3.1. The
organisational structure.
3.2.
Resource allocation to the PES.
3.3.
Coverage of public employment services
3.4 Range
and quality of services.
3.5.
Role of private employment services (PRES)
3.7.
Support for implementing the EES.
A reform of social security system begun in
1990-1991 in order to create a new model of social security that would
guarantee social security and protection for all inhabitants. The new social security system was aimed to
correspond to
This
law stated that SES is responsible for the implementation of the state
employment policy. The status, rights and duties of an unemployed were defined
in law. In 1991 the SES was established and first unemployed persons were
registered.
The
basic rights to social protection are defined in the constitutional law
"Rights and liabilities of the inhabitants and citizens” which stipulates
the rights to financial maintenance at pension age, in case of illness,
complete or partial disablement, as well as the rights to receive an
unemployment benefit in the case of loosing job. Since the laws have the most
important role in insuring the functioning of the social security system, in
1995 a legislative reform was carried out.
Saeima (Parliament) of the Republic of Latvia
has adopted 7 new laws which cover all the aspects of the social
protection: “Law on Social security”,
“Law on the Social Tax”, “Law on Social Assistance”, “Law on State Pensions”,
“Law on Mandatory Social Insurance for the Case of Unemployment”, “Law on
Mandatory insurance against work accidents and professional illnesses”, “Law on
Insurance for Maternity and Illnesses”.
These laws guarantee social protection to the inhabitants of
In 1995 also the reform of social insurance
started. It was the starting point for individualized accounting of social tax
payments – each person has its own insurance account, where its social tax
payments are registered. The social tax was introduced in 1991. For
administration of social tax and social services The State Social Insurance
Foundation was established in 1994, in 1998 it was reorganized in State Social
Insurance Agency. In 1998 law “On State Social Insurance” (replacing Law on the
Social Tax) came into force. This law states there are 5 kinds of state social
insurance - insurance for state pensions; insurance for the case of
unemployment; insurance against accidents at work and professional diseases;
disability insurance; maternity and sickness insurance. The mandatory social
contribution payments form state special insurance budget which consists of 4
special budgets – state pensions special budget, employment special budget;
work accidents special budget; disability, maternity and illness special budget
(see table 23 in annex).
On
This law sets the system of
unemployment benefits as well (see table 24 in annex).
The Parliament of Latvia adopted on
As of January 2003 the new Social Assistance
and Social Services Law (adopted in 2002) comes into force. It replaces law “On
Social Assistance”. This law states that if person is able to work and does not
work but wants to receive benefit from local governments for provision of
minimum income level should register within SES.
According to the law “On Assistance to Unemployed Persons and Job-Seekers” the competence
of the CoM is to adopt NEP annually, where the
priorities for labour market policy are set, concrete active measures and
preventive measures and necessary financing are determined. The MoE coordinates the elaboration of NEP and submits it to
the CoM.
The MoE holds responsibility for promotion of entrepreneurship
and the creation of a business friendly environment, including development of
infrastructure.
The MoW and its Labour Department is responsible for labour
market policy and passive labour market measures. SES works under the
supervision of the MoW. The Ministry, and in
particular the Labour Department is responsible for the budget of the SES,
which it negotiates with the MoF. The MoW thus is the actor that represents SES in the budget
process, and it is Labour Department that prepares analysis of the labour
market and international projects in the labour market field. MoW is supervising the PCCC and State Social Insurance
agency (SSIA).
MoES is generally responsible for all levels and
types of education and training. It cooperates with SES in organization of
vocational training for unemployed and with PCCC in the field of vocational
guidance. However, the continuing training is not regulated directly by MoES. Each line
ministry is responsible for their respective field regarding continuing
training. E.g. MoA is responsible for CVT in
agriculture sector, MoH in health sector, MoES is education sector,
According to the law “On Assistance to Unemployed Persons and Job-Seekers” the duties of
local governments are
·
according
to the NEP carry out local employment plans;
·
to
cooperate with SES and PCCC in implementation of active labour market measures
·
to
provide all necessary information to SES and PCCC
·
to
help involve unemployed in projects financed by local governments or foreign
investors.
The State Social Insurance agency (SSIA) is
responsible for the payment of unemployment benefit since year 1998[2]. This is an insurance-based payment which is
based on the individual's previous work history, and is financed from social
contributions. It is also a condition of receipt that the individual is
registered as unemployed with the SES. Those unemployed who are not entitled to
unemployment benefit (or whose benefit entitlement is below a certain level)
may apply for social assistance payments. Overall responsibility for social
assistance lies with the Social Assistance Fund under the supervision of the MoW, but payments to individual applicants are managed by
local government authorities and financed from their general budgets.
The organisation
of the public employment services and their responsibilities at national,
regional and local level
The SES has a critical role in people's
adjustment to changed circumstances – supporting and encouraging mobility and
flexibility, by helping people identify and acquire the skills, attitudes and
other attributes that are required in new and developing parts of the economy.
It is important therefore that the SES is adequately resourced and follows
appropriate strategies in order for it to fulfil this role.
In 1999 the SES[3]
was reorganised as a state non-profit joint-stock company under the supervision
of the MoW. According to the Law on Public Agency (2001) and the Order of the CoM the State Employment Service will be reorganised into
the state agency “State Employment Agency” (foreseen for January 2003 but now
postponed because of the new Government). This new status will more correspond
to the duties of SES as it is a state organization providing services to the
public.
The SES has a board consisting of the Director of the company and the Deputy Directors. There are also three external persons (one of them is the head of the Free Trade Union Confederation) designated as authorized representatives who have some monitoring function.
According to
the law “On Assistance to Unemployed Persons and Job-Seekers” the duties of the
State Employment Agency (as of it is not established – State Employment
Service) are:
However,
the law is quite general and does not formulate detailed tasks for regional and
local branches.
At the
beginning of 2003 the SES consists of the central office, 28 branches and 34
local co-ordinators.. So, there is the SES branch in every district of Latvia.
The registration of unemployed is carried out according to the living place, so
the regional SES branches registers unemployed who lives in their
administrative territories. The structure of SES is seen in picture 1 in annex.
According to the law “On
Assistance to Unemployed Persons and Job-Seekers” the Professional Career
Counselling Agency (as of it is not established – the Professional Career Counselling Centre) provides vocational guidance
services. PCCC is under supervision of MoW. PCCC
was established in 1987, at present it has counselling cabinets in 17 regions
of
1)
delivering
of services of guidance and counselling to the population;
2)
compiling,
structuring and providing of the population with information about
possibilities of education;
3)
compiling,
structuring and providing of the
population with information about occupations, making descriptions of
occupations;
4) carrying out scientific methodical work for developing and adapting forms of guidance and counselling work, materials and methods;
5) carrying out the research of the items of professional intentions and career planning of the population, mainly of youths;
6) carrying out the training of guidance and counselling specialists;
7) fostering of co-operation among the different institutions involved in career guidance
The
above mentioned legal acts denote that all the inhabitants in the state have
got the right to get the services of professional guidance but in fact they are
not available in a sufficient volume neither taking into consideration the
territorial principle nor the category of clients. The PCCC provides
informative, guidance and counselling services to any inhabitant of
There is a co-operation between the SES
and the PCCC in the items of guidance and counselling of the unemployed and
denoting of the professional adequacy – the SES inspectors inform the
unemployed about the counselling possibilities or write an appointment for
consultations in the PCCC. Nevertheless, the co-ordination among these
organisations is not of full value because not all the unemployed who need
counselling get appointments to the PCCC. As Analysis of Results of Unemployed
Survey carried out in December 1999 by SES proves, the demand for career
counselling is 10 times greater than the number of the unemployed having been
appointed to the PCCC.
Currently, the
tripartite social dialogue is well developed in
The legal and institutional
structure of public employment services has been developed since 1991, setting
the direct duties for each organization. SES is responsible for implementation
of state employment policy, however it deals only with active labour market
measures. SES is more oriented on people out of labour market and is not
dealing with preventative measures at all. It should be stated that preventive
measures is missing in country. The new law “On Assistance to Unemployed
Persons and Job-Seekers” increases the coverage of population who can reach the
services of SES, but results of this could be seen only after some time. The
new law points an important shift from ‘protecting unemployed’ to ‘reduction of
unemployment and assistance to job-seekers’. The tripartite social dialogue is
well developed in
For the implementation of objectives
and tasks of PES three major types of resources are required:
1) financial;
2) human;
3) infrastructure investments.
In
a) subsidies to inhabitants -
unemployment benefits, funeral benefit in case of death of unemployed; stipends
(during the retraining courses of unemployed);
b) grants to enterprises and
institutions – vocational training and retraining of unemployed; vocational
guidance and counselling; job seekers clubs.
As of
2002 the paragraph of law “On Insurance in the Case of Unemployment” came into
force stating that finances of special employment budget are used also for
active labour market measures, but not more than 10% of total amount. This
leads to strong reduction of resources for vocational training and retraining
of unemployed.
As of
2003 the amended version of this paragraph came into force: “Finances of
special employment budget are also used for active labour market measures
stated by law “On Assistance to Unemployed Persons and Job-Seekers” (vocational
training, retraining, measures for increasing employability), for preventive
unemployment reduction measures, as well as for stipends, compensations for
transport and rent expenditures for unemployed during the vocational training
and retraining courses, but not more than 10% of total special employment
budget.
According to law “On Assistance to Unemployed
Persons and Job-Seekers” preventive measures are vocational guidance, but
measures for increasing employability are job seekers clubs. So, PCCC and Job
seekers clubs are financed from special employment budget.
SES and paid temporary community works are
financed from general state budget.
Table 34:
Expenditures from state budget for employment (1995 – 2003)[4].
|
Expenditures
from state general budget and state special budget for employment (1995 -
2003) |
|||||||||
|
|
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
|
State
basic budget - programme The administration of labour market |
|||||||||
|
|
2,360,076 |
2,625,024 |
2,970,776 |
4,076,427 |
4,533,680 |
5,383,398 |
7,024,574 |
6,765,041 |
6,597,716 |
|
% of GDP |
0.10 |
0.09 |
0.09 |
0.11 |
0.11 |
0.16 |
0.14 |
0.12 |
|
|
Sub-programme The maintenance of SES and development of active
employment measures |
|||||||||
|
|
791,026 |
1,061,552 |
1,297,054 |
1,433,714 |
1,633,021 |
1,616,736 |
1,756,052 |
1,769,053 |
1,813,692 |
|
Sub-programme Labour safety and state control and monitoring of labour
market legislation |
|||||||||
|
|
369,317 |
414,659 |
466,398 |
531,832 |
649,770 |
1,615,773 |
2,902,473 |
2,629,939 |
1,117,024 |
|
of which foreign aid |
929,000 |
2,197,144 |
1,943,568 |
323,749 |
|||||
|
Sub-programme Paid temporary community works |
|||||||||
|
|
1,199,913 |
1,148,813 |
1,207,324 |
2,110,881 |
2,250,889 |
2,150,889 |
2,366,049 |
2,366,049 |
3,192,000 |
|
Sub-programme Measures for increasing employability |
|||||||||
|
|
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
475,000[5] |
|
State
special budget – sub-programme Employment special budget |
|||||||||
|
Expenditures for grants to enterprises and institutions |
|||||||||
|
|
2,288,130 |
2,349,834 |
2,611,963 |
4,373,849 |
5,276,339 |
4,499,376 |
4,499,376 |
2,256,125 |
2,562,500 |
|
% of GDP |
0.10 |
0.08 |
0.08 |
0.12 |
0.13 |
0.09 |
0.08 |
0.04 |
|
|
of which for training of unemployed |
|||||||||
|
|
2,212,250 |
2,169,180 |
2,324,193 |
3,915,800 |
4,789,090 |
3,989,090 |
3,989,090 |
1,745,125 |
2,051,500 |
|
for job seekers clubs |
|||||||||
|
|
- |
103,470 |
201,300 |
250,800 |
280,000 |
295,000 |
295,000 |
295,000 |
295,000 |
|
for vocational guidance |
|||||||||
|
|
75,880 |
77,184 |
86,470 |
207,249 |
207,249 |
215,286 |
215,286 |
216,000 |
216,000 |
|
Expenditures for subsidies to inhabitants |
|||||||||
|
|
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
24,554,550 |
22,567,859 |
25,520,320 |
|
% of GDP |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.5 |
0.4 |
|
Source: Labour department, Ministry of Welfare;
calculations of National Observatory
Labour market policies are basically passive in
The SES
has 554 employees in the end of 2002. 55 of them are working in the central
office. The staff is spread across a network of 28 district branches and 34
local co-ordinators. Approximately 420 staff members deal exactly with clients.
Based on the registered number of unemployed in 2002 (89,735) the ratio of
district/local office staff to total unemployed is approximately 1-to-213. This
suggests that the caseload of individual front-line staff in local district
offices is relatively high by international standards. This inevitably
restricts the capacity of the SES to engage with the unemployed on an
individual basis.
The staff number of SES has not changed a lot
during the last years 1999 – 554; 2000 – 553; 2001 – 554; 2002 – 558; 2003 –
554. It can be expected that caseload of staff will more likely to increase
than to decrease due to new assessments and client oriented approach will be
necessary in case of widening of functions of PES. The structure and staff of
The average age of SES staff is 43.9 years. 93%
of staff is women. It is connected with relative low salaries – average 134.08
in 2001 or 84% of average in country or 74% of average in public sector.
However the staff turnover is low – only 10%, it is extremely low in regions,
where there are less possibilities to find another job. Each staff member has
worked within SES in average for 6.7 years, it is not bad for institution who
exists only 12 years.
The
SES staff’s level of education is increasing every year. The employees of SES
are not civil servants and demand for higher education is not mandatory for
them However, the SES administration tries to hire employees with higher
education, which is not so easy due to low salaries.
Table
35: The share of education level of SES staff members, % of total
|
Education |
|
|
|
|
Higher |
36.5 |
38.5 |
42.0 |
|
Secondary vocational |
36.5 |
37.0 |
34.8 |
|
Secondary |
27.0 |
24.5 |
23.2 |
Source: SES data
In 2002, 552 staff members (almost all) were involved
in continuing training, 291 were trained in courses organized by local SES
offices, 21 participated in training abroad.
Every
year the number of SES staff members who enters higher education establishments
increase, unfortunately only for 16 of them SES partly covers tuition fees.
Table 36:
The number of SES staff who studies at higher education establishments
|
Year |
Graduate programmes |
Master programmes |
|
1998 |
27 |
- |
|
1999 |
36 |
5 |
|
2000 |
53 |
5 |
|
2001 |
78 |
4 |
|
2002 |
103 |
10 |
Source: SES
data
Geographical accessibility of SES services is
well developed taking account all regional centres and local co-ordinators. But
the quality of services could be reached only if staff, infrastructure and
premises are suitable to SES and clients needs.
The one of the weak points are computerising
and internal network of SES, which was started in 1993 and is not finished yet.
The development
of internal network and computerising of SES started in 1993, when State
Investment project “The computerising of SES” was carried out. In 2001, it was
actualised by proposing new State Investment project “Computerising of Latvian
State Employment Service” 2002 – 2007. This project is carried out together
with Bilateral project “Development of Information Strategy for the Latvian
State Employment Service” – Danish Ministry for Employment, 2002. The bilateral
project foresees a comprehensive analysis of information flows between SES
central office and district offices and between Ministry of Welfare. The
informative system of SES is planned to develop within Phare
2002 for institutional building and Phare 2003 for
infrastructure. Unfortunately all these development projects are just started
or yet to start and the reasonable results could be only in coming years. At
the moment the registration is still done on paper fiches and only afterwards
date are computerized. All information about vacancies is also available on
paper. In information centres clients can use some old-fashioned computers. The
first step of accessibility to SES services is the establishment of new SES web
page – http://www.nvd.gov.lv. Web page contains 1) information about vacancies
registered within SES (from all regions of
Not only in computers, but also in premises
investment is necessary. The premises of 9 branches and 7 sectors do not fit to
the needs of services provided by SES. Almost none of SES offices can be
accessed by physically handicapped persons. Of course, the disabled people are
not rejected from SES services, nevertheless the situation is not comfortable neither
for SES staff nor for disabled because disabled persons are received and dealt
with on the street in front the building.
To improve the infrastructure of SES, it has
applied for Phare 2002/2003 and 2004.
Use of information technology has been one way
in which the SES has sought to improve the quality of its services to clients,
because as it is mentioned before, implementation of IT solutions within the
SES has been limited.
Briefly, the investment of Phare 2002 “Employment Strategy (
Apart from
ensuring access to labour-market information, it is intended that these centres
will provide disabled job-seekers with training in computer skills at various
levels, and thus increase their competitiveness in labour market. Computer
centres will also give the disabled a chance to work on computers for self –
employment purposes.
The project will start in September 2003 with a
Phare funding1.8 millions EUR and total budget 2.140 millions EUR.
According
to the law “On Assistance to Unemployed
Persons and Job-Seekers” the coverage of persons who has rights to apply for
SES services has increased, but the financing does not. The quality of services
mostly depends on enthusiasm of SES staff. The investments in SES
infrastructure is really needed.
Geographical accessibility of SES services is
well developed taking account all regional centres and local co-ordinators. The
one of the weak points are computerising and internal network of SES, which was
started in 1993 and is not finished yet. Also premises of some SES branches
needs investments for providing adequate services. The problem is adaptation of SES offices for
disabled people, almost none of SES offices can be accessed by physically
disabled. The employees of SES are not
civil servants and demand for higher education is not mandatory for them,
however, taking account all tasks delivered to SES at least higher education
could precondition to be employed by SES. Important issue of too little money
for active labour market measures, in particular for training and retraining of
unemployed. The main formal reason seems to be the rule stating that only 10%
of the annual total amount of the special employment budget can be used for
training and other active measures (except paid temporary community works). The
NEP on the other hand mentions active labour market measures in general and
training and retraining in particular as one of the priorities.
The budget for the active measures on regional
level could be managed on regional level regarding local needs and involving local social partners.
The registered unemployment rate is almost half
of the actually existing, which has been estimated according to the methodology
of the International Labour Organisation. There are several reasons for that.
Not all people are able to receive unemployment benefit, because the social
insurance contributions have not been paid, many are not interested or are not
able to acquire retraining, especially persons in pre-retirement age, often it
is difficult to meet all the requirements necessary for a registered unemployed
person. Besides, it should be considered that the status of unemployed is not
given to persons that are not in the working age. It means that not all people
who would need SES services receive them as the SES has the mandate to deal
only with the registered unemployed. According to the data of LFS only 34% of
those who are looking for a job are using the services of the SES. It shows
that some part of population do not trust SES, they think it is more effective
to find job themselves. So there is a lot to do to improve the image of SES and
to overcome stereotypes that it is a shame to be registered unemployed.
Table 37:
Jobseekers* by main action taken to find a job.
|
2001 |
2002 |
|
|
41.8 |
51.1% |
Applied to employers directly |
|
51.8 |
75.4% |
Questioned friends, relatives, trade unions
etc. |
|
62.0 |
64.7% |
Studied, answered or inserted advertisements
in newspapers |
|
1.4 |
0.5% |
Sought land, rooms or equipment to start and
enterprise, or applied to register own enterprise for activity licence or
loan |
|
29.7 |
34.7% |
Contacted State Employment Service or
awaiting results of it |
|
6.2 |
1.4% |
Contacted private employment agency |
*One jobseeker may have tried
several methods, percents are calculated as share of users of corresponding
method against all jobseekers
Source: Labour Force Surveys: main indicators
(in the 1st half of 2002) –
Social Trends in
At the
moment the weakest point due to the reduction of financing for active measures
is training or retraining of unemployed. In 2002 only one third of those who
wished got a possibility to participate in training courses for unemployed. SES
together with PCCC organizes selection for candidates. And as tenders for
training providers are organized twice a year it may happen that person should
wait for half a year to participate in training. So it leads to fact that this active
measure does not reach everybody needs. The table below shows the evident
decrease in training of unemployed from 45.2% in 1998 to 9.5% in 2002. The number of unemployed involved in the paid
temporary community works has a little increase within last years. The most
increase is for increasing employability measures from 7.7 % in 1998 to 57.6%
in 2002 (but financing has remained unchanged during last three years). Due to
reduced possibilities for retraining the unemployed are interested to receive
at least some improvement of skills and are willing to participate in
increasing employability activities. Also should be mentioned that increasing
employability measures is less costly than other measures.
Table 38:
The number of unemployed involved in active labour market measures (1998 –
2002).
|
Year |
Unemployed, sent to training |
Unemployed, sent to public temporary works |
Unemployed, involved in measures for
increasing employability |
Total involved in ALMM (100%) |
|
1998 |
16,602 (45.2%) |
12,358 (33.7%) |
7,710 (21.1%) |
36,670 |
|
1999 |
9,704 (26.3%). |
11,404 (30.8%) |
15,835 (42.9%) |
36,943 |
|
2000 |
10,267 (26.9%) |
9,993 (26.2%) |
17,940 (46.9%) |
38,200 |
|
2001 |
10,269 (20.5%) |
15,218 (30.3) |
24,667 (49.2%) |
50,154 |
|
2002 |
4,830 (9.5%) |
16,809 (32.9%) |
29,437 (57.6%) |
51,076 |
Source: MoW, Labour
department
SES has established regular contacts with employers.
Since 1994 SES carries out surveys of employers about labour market demand and
supply. If in 1994 the number of employers participating in survey was 3.2
thousands then in 2002 - 6 thousands (or 12% of all employers).
It is not stated by law that employers should
register their vacancies within SES. In average 4203 vacancies are registered
within one month. The vacancies are available on the SES home page www.nvd.gov.lv. The information is improved
twice a month, unfortunately the information is only on vacancies which are not
filled within one months.
Table 39: The number of vacancies registered
within SES (1998 – 2002)
|
Year |
Number
of registered vacancies |
|
1998 |
43,555 |
|
1999 |
44,530 |
|
2000 |
51,986 |
|
2001 |
50,433 |
|
2002 |
48,476 |
Source:
Labour department, MoW
Some activities have already been carried out aimed
at increasing the effectiveness of the SES. In 1996 with support of Phare project first Job Information Centre was
established in
In addition, PCCC offer counselling
to visitors on occupational choice, professional suitability and on
psychological issues related to job seeking, as well as information about
educational establishments or the scope of various professions. In 2001, 21,969
people received consultations on issues related to the choice of an occupation,
4373 or 20% of them being registered unemployed and 795 or 3.6% unregistered
unemployed. 57% of all consulted registered unemployed was sent to PCCC by SES
officials.
According to the data of LFS only 34% of those
who are looking for a job are using the services of the SES. It shows that some
part of population do not trust SES, they think it is more effective to find
job themselves. However, there are SES offices in every district town of
SES has established good contacts with
employers, however, there is still a lot of space for improvement. At the moment the weakest point due to the
reduction of financing for active measures is training or retraining of
unemployed, where the situation should be discussed and improved accordingly
country’s needs. Evident decrease in training of unemployed from 45.2% in 1998
to 9.5% in 2002 leads to fact that this active measure does not reach everybody
needs
According
to the law “On Assistance to Unemployed
Persons and Job-Seekers” active labour market measures are:
In the SES organised courses for vocational training
and retraining is possible to obtain following qualifications and programmes:
The number of hours in the
programmes differs from 320 till 1240 [6].
Due to decrease of financing the number of
unemployed involved in vocational training and retraining has decreased
slightly in 2002. In 2002 approximately 14% of all registered unemployed wished
to participate in vocational training, but only one third of them had such
opportunity. SES specialists evaluate the needs of each client and only those
who had no speciality or who had necessity to improve their qualification had
opportunity to participate in training. However, the chances to get a training
are low because only some 5% of registered unemployed are covered by any
training programme.
Table 40:
The number and percentage of unemployed sent to vocational training (2000 –
2002).
|
Year |
Total unemployed |
Sent to training |
Percentage from total unemployed |
Finished training * |
Found job |
|
2000 |
93,283 |
10,267 |
11.0 |
8,338 |
5,5528 |
|
2001 |
91,642 |
10,269 |
11.2 |
9,194 |
6,235 |
|
2002 |
89,735 |
4,830 |
5.4 |
5,679 |
4,528 |
Source: SES data
* the number of persons finished training
includes also persons sent to training in the end of previous year.
The most part (63,5%) of persons who was sent
to training in 2002 where problem group unemployed – long-term or with low
qualifications.
60.7% of those had no vocational qualification;
50% was in age group 30 – 49; 25% in age group 18 – 25. Age group 30 – 49 is
more opened for labour market as people already have some work experience and
if it is improved they have better opportunities to find job. It is quite
difficult to involve youngsters (18 – 25 years old) in vocational training as
the most part of registered unemployed within this age group has no work
experience and has basic or even uncompleted basic education.
The main indicator of efficiency of vocational
training and re-training of unemployed is the number of job placement
unemployed out of the total number of unemployed who graduated from vocational
training and re-training. In year 2001: 6235 persons or 67.8 % unemployed got
jobs after graduation from training and the indicator has increased by 1.5
percent points comparing to the year 2000 (66.3 %), but in 2002 even 79.7%
founded job within six months. So it shows that the little financing for
training of unemployed is used as effective as possible.
In year 2002 average costs for training of one
unemployed person compared to year 2001 reduced from
·
A
high competition at public tenders succeeded in the reduction of training costs
of group training in training institutions;
·
Training
for unemployed has been organized as close as possible to their residence,
thereby travel and accommodation costs were reduced.
The
procedure of organizing training is rather centralized, complicated and
inflexible. In order to choose the most necessary training programmes in 2002
by the request of SES director a special working group was established, who
evaluates and makes the final decision on what training programmes are chosen
for provision in concrete location. Staff of local SES offices sends their
proposals to this group. According to the law “On purchase for state of
municipal needs” tenders for provision of concrete training programmes in
concrete locations are organized twice a year. The number of educational
institutions involved in tenders increase every year (75 participants in 2000,
94 in 2001, 119 in 2002).
All these formal procedure makes the process
very long. It takes almost a year from the moment when tender is announced and
the unemployed person finishes training. So it does not fit to the demands of
employers who want to get workers as soon as possible. SES organises groups of
unemployed for training also by request of employers, but then employers are
obligate to employ these persons for a year.
One of the ways to make system more flexible
could be that tenders are organized once a year only for institutions rights to
provide several training programmes, and then according to labour market needs
local SES offices asks the institutions to provide the necessary programme.
As in 2003 the financing for retraining remains
low, SES has started to work with employers in order to get co-financing for
training of unemployed.
Measures
for increasing employability (MIE)
The term measures
for increasing employability appears with the new law “On Assistance to Unemployed Persons and
Job-Seekers”, before term Job seekers clubs was used.
MIE is an active employment policy aimed at stimulating the
self-initiative of unemployed person, the ability to reorient oneself as well
as to psychology adapt to the situation on the labour market.
The number of people
involved in MIE increases year by year, but financing remains the same and is
not increased in 2003 as well.
Table 41: The financing
of MIE and number of unemployed involved.
|
Year |
Financing for MIE |
Unemployed involved |
Expenditures per one
unemployed |
|
1997 |
201,300 |
5,501 |
36.59 |
|
1998 |
250,800 |
7,710 |
32.53 |
|
1999 |
280,000 |
9,637 |
29.05 |
|
2000 |
295,000 |
17,940 |
26.05 |
|
2001 |
295,000 |
24,667 |
23.54 |
|
2002 |
295,000 |
29,437 |
22.88 |
Source: SES data
The main activities for increasing employability are;
After the participation in MIE, 9221 or 31% unemployed found job in
2002. The demand for MIE was high in 2002 and it was not possible to involve all
who wanted.
Paid Temporary
Community Works (PTCW)
Paid temporary community works are organised in
two parts: 1)term paid temporary community works with the purpose of employing
the individual on short-term basis for acquiring means of livelihood; 2)
tenders for the projects of paid temporary community works with the purpose of
creating new working places at already existing enterprises where job
placements are provided for the unemployed. The main target group for PTCW is
individuals with difficulties to find a job but who wants to work. The PTCW are
not demanding certain education level or qualification. The main PTCW are
cleaning and improvement of territories (cutting of grass, cutting and burning
of bushes); improvement of tourism objects, improvement of culture and leisure
objects, work in disabled and oldsters social care
The
interest and demand for public works is much higher than the supply – only
57.6% of those who wanted could participate in PTCW in 2002.
Table 42:
The financing of PTCW and number of unemployed involved
|
Year |
Financing |
Average duration in months |
Unemployed involved |
|
1998 |
2,110,881 |
4 |
12,358 |
|
1999 |
2,250,889 |
3.6 |
11,404 |
|
2000 |
2,150,889 |
3 |
9,993 |
|
2001 |
2,366,049 |
3 |
15,218 |
|
2002 |
2,366,049 |
2.8 |
16,809 |
Source: SES data
The main partners for PTCW implementation are municipalities (84% of financing). In order to avoid exclusion from working life, PTCW are widely used in depressed areas where unemployment rate is very high. 45% of financing was used for Latgale region. It should be mentioned that PTCW are opportunity for unemployed to earn additional money, what in many cases is the main reason why they want to participate in PTCW. However, the paid PTCR works are more deskilling and in reality does not help in the increasing of employability.
In the Year 2002 some 9 % of total PTCW budget was spent for pilot projects of paid temporary community jobs for creating new working places.
Measures
for defined target groups, especially for persons from 15 to 25 years of age;
disabled persons; persons after maternity leave; pre-pension aged persons; long
term unemployed; persons after imprisonment; and other groups according NEP.
These
measures are starting to implement since 2001. There were no special financing
for these measures in the budget of 2002, so they were financed as
pilot-projects from budget of PTCW. In total
“Subsidized work
practice for unemployed youth”; aimed at youth of 18 – 25
years of age who have an insufficient or lack of working experience. Unemployed
youth are offered to practice for 6 months at specially established work places
in enterprises. SES pays minimal wages for the unemployed and
“Social enterprises for
long-term and pre-retirement age unemployed”; there is a low demand in the labour market for
elder or pre- retirement age labour force and those dislocated workers who
haven’t been employed more than a year. With establishing social enterprises it
is considered to keep problem group unemployed in work for at least 4 years.
SES grants promotes establishment of job places and also wages of unemployed
(from 100% of minimum salary at the first year until 60% in the fourth year of
the enterprise). In 2001, the first tender was organized and only 2 of 34
applications were approved. So in 2002 only 11 job places in social enterprises
was established, instead of planned 50.
“Subsidized work
places for pre-retirement age unemployed”, are aimed to employ
pre-retirement age unemployed for 10 months in order to help them improve their
skills and get back into labour market. SES pays minimum wage for the
unemployed. This project started in May, 2002 and already 133 working places
were established till the end of year.
“Subsidized work
places for unemployed with disabilities”; SES grants minimum wage for disabled persons
and
SES provides mainly three services – training,
paid temporary community works and increasing employability measures. Due to
reduced financing there is not enough training possibilities for unemployed,
the main emphasis is stressed to temporary works and employability measures.
Chances to get training are low because only some 5% of registered unemployed
are covered by any training programme tat does not fit country’s needs. The
paid temporary community jobs are not demanding certain education level or
qualification and actually are more deskilling and in reality does not help in
the increasing of employability. Increasing employability measures are
less costly activity and therefore is involving more people, however, it is not
dealing with vocational qualifications.
Working places for defined target groups are
developed, however 478 per year does not fit demand. Due to the lack of
financing SES services are not accessible for everyone who would like to
participate.
SES has not introduced any service for people
who are not unemployed at the moment, but who know they will loose job after
some time. Furthermore, the fact that the number of registered vacancies is
relatively high indicates that training and retraining could become an even
more efficient labour market measure.
Private-sector providers of employment services
started their activities in 1996. Furthermore, the advent of the Internet has
vastly increased the scope for new initiatives by all kinds of potential actors
in the job market. But as it is seen in table 37, only 1.4% of job-seekers have
contacted private employment agencies.
The
provision of private employment services is regulated by the same laws as for
SES. According to the law “On Assistance on Unemployed and Job Seekers” private
institutions can offer the following services:
·
information
on vacancies in
·
employment
mediation;
·
vocational
training and guidance.
The services can be free of charge or paid both
to the job seekers and employers. PRES must have a licence for the services in
the field of employment. An application must be submitted to the SES what
establishes the format of licence and issues them. The application must be
approved or refused within 10 days after the day of application.
The main indicators of
PRES in 2001 are as follows:
vacancies registered in
vacancies registered abroad
- 2919;
total – 40 055.
registered clients (job seekers) –23 434;
placement
– 9616.
In order to avoid the dishonest companies who
would like to hide their illegal business (for example recruiting individuals
to work illegally abroad) under the shelter of recruitment company, government
has made more strong requirements for those who want to provide these services,
which cause the decrease of PRES as you see in table below. As of
Until this procedure came into force only
registration within SES was required. SES has the duty to supervise all
registered companies, for example, in 1999 – 29 registration certificates was
revoked, in 2000 - 32.
Table 43:
The number of registered companies who have rights to deal with
recruitment.
|
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
|
73 |
63 |
58 |
43 |
48 |
19 |
18 |
Source:
SES data
The main
aim of the PRES control is to achieve the situation that all job places found
though PRES (in
The role and impact of PRES in
The main target group of PRES are middle and
higher level specialists. The majority of their clients are stable middle size
enterprises who could allow to pay for recruitment services.
Recruitment services via internet also becomes
more and more popular in
Year by year improving its services SES has reached
more people. The new development strategy of State Employment Agency for years
2003.- 2007 is prepared.
As from
2002, the SES plans to evaluate the accessibility and quality of its services,
including regular collection of information on the level of public awareness of
its services.
It is
known that capacity of SES is not enough for work with ESF, so SES staff has
started to be trained for work with ESF. It is planned to take additional staff
in regions for work with ESF. The international experts has estimated that 3-5
employees in each region should be necessary.
“The guidelines on administration, monitoring and
evaluation of EU structural instruments” which was adopted by CoM in
For improving the SES capacity for administration of
ESF the new unit with four employees was established in July 2002. At the same time the training of SES staff on ESF issue was
organised.
Three following Phare
projects has helped to prepare SES staff for implementing EES:
The Phare 2002 project comprises two components for policy
development and policy implementation. The project’s activities will focus on
capacity building for preparation and implementation of National Employment
Strategy; preparation for ESF; strengthening the SES, and strengthening the
PCCC.
SES has applied also
for Phare2003/2004 project “Employment strategy Infrastructure”. This project
will comprise three components for capacity development for labour market data
analysis; improvement of information exchange system in SES; Preparation for
SES participation in EURES network and free movement of persons.
It is foreseen that
two last projects will improve infrastructure of SES and increase its capacity,
so this will guarantee the openness, accessibility of services and transparency
of information concerning job as set in JAP.
The main challenge of the Latvian labour market
policy is to react to the changes in economy and to foresee the fields and activities
in which labour force will be needed. The educational system may help in this
fast changing situation by preparing people with well developed basic skills
and self – motivation who are ready (and have possibilities) to learn life long
and to change their career according to the structural changes in economy. The
report was focused on analysis of Latvian education and employment system
readiness to labour market needs. The IVET policy in country is developed since
1990. The legislation now is in place and is covering all conditionalities
for successful implementation of IVET policy, however it is limited by the lack
of resources. The GDP in
Legal framework.
The legal framework is covering all education
levels. There are no separate law on adult education and the LLL is not explicitly defined in
educational laws. However, the Law on Education defines adult education as
multiform education process of individual, which support development of
personality and competitiveness in labour market for a lifetime.
The institutional setting of IVET is well
developed. The main challenge is that IVET schools are under supervision of
different ministries that hinders to use effectively existing resources, not
only financial but others as well. The institutional setting of CVT and LLL is
not clearly defined. Responsibility for LLL is spread even within MoES. The co-ordination mechanism for LLL and CVT is weak.
The school setting is well developed. The
experts opinion is that there is no need for the establishment of new schools,
however, the existing schools should not be closed and the improvement of
effectiveness should be reached through usage also for CVT and LLL. It should
be mentioned that CVT and LLL setting on regional level is rather weak.
The VET issue is stressed in many strategic
documents such as Education Development Concept, National Employment Plan,
Single Programming document etc.
All strategic documents (in both fields -
employment, education and training) do not define quantitative strategic
targets (eg to increase/decrease VET participation)
and priorities. That makes the monitoring of the policy implementation
practically impossible. The quantitative targets and the estimation of the
needs for funding are implemented in sectoral
strategies e.g.: VET development, HE strategy, promotion of IT; promotion of
employment of disadvantaged groups, however, these sectoral
strategies sometimes remains outstanding as funding for them are not found.
There is no exact and clear concept as regards
to CVT and adult education in
There is a lack of life-long learning policy as
well. The Concept of Education Development 2002-2005 is focused more on
vocational aspect of life-long learning. At the same time vocational training
(employability and adaptability) centred approach have to be balanced and
includes also learning for active citizenship and self-fulfilment.
The role of CVT and adult education in this
aspect of life-long learning has to be specified.
A significant barrier to the improvement of the
system is a lack of financial resources, which hinders further
development. The development of
vocational standards for a greater number of qualifications is hampered, as is
the renewal and modernisation of facilities and equipment at vocational
schools. There is a lack of funds needed
to assure teachers the right to receive a paid one-month leave once in three
years for professional development purposes.
There is a high need for teacher training
(technological and pedagogical). From 2004 all teachers have to have
pedagogical education, however, it is up to teachers to take care for training.
Assistance of education or local administration is very limited. Teachers work
on average 1.2 – 1.3 times of official 21 contact hours teaching load with some
excessive workload of up to 30-40 hours per week. This is due to low salaries
(looking for additional income). In 1999 the progressive increase of salaries
was agreed with the government. However the implementation of that settlement
does not progress in accordance to agreed schedule.
The VET system is set up and education
programmes are provided within three education levels – basic, secondary an
tertiary. However, the horizontal path-ways on secondary level are limited. The
system for recognition of credits obtained in continuing vocational education
for acquiring formal qualifications is not developed yet. Other problem is
prestige of VET programmes which need to be improved.
The comparatively large number of drop-outs is
regarded as a negative trend. The major reason of dropping out usually is unproficiency, which is the result of the very poor basic
education background of students entering the vocational schools
The VET system has a quite strong practice
orientation. However, enterprises complain about the low level of knowledge and
skills of students and students (receiving even a small salary) are not
properly catered by the company. Incentives to the enterprises could improve
the quality of work practice and its learning outcomes.
The lack of a vocational
guidance system can be considered
a weakness in current vocational education. Of course, there
is the Career
Counselling Centre which acts under
the supervision of the Ministry
of Welfare and whose
capacity is limited by a lack of resources, however it does not encompass all
schools and all learners.
Besides, there are difficulties concerning
needs forecasts to determine which qualifications and how many trained workers
will be required in the future.
Employers’ surveys are performed at the level of individual regions or
sectors, but this is insufficient, and it is necessary to develop and utilise labour
market forecasting methods. Up to now
there are no appropriate mechanism for getting data about the skills demanded
in the labour market useful for medium- and long-term forecast needs of
occupations. For that promotion of research on the labour market issues is
necessary. One of the solutions would be setting up research centre that would
do labour market research and monitoring.
The tripartite social dialogue is well
developed in
In spite of development of educational reforms,
there are still some problems what are an obstacle for successful integration
of society. The basic guidelines for
education foresees the access to adequate education for all, however, the
reality sometimes is different. There
are still children who drop out of education system, the state support for
families with children is not sufficient. The problem tackles more the
population groups with a low income. The social exclusion on ethnic bases is
not characteristic to
CVT and adult education programmes have to be
more accessible for people on countryside. There are important financial
limits, territorial differences and aspects connected with social exclusion.
CVT programmes have to be more oriented to the development of entrepreneurial
skills.
Gender inequality in education and labour
market has not been addressed sufficiently in practice and on policy level.
More attention should be addressed to male successful participation in education,
teaching professions. Serious attention needs to be paid to decrease
disadvantages of female in the labour market. The Labour law is in place and
not allow a discrimination, however, there are several stereotypes in everyday
life. In spite on higher education level, the average salaries for women are
lower.
Integration of entrepreneurship in VET and
higher education programmes curricula is well developed, nevertheless, it needs
to be developed in CVT. Business education in CVT field should be oriented not
only on preparation of employees, but mainly on preparation of employers and
promotion of entrepreneurship.
Legal and institutional structure of public
employment services
The legal and institutional structure of public
employment services has been developed since 1991, setting the direct duties
for each organization. SES is responsible for implementation of state
employment policy, however it deals only with active labour market measures.
SES is more oriented on people out of labour market and is not dealing with
preventative measures at all. The new law “On Assistance to Unemployed Persons
and Job-Seekers” increases the coverage of population who can reach the
services of SES, but results of this could be seen only after some time. The
new law points an important shift from ‘protecting unemployed’ to ‘reduction of
unemployment and assistance to job-seekers’.
Geographical accessibility of SES services is
well developed taking account all regional centres and local co-ordinators. The
one of the weak points are computerising and internal network of SES, which was
started in 1993 and is not finished yet. Also premises of some SES branches
needs investments for providing adequate services. The problem is adaptation of SES offices for
disabled people, almost none of SES offices can be accessed by physically
disabled.
Involvement of social partners in PES
The tripartite social dialogue is well
developed in
Financial resources for active
measures
Important issue of too little money for active labour
market measures, in particular for training and retraining of unemployed. The
financing for that decreases from 3,
Access to unemployment benefit and active
measures
According to the data of LFS only 34% of those
who are looking for a job are using the services of the SES. It shows that some
part of population do not trust SES, they think it is more effective to find
job themselves. However, there are SES offices in every district town of
Not all people are able to receive unemployment
benefit, because the social insurance contributions have not been paid, many
are not interested or are not able to acquire retraining, especially persons in
pre-retirement age, often it is difficult to meet all the requirements
necessary for a registered unemployed person. Besides, it should be considered
that the status of unemployed is not given to persons that are not in the
working age.
At the moment the weakest point due to the
reduction of financing for active measures is training or retraining of
unemployed. Evident decrease in training of unemployed from total involved in
active measures (45.2% in 1998 to 9.5 % in 2002) leads to fact that this active
measure does not reach everybody needs
The main conclusion for this investigation is
that
Concept on Education Development 2002-2005 –
approved by Parliament on
Continuing vocational training in
Demographic Yearbook of Latvia 2002 –
Draft of Single Programming Document - The
Ministry of Finance, March,2003
Draft of VET system development programme (2003
– 2005) – MoES, February, 2003.
Economic Development of
Education Institutions in
Education Institutions in
Education Institutions in
Education Institutions in
Education Institutions in
Key Data on Education in Europe 2002 –
Eurydice, 2002.
Labour Force Surveys: Main Indicators in the
first half of 2002 –
Long Term Economic Strategy of
Macroeconomics of
Melnis A. Higher Education of Latvia 2003
–
The Modernisation of Vocational Education in
National Development Plan – approved by CoM on
2002 Regular Report on
Pabriks A. Occupational representation and
ethnic discrimination in
Poverty indicators
in
Report of the Consultation Process on
Memorandum on LLL in
Report on the European Charter for Small
Enterprises - Ministry of Economy, 2002.
Results of the 2000 Population and Housing
Census in
Reviews of National Policies for Education /
Social Trends in Latvia 2003 –
Statistical Yearbook of Latvia 2002 –
Statistics in focus / Population and social
conditions – Theme 3-8/2002 – Eurostat, 2002.
A survey of the information technology,
telecommunications and electronics sector in
Vocational Education and Training and the
Labour Market in
Vocational Education and Training in
Yearly Report of Ministry of Education and
Science 2002.
[1] The law
defines the jobseeker as an individual, who are registered in State Employment
Agency and who (1) lost the status of unemployed; (2) is rejected from status
of unemployed as a retired person; (3) the job agreement is broken.
[2] The SSIA as non profit organization was established in 1998. Agency has 1200 employees and 33 territorial branches.
[3] The SES was established in 1991. The branches was located in all country. In the beginning of 1999 the structure comprises the central office, 20 centers, 8 divisions and 38 bureau’s.
[4] The annual average exchange rate of LVL per EURO is 1999 = 0.625; 2000 = 0.560; 2001 = 0.563; 2002 = 0.583 (data of CSB)
[5] this sum is devoted for the establishment of 300 subsidized working places for handicapped people
[6] data from the SES
[7] The annual average exchange rate of LVL per EURO is 1999 = 0.625; 2000 = 0.560; 2001 = 0.563; 2002 = 0.583 (data of CSB)
[8] The annual average exchange rate of LVL per EURO is 1999 = 0.625; 2000 = 0.560; 2001 = 0.563; 2002 = 0.583 (data of CSB)
[9] The annual average exchange rate of LVL per EURO is 1999 = 0.625; 2000 = 0.560; 2001 = 0.563; 2002 = 0.583 (data of CSB)