Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

1. The Committee takes note of the detailed information contained in the Government’s report, received in October 2006 which included informative documents such as the Government Paper “Increasing female employment rates through flexible working arrangements: Norwegian Policy”, and the booklet A new employment and welfare administration.

2. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Labour market policies. The Government indicates that, following a recession in 2002 and 2003, there was strong economic growth over the following three years. This flowed on into the labour market with the highest number of persons in employment being reached at the beginning of 2006. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) statistics, 78.9 per cent of the population (15–64 years) participated in the labour force in 2005. Correspondingly, the unemployment rate has declined for all occupational groups and with the decline most pronounced in the manufacturing and construction industry as well as in engineering and information and communications technology occupations. At the end of May 2006, the unemployment rate stood at 2.5 per cent of the labour force. The main reason for economic inactivity among the working age population continued to be due to health related reasons. In 2005, the number of persons on disability benefits accounted for 11 per cent of the working population. The aim of Norwegian labour market policy is to have an inclusive policy and ensure a satisfactory income level for everybody. The challenge is to keep unemployment, in particular long-term unemployment, at a low level by curbing exits from the labour force due to health-related problems and redirecting these persons into alternative employment. As of 1 July 2006, the Public Employment Service (PES), which implements the labour market policy, was merged with the National Insurance Service establishing the new Employment and Welfare Agency. The Committee takes due note of this information including the extension of the Tripartite Agreement for the period 2006–09, the objectives of which are to reduce sickness-related absence by 20 per cent, to increase the number of persons with reduced function capacity in employment and to raise the average pension age. The Committee asks the Government to provide information in its next report on the impact the merger of the PES and the National Insurance Service have had on increasing participation in the labour force and reducing the number of beneficiaries of disability benefits. Please also include information on the manner in which the measures adopted for the promotion of employment lie within the framework of a “coordinated economic and social policy” (Article 2(a)).

3. As regards labour force participation, the Government indicates that persons with an immigrant background still face greater problems in the labour market. To counter this, the Government places a greater emphasis on user-orientation and to tailoring efforts to the individual jobseeker. The special unit Aetat intro provides extended assistance to jobseekers with an immigrant background in some larger towns. Measures in which job practice and language tuition go hand-in-hand and are often seen as useful tools for immigrants. The Government implemented several new tools to combat racism and discrimination in the labour market. A new Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombudsperson and Equality and Anti-Discrimination Tribunal were also established as was a separate Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDi), to ensure equality in living conditions and diversity through employment, integration and participation. The Committee would welcome to receiving in the Government’s next report information on the measures adopted to promote the employment of vulnerable categories of workers, such as women, young persons, older workers, ethnic minorities and workers with disabilities, and on the results achieved in terms of lasting integration into the labour market.