Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2011, publiée 101ème session CIT (2012)

Convention (n° 122) sur la politique de l'emploi, 1964 - Estonie (Ratification: 2003)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Implementation of an active employment policy. The Committee notes the Government’s report received in September 2011 containing detailed information in reply to the points raised in the 2010 direct request. Estonia was particularly hard-hit by the global financial crisis. The cumulative loss of GDP reached 19 per cent in 2008–09 and the unemployment rate increase almost four fold to 16.8 per cent by 2010. The recovery has been driven mainly by exports, but domestic demand has been gaining ground mostly through strong investments. The improved growth outlook has provided a positive impetus to the labour market. Employment rate has risen markedly in 2011, although long-term unemployment remained high. The Government indicates in its report that the economic downturn and rise in unemployment has forced it to revise its active labour market policy. Consequently, along with other measures, the criteria for participating in the wage subsidy service were simplified as of 2010 in order to support the creation of new jobs, to enable skilled persons to re-enter the labour market and to prevent long-term unemployment. The labour tax paid by employers on lower paid jobs was also reduced in 2010 when an employer hires an unemployed person. Functions relating to the direction of active labour market measures, originally under the auspices of the Labour Market Board, were transferred to the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund (EUIF). The Committee notes with interest that Government expenditure on active labour market measures tripled since 2008, accounting for 0.44 per cent of GDP. With the aim of increasing the quality, access and effectiveness of labour market services, the EUIF implemented the following measures: (1) implementation of a service that provides reaction to redundancies; (2) modernization of information systems designed to address the needs of unemployed persons; (3) implementation of a mobile counselling service for persons living in rural areas; and (4) introduction of a special voucher scheme offering training and retraining opportunities to unemployed persons. The Government recalls in its report that the supervisory board of the EUIF is the competent authority for approving fixed-term employment programmes. It consists of six members, out of which two represent employers and two represent workers. The board examines notably the objectives, duration, cost and measures supporting the employment programmes. The Committee invites the Government to provide information and evaluation data on the impact of the various labour market measures undertaken on the employment situation including information on the involvement of the social partners in the design and implementation of an active employment policy in accordance with the Convention.

Employment creation and deregulation. The Government indicates in its report that the main idea behind the revised Employment Contract Act was to design employment relationships that take into consideration the needs and interests of contracting parties. The Act addresses the workers’ need for employment security and the employers’ need to be able to reorganize their business in flexible ways. It also gives workers the opportunity to reconcile work and family life and provides for consultations between worker organizations’ and employers’ prior to collective redundancies. It also provides that the burden of proof rests on the employer in cases of termination of employment on grounds of discrimination. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the impact and results achieved in terms of productive jobs creation by new labour market regulations.

Vulnerable categories of workers. The Government reports that in order to promote the employment of the long-term unemployed, the criteria for qualifying for the wage subsidy measure was loosened in 2010. The required period of previous unemployment was cut from 12 to 6 months in the case of long-term unemployment and from 6 to 3 months for the youth unemployed. As a result of these changes, 10,885 persons participated in the wage subsidy measure in 2010 compared to 194 persons in 2009. Moreover, starting in 2010, special cooperation projects between the EUIF and local governments were implemented in order to better detect and address the needs of the long-term unemployed. As noted in previous comments, the language barrier is an impediment for many jobseekers. In this regard, the Government indicates that the unemployment rate for native speaking Estonians increased from 4.2 per cent in 2008 to 13.4 per cent in 2010, while the rate for non-Estonian speakers increased from 8.2 per cent in 2008 to 23.4 per cent in 2010. The Government understands that the lack of knowledge of the Estonian language constitutes an obstacle for many unemployed persons entering the workforce and, consequently, the EUIF implemented language training courses in line with labour market training for a specific field to address this issue. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report on the results and efforts made to improve the situation of the long-term unemployed and non-Estonian speakers.

Sustainable regional development. The Government reports that the GDP per capita in the Ida-Viru region has increased more rapidly than in other regions, although its employment rates continue to lag behind the national average. In 2008–10, the Johvi Office (Ida-Viru region) of the Chamber of Commerce cooperated with the Federation of Estonian Engineering Industry on the Innomet Est project. The aim of the project was to create a virtual environment which would, on one hand, provide in-service training for employers wishing to develop their personnel and, on the other hand, offer training courses by educational institutions. In 2009, an Estonian-Finnish joint conference was organized and concluded that Estonia needs to brace itself for increasing labour migration and concurring cross-cultural communication. Furthermore, the Development Plan for Estonian Rural Life 2007–13 has been laid out to ensure the preservation of work places and to promote accessibility of services in rural areas. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report information on the implementation of these measures, as well as other specific measures undertaken to encourage sustainable regional development and to improve labour market indicators in underprivileged regions.

Training policies. The Committee notes the participation rate in lifelong learning among adults was calculated at 10.9 per cent in 2010. The Government reports that the National Reform Programme (NRP) for Estonia 2020 aims at increasing this rate to 15 per cent in 2015 and 20 per cent in 2020. It reports that particular emphasis will be put on measures such as broadening training and retraining opportunities for adults, increasing financing of adult training measures and offering vocational education to adults who lack professional education. Along these lines, the EUIF launched a training voucher scheme aimed at guaranteeing quicker, more flexible and individualized on-the-spot training for the unemployed. Moreover, in order to provide more individuals with free qualitative career advice, career information rooms were opened in every regional office of the EUIF in 2010. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on results of the measures taken in the area of education and training policies, their relation to labour market needs and to provide opportunities for low-skilled workers to take part in lifelong learning.