We consider that under transitional period, employment policy should: 1) be compliant with the priorities and tempo of structural reconstruction of economy and aimed at dismissal of the excess labour, its re-allocation in the industries and areas of priority development; 2) ensure reduction of unemployment ratio, attract unemployed to socially-useful activities and offer the possibility of employment or entrepreneurship to everybody who is willing to work.
To achieve this, it is necessary to ensure scientific basis of the real needs of economy in labour resources, sufficient level of professional training, provide necessary support in retraining, additional training and employment of those who found themselves without job.
We will participate in drawing up and implementing governmental programme of developing labour potential of Ukraine, overall mechanism of creating new jobs, industrial and regional employment programmes for people and regulating employment market aimed at creating new and effective use of available job. We are ready to propose measures aimed at changing profile and modernisation of the obsolete productions, providing state support in terms of creating new jobs, re-distribution of working time and arranging work under reduced working day. We support less working hours, development of the non-traditional (partial, temporary) and flexible forms of employment as this creates conditions for increasing the total number of actively employed people.
We consider employment of the most vulnerable groups of people such as: women, young people, invalids, single mothers, those who are the only money-makers in their families, unemployed foe a long time - to be priority groups in the employment policy. These categories are to be provided with reliable legal protection. They should enjoy the priority right for employment including special tax and crediting privileges for their employers. It is necessary to develop and introduce special programmes of professional rehabilitation and create jobs for these categories of people.
Considering experience of the developed countries, it is necessary to refocus social policy with the emphasis on family; ensuring its rights and social guarantees. We consider that it is necessary to guarantee work to at least one member of the family and in the families with two and more children of the pre-school and school age - both parents are to enjoy the guaranteed work. This is to be introduced already in the transitional period. The amount of allocations to the employment fund is to reflect demographic commitments of an employee.
Pension reform is to be accelerated - this will help to make efficient schemes of finding jobs for pensioners. This should be directed mostly to the industries with the low rate of unemployment. This should touch upon educational reform aimed at increasing minimal working age. Real stimuli for developing small and family business, self-employment, especially in trade and services and in agriculture should be developed.
Considerable possibilities for expanding productive employment lie in development and realisation of special state programmes of public operations related to resolving important social problems: development of transport and housing construction, improvement in the communal household, arranging seasonal agricultural workers.
We consider it important to create free economic zones with more favourable economic conditions for the development of entrepreneurship and business activity in the regions with critical level of unemployment, low level of well being, social instability, and high criminal rate. Special attention is to be paid to mining regions, small towns and regional centres with high concentration of unemployed and young people.
Urgent measures to prevent further deterioration of labour potential of the country are to be taken. It is advised to improve employment conditions, increase payment to highly qualified specialists, expand the practice of professional training based on the need of enterprises, modernisation of system of retraining and providing additional qualification aimed at improving and perfecting skills in demand.
Training of highly educated and highly qualified specialists for the national economy is to become one of the key components of the efficient employment policy. This is caused by the fact that it is professionalism in the market conditions that becomes major means of successful policy of involving people to any form of activity and work and making labour market competitive. Activity of the state employment centres should be directed at resolving this issue. In addition to traditional functions of employment, providing assistance in case of unemployment, re-training of workers, these centres should exercise efficient control over those unemployed, who reject the offered jobs without any obvious reason, and over the employers, who offer illegal jobs.
Fully functional labour market, effective employment are impossible without creating the necessary legislative conditions. With this legislative reflection of the social and economic rights of citizens, the principles of business activities are to be complemented with effective housing market, reliable social security of the citizens and guarantees in case of unemployment. In all cases before dismissal assistance in retraining and improving qualification should be offered to employee. We suggest strengthening the chapters of the Labour Code devoted to liabilities of the employer for mass dismissal of the employees and warning in advance about the possibility of dismissal.