Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Hungary (Ratification: 1969)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Implementation of an active employment policy. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government on developments in legislation and practice during the reporting period, including information regarding the National Labour Service (NES), particularly the restructuring and expansion of its online services since 2014, as well as, the transformation – as contemplated in the Europe 2020 strategy – of the national system of vocational and adult training institutions. The Government indicates that, while the low employment rate among persons aged 15–64 constituted a challenge for the labour market in the past, since 2015 some sectors are facing a structural labour shortage. The employment rate among persons aged 15–64 reached 63.9 per cent in 2015, reflecting an increase of 2.1 percentage points as compared to 2014. The Government indicates that the general unemployment rate decreased during the reporting period to 6.8 per cent in 2015, compared to over 10 per cent in 2012. It adds that the employment rate for women continues to fall short of the employment rates for men, a difference that it attributes to significantly higher rates of economic inactivity among women. The Government indicates that the unemployment rate for women stood at 5.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2016, compared to 4.9 per cent for men. The Government indicates that, despite progress made in increasing employment and decreasing unemployment rates, challenges remain. In particular, the Government points to the high ratio of persons with low levels of schooling among jobseekers and the high proportion of career starters, young persons and persons who have been unemployed for more than a year, stating that long-term unemployed persons make up more than a quarter of jobseekers. In order to improve the employability of these groups, the Government has partially realigned existing active labour market programmes and developed new projects. In addition to tax incentives and other subsidies for employers, the measures under the general programmes and projects specifically address jobseekers, making it less financially attractive to remain in unemployment and offering mentoring and tailored trainings based on a new customer classification (profiling) system launched in 2016 and offering housing benefits to make relocation more attractive. The Committee further notes the projects launched by the Government aimed at strengthening the sustainability of social enterprises through the creation of jobs for inactive and unemployed persons in deprived urban areas and small settlements. The public employment system has been expanded and, to facilitate the transition from public employment to the open labour market, a job placement benefit system was introduced in 2016 to provide incentives for persons working as public employees to find employment in the private sector. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on active employment measures adopted or envisaged, including statistical information, disaggregated by sex and age, as well as on the impact of such measures at the national level and in low-income areas to promote full, productive and sustainable employment opportunities, in accordance with Articles 1–3 of the Convention. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on the impact of measures taken to facilitate access to employment and apprenticeship opportunities for young persons, particularly those between 20 and 25 years of age.

Young persons. The Committee notes that following a significant decrease in the activity rate of young persons below the age of 25 in the wake of the economic crisis, by 2015 the activity rate of young persons had surpassed 31 per cent. The Government indicates, that since then, the number of young registered jobseekers has dropped considerably, as their chances of finding employment have improved. As of May 2016, 13.8 per cent of young persons were unemployed, which is significantly below the EU average of 21 per cent. The Government has continued to focus on specific targeted programmes for young persons below the age of 25, such as the “Youth Guarantee Labour Market Programme” which couples the provision of job opportunities for young people with mentoring from the NES, in which 108,384 young persons have participated. Within the framework of this Programme, the Government is implementing the “Economic Development and Innovation Operational Programme”, which is to be carried out from 2014 to 2020 and aims to prepare young persons aged 18–25 with entrepreneurial skills as well as to prepare those aged 25–30 who are starting their career and hold a tertiary degree to establish their own businesses. As part of the Rural Development Programme, the “Young Farmer Programme” supports young trained agricultural professionals to establish agricultural businesses. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the impact of the active employment policy measures targeting young persons.

Older jobseekers, workers with parental obligations, persons with altered capacity to work. The Committee notes that workers above the age of 50 are the primary target of the “Road to the Labour Market” Programme entailing different forms of wage support and mobility schemes in which nearly 5,400 jobseekers have participated since July 2016. In order to facilitate the labour market integration of parents, a 2016 amendment to the Labour Code requires employers to provide parents of children up to the age of 5 years with the possibility of part-time employment. This amendment, together with enhanced employment protection for parents of young children under the “Road to the Labour Market” Programme and the expansion of day-care services, facilitates parents’ return to work. With respect to persons with disabilities, projects implemented under the 2012 programme on “Helping the Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Altered Capacity to Work” has enabled 200,000 persons with disabilities, impaired health or altered capacity to work to be employed both in subsidized employment and in the open labour market. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the active employment policy measures targeting groups such as older jobseekers, workers with parental obligations and persons with altered capacity to work.

The Roma minority. The Committee notes the Government’s information in reply to its previous request that, in addition to targeted support for vulnerable groups of workers under the Employment Protection Action Plan, specific employment programmes employed 66,518 Roma in 2015, with 362,938 Roma having participated since the inception of the programmes. The Government indicates that in 2015, based on the National Strategy of Social Convergence, the Economic Forum on Convergence was established, comprising 45 corporate and five government members, and seeks to motivate entrepreneurs pursuing responsible and sustainable economic activities to contribute to strengthening the process of eliminating gaps in society since 2015. The Committee notes that this has resulted in a Framework Agreement between the Government and the National Roma Self-Government aimed at improving the participation of Roma in the labour market. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated information on measures taken or envisaged to overcome the labour market challenges faced by the Roma, and on the impact of the measures taken to increase full and productive employment and social cohesion of the Roma. The Committee further requests the Government to indicate the nature and extent of its cooperative activities with the National Roma Self-Government in enlisting support for measures taken or contemplated.

Article 3. Consultations with the social partners. In reply to the Committee’s request, the Government indicates that, in addition to the National Economic and Social Council (NESC), the Permanent Consultation Forum (PCF) provides a tripartite forum for the discussion of questions affecting economic and social development. In 2016, it established the Social Policy Council, a consultative forum to provide technical opinions and propose legislation. Through forming professional colleges, the Council aims to ensure more efficient cooperation between the Government and representatives of different professional fields. The Committee requests the Government to provide concrete examples of cooperation with the social partners in the formulation of employment policies, with reference both to consultations with representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations and to consultations with representatives of other segments of the economically active population, such as those working in the rural sector and the informal economy.