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

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Portugal (Ratification: 1981)

Implementation of an active employment policy. Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention. The Committee notes the report provided by the Government for the period ending May 2010, with contributions from the General Union of Workers (UGT), the Confederation of Trade and Services of Portugal (CCSP) and the Portuguese Confederation of Tourism (CTP). In its observation in 2009, the Committee invited the Government to provide information on the manner in which the difficulties encountered in attaining the objectives of the Convention had been overcome, and particularly on the effects on the labour market of the February 2009 reform of the Labour Code. The Government recalls that, with a view to overcoming the global financial and economic crisis, the “investment and employment” initiative (Act No. 10 of 10 March 2009) was launched to promote public investment projects in critical areas for the modernization of national infrastructure (school infrastructure, renewable energy, information technology), including measures to facilitate exports by small and medium-sized enterprises. In January 2010, the Government launched an “employment initiative” (Council of Ministers Decision No. 5/2010 of 29 January 2010) to maintain employment levels, facilitate the entry of young persons into the labour market and combat unemployment. Furthermore, to follow up the tripartite agreement concluded in June 2008, the Government had adopted new contractual arrangements, adjusted unemployment benefits and taken other measures to promote employment. Agreement was reached with the social partners on combating precarious employment and the segmentation of the labour market and improving the quality of employment. The reforms of the Labour Code were intended to strengthen the legal presumption of the existence of an employment contract and prevent dependent employment relationships being hidden by means of “false green receipts”, which prejudiced workers and state revenue. The measures adopted included limiting the renewal of fixed-term contracts and promoting the use of a simple form to legally challenge dismissal. According to the data published by the Employment and Vocational Training Institute (IEFP), in 2010 a total of 181,115 persons benefited from employment and placement programmes, around 340,000 persons had received vocational training and 11,718 retraining (similarly, in 2009, almost 173,000 persons benefited from employment and placement programmes, 344,155 persons from vocational training and 17,103 from retraining). The Committee notes that in January 2011 a total of 557,244 unemployed persons were registered with the employment centres, showing a small decrease in the number of unemployed (of 0.5 per cent) in relation to January 2010. Nevertheless, despite this slight improvement, unemployment had increased for 27 consecutive months. The unemployment rate rose from 7.6 per cent in 2008 to 9.5 per cent in 2009, reaching 10.8 per cent in 2010. Taking into account changes in the statistical methodology, it is projected that the unemployment rate will be higher than 12 per cent in 2011. In view of the worsening nature of the debt crisis, in May 2011 the Government received the support of the European Financial Stability Mechanism and submitted a Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies to the International Monetary Fund with the intention of restoring market confidence and increasing the potential of the national economy to generate socially balanced growth and employment. The Government plans to create new jobs, particularly for youth. Furthermore, the Government indicates its readiness, in consultation with the social partners, to reform the employment protection legislation to foster flexibility and improve equity, and to ensure that labour costs support job creation and competitiveness. Although it was decided to suspend public works and reduce the number of public employees, the Committee understands that the Government is also proposing to continue implementing active measures to support the labour market, improve the employability of young persons and other vulnerable categories of workers and ease labour market mismatches. While being aware of the burden of structural adjustment, the Committee emphasizes the importance of continuous and genuine tripartite consultations in confronting and mitigating the effects of the crisis (paragraph 788 of the 2010 General Survey concerning employment instruments). In this respect, the Committee invites the Government to provide information in its next report demonstrating that the opinions of the social partners have been taken into account in the adoption of measures intended to increase labour market flexibility. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information allowing an assessment of the manner in which the reduction of labour costs has permitted the creation of productive and quality jobs.

Measures to promote employment among vulnerable categories of workers. In its report, the Government recalls the measures specifically intended for unemployed workers over 55 years of age and those adopted in respect of the “integration employment” and “integration employment+” contractual arrangements (envisaged in the tripartite agreement of June 2008). According to the IEFP analysis, in December 2010, the majority of the unemployed were women between 35 and 54 years of age. Taking into account the importance of the employability of young and disadvantaged categories of the population in the new adjustment measures proposed in May 2011, the Committee once again requests the Government to include updated information in its next report on the results achieved by the measures intended to promote employment opportunities for all vulnerable categories of workers.

Creation of jobs in small and medium-sized enterprises. The CCSP emphasizes the positive contribution of the meetings held periodically of the Technical Support Group for the National Employment Plan in the context of the Economic and Social Council. The CCSP expresses its conviction that the future of employment policy will depend on the improvements that are made in the coordination of the various national policies, on giving greater importance to measures intended to promote the creation of self-employment and on improving the evaluation of the impact of the measures adopted on employment levels. The CCSP also emphasizes the need to review the measures adopted so as to allocate resources more effectively and obtain a positive return on the investments already made in employment. The CCSP also reports the difficulties encountered by most Portuguese enterprises, which are small or micro-enterprises, and are not able to organize their work so that one or more of their workers can benefit from training schemes. Small-enterprises and micro-enterprises should be provided with specific training taking into account the very small number of their workers. The Government recalls in its report the specific training measures adopted aimed at small enterprises. The Committee invites the Government to indicate in its next report the measures adopted which have been successful in facilitating the activities of micro- and small enterprises for the creation of productive employment.

Education and training policies. In its previous comments, the Committee emphasized the concern of trade union organizations concerning the school drop-out rate among youngsters and the decline in the participation of adult workers aged between 25 and 65 years in further training. In its report, the Government refers to the establishment of a tripartite support commission for the initiative Novas Oportunidades and the National Qualification System (SNQ). Enterprises are now under the obligation to provide quantitative data on the continuous training of workers in their annual reports. In the Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies submitted to the IMF in May 2011, the Government acknowledged the need to continue taking action to tackle low educational attainment and early school leaving and to improve the quality of secondary education and vocational education and training, with a view to increasing efficiency in the education sector, raising the quality of human capital and facilitating labour market matching. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide updated information in its next report on the measures adopted to coordinate education and training policies with employment policy, the necessity for which has become more acute in the current context of structural adjustment.