National Observatory for Employment and Vocational Training to be established

Following consultations with national social partner organisations, the government has drawn up a bill on the establishment, structure and operation of a National Observatory for Employment and Vocational Training, which was published in March 2008. It is planned that the new Observatory will play an important role in Romania’s labour market strategies and policies.

Background

In March 2008, the government published for public debate, on the site of the Ministry of Labour, Family and Equal Opportunities (Ministerul Muncii, Familiei şi Egalităţii de Şanse, MMFES), a draft law regarding the establishment, structure and operation of a National Observatory the Employment and Vocational Training (Observatorul Naţional al Ocupării şi Formării Profesionale a Forţei de Muncă, ONOFP).

Policies relating to employment and vocational training are currently elaborated by the MMFES, and implemented by a network of national and local organisations. These are:

• The National Agency for Employment (Agenţia Naţională pentru Ocuparea Forţei de Muncă, ANOFM), a tripartite institution in charge of strategies and policies related to the employment and vocational training of job-seekers. ANOFM works through its central and local offices;

• The National Council for the Vocational Training of Adults (Consiliul Naţional de Formare Profesională a Adulţilor, CNFPA), also a tripartite body, which has an advisory function in drawing up vocational training strategies and policies; its task is to license training providers, elaborate occupational standards, and certify the competence level of adults who have received training;

• The county labour and social protection departments of the MMFES;

• The National Institute of Research for Labour and Welfare (Institutul Naţional de Cercetare Ştiinţifică în Domeniul Muncii şi Protecţiei Sociale, INCSMPS), which conducts studies and theoretical and applied research into the labour market, human resources and social protection.

Each of these organisations is responsible for welldefined segments of the overall information regarding employment and vocational training. Therefore each of them can provide only data strictly related to its own particular part of the overall labour market field.

At present, Romania is in the course of implementing its national reform programme implementing the priorities of the EU’s Lisbon Strategy, as revised, and also a Sectoral Operational Programme for Human Resources Development, financed by the European Social Fund.

In this context, given the challenges of the national and European labour markets, a need was perceived for an organisation specialised in the monitoring and evaluation of labour market strategies, policies, reforms and problems, and structured so as to ensure the direct participation of the social partners and of academic and business circles. This was the rationale for proposing the new Observatory.

Drafting stages

The plan for establishing the Observatory was presented by the MMFES to the representatives of the social partners, to business circles and to other government bodies in 2006.

Three regional seminars were organised in 2006, and two public awareness seminars were held in 2007, to debate three proposals regarding the structure of the Observatory. Eventually, the version whereby the Observatory is a dedicated organisation under the coordination of the MMFES was favoured.

The debates and consultations took place with the participation of the national employer organisations and national trade union confederations represented on the Economic and Social Council (Consiliul Economic şi Social, CES), and of other government bodies that have a say in labour affairs and related matters.

Role and functions of Observatory

According to the draft law, the Observatory will act as a national source of information about developments on the labour market.

The Observatory’s main functions will be:

• to monitor and evaluate the effect of labour strategies and policies;

• to provide data, surveys, and studies on quantitative and qualitative changes on the labour market.

Its main obligations, as defined by the draft law, will be:

• to identify players and trends on the labour market;

• to set up a national system for the collection, processing, and analysis of data and information;

• to commission studies, reviews, assessments, and specific overviews from specialised institutes;

• to set up an electronic data base of job vacancies;

• to assess the effects on the labour market of vocational training policies, and to optimise the relationship between education and the labour market;

• to publish action reports, etc.

Commentary

According to the draft law, the Observatory is due to start operations on 1 January 2009. The funding will come from the state budget, the unemployment insurance budget, and other public or private sources.

From the perspective of industrial relations, the novelty of this initiative is that it will provide a framework for the social partners, the government and non-government bodies to become partners of the new Observatory, enjoying the rights and obligations arising from such partnership.

Luminita Chivu, Institute of National Economy, Romanian Academy