site.btaChanges in Rules of Application of Employment Promotion Act Make It Easier to Hire Unemployed

The Council of Ministers Wednesday approved revisions to the Rules of Application of the Employment Promotion Act. The changes aim to improve the services provided by labour offices by increasing the efficiency of procedures for selecting and hiring unemployed and easing the conditions for improving their qualification. All these revisions stem from amendments to the Employment Promotion Act that came into force in early 2024.

The revised Rules of Application determine the criteria for applying the new measure that encourages employers to hire unemployed from disadvantaged groups on the labour market (under-29-year-olds, long-term unemployed, people with permanent disabilities, parents of children under 4 years of age, unemployed aged over 55, unemployed with an imprisonment record, and people with low education or no professional qualification).

The amount of resources to promote the employment of each group will be determined in the National Action Plan on Employment for the corresponding year. That amount will be linked to the group's relative share in the average monthly number of registered unemployed who are at a disadvantage on the labour market in the nine months of the previous year.

The revisions determine the possible funding of the transport costs for up to 50 km of those unemployed undergoing training or a procedure of professional knowledge validation; they will not have to provide transport documents proving those costs. The amount of the resources will be determined in the National Action Plan on Employment for the corresponding year.

The unemployed included in subsidised employment will be automatically re-registered in the National Employment Agency's Employed Persons Register. During that period, they will have the right to the employment offices' mediation services, including for seeking a job on the primary market.