Bilbao (EFE).- The Basque Government aspires with the first Basque Employment Law to “order” the field of employment, in which some 300 agents operate in Euskadi.
To this end, it contemplates setting up a Basque employment network, with a common basis for job offers, according to the Employment Law project approved by the Governing Council.
At its end, the Vice-Hendakari and Minister of Employment and Labor, Idoia Mendia, has indicated that the new law could be approved by the end of next autumn.
The constitution of a “Basque employment network” led by Lanbide, and also made up of Provincial Councils, municipalities and collaborating private entities, is one of the planned actions.
The objective of this action is to achieve greater system efficiency and avoid duplication.
The new law also establishes the obligation of municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants (alone or grouped) to have employment and local development plans.
Likewise, the change of legal personality of Lanbide is foreseen -which from now being an autonomous body becomes a public entity under private law- to ensure greater agility in its work.
Right to active employment policies
The new law creates the right to active employment policies, which now does not exist in an enforceable manner.
This right will be guaranteed by Lanbide through the establishment of training and job orientation itineraries.
The Basque Government points out that after the entry into force of the new law and within a period of around a year, all unemployed users of the system will have an action plan.
In the task, the long-term unemployed will begin.
The attention to the user will also be modified, which will be more personalized.
This will be the case when diagnosing the user’s situation, preparing a personalized plan and providing the necessary support by assigning a counselor in each case.
Basque employment network
The new Basque employment network will be made up of agents such as public and private institutions, economic representatives, social agents, training centers and universities.
It will propose a single electronic window and a single window by territorial headquarters, through which the user will be able to access job offers.
The employment department will deal with the different entities to incorporate their job offers to a common base shared voluntarily.
With the new law, the transformation begun in the Employment department this legislature with the redesign of Lanbide and the Basque Income Guarantee and Inclusion System Law is completed.
Among the elements shared by the three areas is the commitment to digitization.
They also share innovation and research and the importance of employment, but quality employment, according to those responsible.
In this line, the objective causes included in the law regulating the RGI are extended to be able to reject a job (such as the conciliation conditions or the distance to the job).
Municipalities and Provincial Councils
The new law will also assess the impact of employment in all public policies.
Likewise, the importance of social dialogue is recognized – its content has been discussed at the table with employers and unions.
In addition, the preparation of a “map” of employment services and needs that must be covered is planned.
Although the Basque Government is responsible for employment planning, for the first time the new law will recognize a specific area of competence in the matter for City Councils and Provincial Councils.
These institutions will work in their respective territories in accordance with the Basque employment strategy.
The foundations of this strategy will be developed through three-year employment plans, as well as territorial and local plans.
To finance them, a cooperation fund for employment and local development is proposed, as well as a stable financial collaboration.
The new law will also create a new body, the Basque Council for Public Employment Policies, made up of the Basque Government, Provincial Councils and the association of Basque municipalities Eudel and with policy coordination functions.
Likewise, the constitution, with consultative functions, of a Basque employment forum with the participation of public and private representatives that intervene in employment policies is contemplated.
In addition, Lanbide will become a public entity under private law, regulated by a program contract with the Basque Government valid for four years.
The objective of the change is to provide the entity with greater agility in certain procedures and actions while maintaining its control by the Administration.
The counselor Idoia Mendia in a file image
Idoia Mendia wants consensus
At the end of the meeting in which the Basque Government has approved the legislative project, Minister Mendia has expressed her intention to work on a consensus around the new law with the opposition groups.
Mendia stressed that the new law “will order” the actions “of the more than 300 institutions, social and economic agents that today act in active policies” to work in a network.
He has also pointed out the “more pronounced role” that the municipalities will have, to which “participation and financing are guaranteed to respond to the needs” of their neighbors and companies.
Mendia has highlighted the “transforming vocation” of the new law to be more effective in the provision of public services and in responding to the needs of workers and companies.
“Rights are extended”
As he has said, the Basque Government uses self-government to “expand the rights of citizens to be able to adapt to changes without anyone being expelled from the labor market, and to access decent work, which we also define.”
He also assessed that “for the first time in Spain it will be possible to demand personalized treatment from the public employment service, a tailored suit to find a job or aspire to a better one”.
There will be, he stated, “simplified service mechanisms, in territorial one-stop windows, or Lanbide’s one-stop electronic window, to which citizens will go.”
The counselor has revealed that the law is based on a “very broad consensus” on the part of the parties that support the Basque Government -PNV and hers, PSE-EE-.
It has shown, however, its “full” willingness to extend it with agreements with parliamentary groups around a law, which it has described as “very important for Euskadi”.
The Basque Government has “an outstretched hand” in the search for consensus, he has assured. EFE