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Employment Funds - Groups at Risk (Fonds pour l'emploi - groupes a risque) - Belgium
Source: Federal Government of Belgium
The objective of this measure is to finance job creation and vocational training and vocational integration initiatives for risk groups among jobseekers.
Employment funds are based on the following statutes:
Supplementing the national agreement of 1989-1990, the Finance Law of 30.12.1988 obliges employers to conclude a collective contract of employment for 1989 and 1990 that sets aside 0.18% of their wage bill for employment promotion for risk groups among jobseekers. For 1991 and 1992, this rate was raised to 0.25% of the wage bill. Enterprises which were not bound by such collective contracts had to pay a corresponding amount to the Employment Fund. Other initiatives promoting vocational integration of risk groups were granted subsidies from the resources accumulated in this way.
In the national agreement for 1993-1994, the rate of 0.25% was retained for 1993 and was raised to 0.30% for 1994. However, these nationally amassed funds are now being distributed in other ways:
The Law of 30.12.1992 already stipulated that all employers employing workers under a contract of employment must transfer 0.10% of their wage bill to the National Social Security Office for the financing of the Support Plan for the Unemployed.
The Law of 10.6.1993 provides the legal basis for the rates of 0.15% for 1993-1994 and 0.05% for 1994.
In principle, the 0.15% share (previously 0.18% and 0.25%) will continue to finance the system. All employers employing workers under an employment contract are obliged to conclude a collective agreement which allocates a 0.15% share of the wage bill to the promotion of employment for risk groups among the unemployed or other such persons who are eligible for cover under the Support Plan for the Unemployed. The law leaves the defining of the term "risk group" to the respective collective agreement; a legal definition of this term no longer exists. Furthermore, monitoring of the collective agreement will be introduced. The parties to the contract will be obliged to submit an annual evaluation and financial report on the implementation of the collective agreement which must be presented no later than 1 July of the year following the year of application of the contract.
Employers who are not party to a collective employment contract must pay the same amount into the Employment Fund. The funds amassed in this way will be used for the promotion of child-care initiatives. Henceforth, initiatives promoting the employment of those belonging to risk groups will be established solely by means of collective contracts. The resources obtained from the Employment Fund in the years 1993 and 1994, as well as the remaining resources from contributions in the years 1989 to 1992, will be used in future for child-care initiatives; however, the employment in these initiatives of persons belonging to risk groups will no longer be required.
The above Law of 10.6.1993 also forms the legal basis for a contribution amounting to 0.05% of the wage bill in 1994. This amount will be paid into the fund established by the National Authority for Family Benefits for Dependent Employees to finance community resources and community services and is likewise earmarked for the promotion of child-care initiatives.
The Law of 3.4.1995 continued the efforts in favour of persons who are members of risk groups or who fall under the Support Plan at a rate of 0.15% in 1995 and 0.20% in 1996. These efforts were implemented as follows:
In 1997 and 1998, employers must contribute 0.10% of the wage bill for persons belonging to risk groups or participating in the Support Plan. The concrete form of these contributions is laid down in a sectoral or company collective agreement, which also defines who are to be understood as "persons belonging to a risk group". Employers who are not party to such a contract must pay a contribution of 0.10% to the Employment Fund; the Support Plan for the Unemployed has been financed from this revenue since 1 February 1995 (Art. 6, § 2, of the Royal Decree of 27.1.1997). This measure was extended over the period 1999-2000 by the law of 26 March 1999 relating to the Belgian action plan for employment 1998 carrying various provisions.
The evaluation of the inter-sectoral level disappears as the amounts paid into the Funds for employment being targeted for the groups at risk.
143 company agreements were concluded (for a higher total number of enterprises, because some of these agreements apply to several legal entities) for the years 1995 and 1996, in addition to 115 agreements concluded in commissions or joint sub-commissions. The Office of the Department of Collective Labour Relations received 60 reports for 1995, 43 reports for 1996, and 47 reports from joint commissions for 1995 and 16 from joint commissions for 1996. A total of 68 agreements prepared by joint commissions and 56 company agreements had been concluded prior to 1 September 1997 for the years 1997 and 1998.
For the years 1997 and 1998, 79 company agreements, influencing in fact a larger number of companies as some agreements have a field of application covering several legal entities were concluded and 98 agreements were concluded in in commissions or joint sub-commissions. For 1997 and 1998, 42 reports on companies and 46 reports on joint commissions were communicated to the Office of the Department of Collective Labour Relations.
Article 16 of the law of 3 April 1995 as well as article 3, §3 of the decree of 27 January 1997 specify that the signatory parts of the collective agreement must present each year an evaluation report and a financial outline of the execution of the agreement at the Office of the Department of Collective Labour Relations at the latest on 1 July of the year following that to which the agreement applies. Even when these reports are provided, their evaluation remains however very difficult for the following reasons:
Now that measure is sufficiently integrated, it would appear that the majority of the Joint Commissions prefers to devote their contributions to vocational training in their sector rather than placing them in Funds whose objectives may appear more remote.
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