1. Assessing the labour market and unemployment protection situation
Celine Peyron Bista
ILO
2013

2. Content
Capturing the unemployment situation: Key labour market indicators
Mapping social protection provisions and programmes to cover the unemployed: Assessment based national dialogue on social protection

3. Objective of this double exercise
How do we ensure that the future unemployment protection system achieves its objective of protection the unemployed and those who need support to find a job?
Review of LM indicators: knowing better profile of unemployed and their needs
ABND: identifying policy gaps of existing system
Allows to build recommendations for the government, that will help design unemployment protection measures

4. Key Labour Market Indicators
Economically active population
Employment
Unemployment
Hours of work
Wages
ILO definitions
Need for disaggregated data by sex, age, and regions

5. Economically active population (EAP)
“all persons, who furnish the supply of labour for the production of goods and services.”
Measures of EAP:
usually active population, which is measured in relation to a long reference period, such as a year
currently active population or labour force, which is measured in relation to a short reference period
Considering the minimum age to work (ILO: 18 y.o for hazardous work, 15 or 14 for basic minimum age)

6. Employment or employed
“All persons above a specific age, who during a reference period, were in:
paid employment (including apprentices, persons on leave, sickness & maternity benefits during the reference period):
(b) self-employment (includes homeworkers, own-account workers and unpaid-family workers).
For operational purposes, the notion "some work" may be interpreted as work for at least one hour during the set reference period.

7. Unemployed
“All persons above a specified age who, during the reference period, were:
(a) without work, i.e. not in paid employment or self-employment;
(b) currently available for work, i.e. available for paid employment or self-employment; and
(c) seeking work, i.e. had taken steps to seek paid employment or self-employment. The steps may include:
registration at a public or private employment exchange
application to employers, or checking at worksites, farms, factory gates, market, assembly places
placing or answering newspaper advertisements
seeking assistance of friends or relatives
looking for land, building, equipment to establish own enterprise, arranging for financial resources, applying for permits and licences, etc.”

8. Hours of work
“Hours of work relate to any period of time spent by persons in the performance of activities which contribute to the production of goods and services within the general production boundary in a country.”

9. Wage rates or earnings
“Wage rates include basic wages, cost-of-living allowances, other guaranteed and regularly paid allowances. It excludes overtime payments, bonuses, gratuities, family allowances and social security payments made by employers.”
In contrast,
“Earnings include direct wages and salaries for time worked, remuneration for time not worked (like vacation and paid leaves), bonuses, gratuities, housing and family allowances directly paid by the employer to the employee.”

10. Assessment of unemployment protection provisions
The Assessment Based National Dialogue on Social Protection and Employment Support (ABND)
A useful tool

11. Process of ABND 1. What is the Social Security Situation?
2. How far are we from the achievement of the SPF? -> gaps, issues
3. What should be done to complete the floor?
4. How much would it cost today and in the future?
5. Can the Government afford it? Do we need to increase the fiscal space?
6. How to ensure that the recommendations are endorsed and listen to?
7. How to advocate for the SPF as a whole or specific recommendations? (ROR…)

12. Worker and employer organisations National Statistics Office, academia
ABND
Stakeholders
Line ministries (Labour, Health, Social Welfare, Planning, Education, Finance, Rural Development)
Worker and employer organisations
Local governments
National Statistics Office, academia
UN agencies involved in SPF (ILO, UNICEF, WHO, UNESCAP, UNFPA, UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNWOMEN, UNDP, WFP), World Bank, ADB, other development partners
Civil society

13. Step 1: Building the assessment matrix
SPF objectives
Existing SP provisions
Planned SP provisions (strategy)
Policy gaps
Implement-ation issues
Recomm-endations
Health
Children
Working age
Elderly
Identifying existing situation in the country
Identifying policy gaps and implementation issues, addressing which would complete the SPF
Priority policy options, to be decided through national dialogue
Four SPF guarantees

14. Step 1: Building the assessment matrix
Stock-taking of provisions/programmes that provide unemployment protection and employment promotion
Provisions on severance payment/termination benefits
Unemployment insurance schemes
Skills training programme, employment support services, entrepreneurship support and employment guarantees programmes

15. Step 1: Building the assessment matrix
Policy gaps: Missing or incomplete legislation or policy leading to a part of the population being excluded from the unemployment protection provisions in place
Non-nationals, temporary workers, part-time workers, apprentices are excluded from unemployment benefits
Qualifying criteria for severance payment too restrictive
There is no unemployment protection scheme for workers in case of loss of employment

16. Step 1: Building the assessment matrix
Implementation issues: Despite existing policies or legislation, beneficiaries still do not have effective access to their entitlements
Despite good set of ALMPs, people from rural areas and poor people have limited access due to lack of information and cost for travel
In case of dispute or if enterprises goes bankrupt, the laid-off employee is left with no termination benefits
Enforcement of the UI laws is low due to employers not registering their employees and/or not paying regularly contributions

17. Step 1: Building the assessment matrix
Needs assessment: Collect statistics and coverage and from gaps identify what are the needs of the target population
Number of those unemployed receive some termination benefits
Number of those attended some of the ALMPs
Number of those who find a jobs through the public employment services

18. From Step 1 to Step 2 There are 2 types of recommendations
We can use the RAP Protocol
Recommendations to introduce new unemployment benefits, enhance ALMPs, extend target group coverage
Qualitative recommendations on administrative structures and processes, targeting and registration mechanisms, introduction of a social insurance scheme, tax reform, improvement in quality of services
Need for further studies