates that the ANEM is entrusted with examining any opportunities for the employment abroad of nationals wishing to emigrate. With the exception of the bilateral agreements concluded with France in 1968 and with Tunisia in 1963, Algeria has not concluded other bilateral agreements on the protection of migrant workers. The Committee once again invites the Government to indicate the measures taken to provide adequate protection and prevent abuses of migrant workers.

Article 10. Complaints. The Government indicates that no complaints of fraudulent practices concerning the activities of private employment agencies have been lodged with the employment services. The Committee invites the Government to provide information showing how the procedures in force enable the effective examination of alleged abuses and fraudulent practices concerning the activities of private employment agencies, with an indication of the number and nature of the complaints received, and their outcome.