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Mihal Outlines Planned Changes in Labour Sector
Tuesday 19 Octtber 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, October 19 (TASR) - The Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Ministry is planning to introduce legislative changes aimed at boosting employment, with minister Jozef Mihal (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) describing the fight against unemployment as the "top priority", TASR learnt on Tuesday.
The changes will concern certain provisions in the Labour Code, with the tripartite - Government, trade unions and employers - already working on them, said Mihal at a press conference marking his first 100 days in office.
As regards the area of collective negotiation, the ministry is planning to abolish a provision whereby 'higher-level' collective agreements negotiated for 2010-11 should be binding for all companies in the given sectors without their consent.
According to the ministry's State Secretary Lucia Nicholsonova (SaS), the system under which welfare benefits are provided is also to undergo modifications. Part of the benefit will be based on solidarity while the other, the 'meritorious' part, will only be available to people who engage in public-service work.
The second pillar of the pension system will be changed as of July 2011, said Mihal, who refused to provide more detail. "It's quite a delicate topic, so I can't be more specific for now," he asserted. A team made up of employees of Slovakia's central bank (NBS), the Finance Ministry and pension-fund management companies is working on the respective piece of legislation.
The ministry is also striving to introduce cost-saving measures, he said, with the number of its employees to be reduced from 466 to 398 by the end of the year. More staff reductions will follow in 2011, he added, with savings being made "on all fronts".
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