Thematic feature - unskilled workers

This article gives a brief overview of the industrial relations aspects of the topic of unskilled workers and unskilled work in the Czech Republic, as of February 2005. It looks at: national definitions of unskilled workers or work; the number of unskilled workers and workers in unskilled jobs, and the extent of unskilled work; employment and unemployment among unskilled workers; the regulatory framework; trade union organisation among unskilled workers; pay and conditions; recent initiatives to improve the situation of unskilled workers; and the views of trade unions and employers' organisations on the issue and its implications for collective bargaining.

In recent years, labour market developments have altered the demand for labour. Increasingly, employers are looking for adaptable workers, with more 'transversal' and 'relational' competences. The nature of skills required to be considered efficient in a job has thus evolved. In this situation, there is a growing risk of exclusion among unemployed workers whose profiles do not match the job characteristics needed, while the low-skilled or unskilled workforce is more at risk of unemployment.

In this context, in February 2005 the EIRO national centres were asked, in response to a questionnaire, to give a brief overview of the industrial relations aspects of the topic of unskilled workers. The following distinctions are used, where applicable:

(a) an unskilled job is a job which requires, for its proper execution, hardly any formal education and/or training and/or experience;

(b) a worker in an unskilled job is a worker doing such a job, irrespective of their level of qualifications or competences (especially under conditions of high unemployment, a significant share of those occupying unskilled jobs may be 'overeducated' for them, or 'underemployed'); and

(c) an unskilled worker is someone who has only the lowest level of qualifications or education (however defined).

The questionnaire examined: national definitions of unskilled workers or work, including those used or provided in laws, statistics or collective agreements; figures or estimates on the number of unskilled workers and workers in unskilled jobs, and the extent of unskilled work; employment and unemployment among unskilled workers; the regulatory framework, including any specific laws or collective agreements, and trade union organisation among unskilled workers; the pay and conditions of unskilled workers and workers in unskilled jobs, or for unskilled jobs; any recent initiatives to improve the situation of unskilled workers; and the views of trade unions and employers' organisations on the issue and its implications for collective bargaining. The Czech responses are set out below (along with the questions asked).

Definitions and extent

(a) Please provide a definition of unskilled workers or work (see distinctions above) in your country. Are there any definitions provided in laws, statistics or collective agreements?

There is no legislative definition of 'unskilled workers' or 'unskilled work' in the Czech Republic. For statistical purposes, the criterion of educational level or the principle of employment classification is applied.

In its CZSO labour market statistics, the lowest level of 'attained' (ie completed) education used by the Czech Statistical Office (Český statistický úřad, ČSÚ) is 'basic education and no education'. This category was created by merging the lowest three categories of the ISCED 97 classification (these were: group 0 - pre-primary education, which comprises pre-school education programmes and people without any education at all; group 1 - primary education, comprising the first stage of basic education, ie completion of the fifth year of basic school; and group 3 - lower-secondary education, ie the second stage of basic education involving completion of, usually, the ninth grade of school). This definition corresponds to the definition of 'unskilled worker' used in this thematic feature (definition c above).

The Czech definition from the point of view of employment category is based on the KZAM classification, drawn up on the basis of the International Standard Classification of Occupations ISCO-88. It is derived from the actual work that a worker carries out (even if that is not his or her normal occupation) and which is the source of his or her main work income. The classification consists of nine main classes, with unskilled labour and those who perform unskilled labour ranked in the bottom (9th) class of employment, defined as 'ancillary and unskilled workers'. The work these workers do is defined as 'elementary and routine actions demanding on the whole manual implements and often physical strength'. Most jobs in this class require skills corresponding to basic education. In the full version of KZAM, the 9th main class is divided into three subclasses (further sorted into 10 groups, 37 subgroups and 174 units): 'ancillary and unskilled sales and services workers'; 'ancillary and unskilled workers in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and related fields'; and 'ancillary and unskilled workers in mines and quarries, in industry, construction, transport and related fields'. The KZAM definition covers the definitions of 'unskilled job' (definition a above) and 'worker in an unskilled job' (definition b above) used in this thematic feature.

Definitions of the concepts of unskilled work or unskilled worker are not found in collective agreements.

(b) Are there any figures or estimates available on the number of unskilled workers and workers in unskilled jobs, and the extent of unskilled work. How have these figures changed in recent years - have changing skill needs or improvements in education/training systems led to a reduction in the numbers of unskilled jobs, unskilled workers and workers in unskilled jobs? Please break all figures down by gender where possible.

At present, unskilled workers make up around 8% of the total workforce - see table 1 below. Their number has been falling since 2001. This trend is a continuation of a long-term educational shift, whereby the proportion of people with only basic education is falling sharply, whereas the proportion of those with an upper-secondary education and university graduates is growing. The decline in the workforce at the bottom end of the educational scale has occurred approximately equally in both sexes, but women still retain their higher representation in this category.

Source: CZSO.

There has been a gradual decline in the proportion of employees employed in the ancillary and unskilled category (according to the KZAM classification) - see table 2 below. The biggest declines in recent years came in 2000 and 2001, whereas in 2002 and 2003 there was almost no change. The decline was approximately the same for both sexes, but here too there is a higher percentage of women performing unskilled work than men. The information available does not enable us to judge whether this development has been influenced by the implementation of training and retraining programmes.

Source: CZSO.

(c) Please provide figures on employment and unemployment rates for unskilled workers, compared with higher-skilled groups. Have unskilled workers/workers in unskilled jobs been particularly affected by industrial and company restructuring? Have new jobs created in recent years been filled by unskilled workers? Please break all figures down by gender where possible.

The rate of unemployment among unskilled workers has remained roughly the same since 2000 - see table 3 below. Compared with other categories, people with only basic education or no education have had a much higher rate of unemployment over the long term. The rate of unemployment among unskilled women has been constantly lower than among men, even though there is a higher proportion of unskilled workers among women.

Source: CZSO.

The ancillary and unskilled workers category accounts for over one-fifth of unemployed people, the highest-represented category - see table 4 below. At the other end of the spectrum are categories of occupations requiring high qualification levels (legislators, management workers and scientific and specialised intellectual workers) as well as skilled labourers, who account for just 2% of total unemployment.

Source: CZSO.

A fundamental restructuring of industry, and enterprises in general, has been taking place in the Czech Republic for over a decade. Changes in employment have occurred to varying degrees in all sectors of the economy. In the primary sector, the proportion of employees both in agriculture and in mining and related professions (mineral extraction) has fallen sharply. From 1990 to the present day, the proportion of total employment accounted for by the primary sector has fallen to roughly one-third. After a decline in its share of the employed workforce in the first half of the 1990s, processing industry is again on the increase. The fastest growth in new jobs has come in the tertiary sector (primarily finance and insurance). As the labour market has come to be dominated by demand for skilled labour, there is limited work available for unskilled workers and job-seekers, especially in terms of newly created jobs. A low standard of qualifications continues to be one of the determining factors in long-term unemployment in the Czech Republic (alongside altered capacity for work and advanced age, or combinations of these factors). This is linked to tackling the issue of employment for people from disadvantaged and discriminated-against groups on the job market (see below under 'Actions and views').

Source: CZSO.

Source: CZSO.

Regulations and conditions

(a) Is there a specific regulatory framework in your country concerning unskilled workers and workers in unskilled jobs (however defined)? Are there specific laws or collective agreements? Are there specific trade union organisations for them, or are they represented in 'normal' union structures. Have there been any changes in these area reflecting the changes referred to in question (b) under 'Definitions and extent' above?

Section 142 of the Labour Code provides that employers are obliged to provide training or on-the-job training for employees entering employment without qualifications. After the training or on-the-job training is completed, the employer issues the employee with a certificate to that effect. Employers are obliged to do the same when necessary for employees moving to a new workplace or to a new kind of work or manner of work, especially in the case of changes in the organisation of work or other rationalisation measures.

Otherwise, there is no special legislation and there are no special collective agreements regarding the performance of unskilled work and unskilled workers. Nor, as far as we know, are there any trade union organisations set up to cater specifically for unskilled employees.

(b) Please provide any figures available for the pay of unskilled workers and workers in unskilled jobs, or for unskilled jobs, and the relationship of this pay with the average or with higher-skilled groups. Do collective agreements contain specific pay grades for unskilled workers, or workers in unskilled jobs? Please break all figures down by gender where possible.

Pay for unskilled labour is considerably lower than the average gross wage, yet still more than double the minimum wage - see table 7 below. Women in this occupational category (as in all others) received lower average wages than men.

Source: CZSO.

Workers carrying out ancillary and skilled work (regardless of the educational standard they have attained) receive an average monthly wage slightly lower than the average for people with basic education and without education - see table 8 below. Here, too, however, the wage is almost double the legally defined minimum wage; and women have a lower average wage than men.

Source: CZSO,

Collective agreements (chiefly at sectoral level and in the market sphere) usually contain a scale of monthly wages or (less often) hourly pay tariffs, where the lowest level (usually levels 1 and 2 out of a total of 12 levels) pertain to unskilled work, and in some cases specify the agreed minimum wage. The minimum wage negotiated in collective agreements in 2004 was on average CZK 7,533 per month (CZK 43.90 per hour), according to the Working Conditions Information System (ISPP). Average monthly wage tariffs for level 1 and level 2 were CZK 6,453 and CZK 6,843 respectively (CZK 37.85 and CZK 39.86 per hour).

(c) Are there any differences between unskilled workers/workers in unskilled jobs and higher-skilled groups in terms of access to other benefits, social security, pensions, etc? Please break all figures down by gender where possible.

There are no differences by skill/education level in access to social benefits.

Actions and views

(a) Please describe any recent initiatives taken jointly or separately by companies, public authorities (national or local) or the social partners (eg collective agreements) to address the situation and improve the situation of unskilled workers in terms of pay, working conditions, training, employability, unemployment etc.

In its Recommendations on the implementation of the Member States’ employment policies for 2004, the Council of the European Union urged the Czech Republic to put greater effort towards integrating the most at-risk groups on the labour market, with especial regard to the Roma population. It also mentioned the need to increase participation in tertiary education and vocational training, partly with regard to people with low skills, as a factor promoting occupational and geographical mobility. The existing tax burden on work incomes and non-wage costs of labour are 'a brake on job creation and squeeze low-skilled labour out of the job market.'

The response to the above was the adoption of certain measures in the National Action Plan (NAP) for employment 2004-6, which the social partners were closely involved in preparing (and, in some specific cases, are also co-responsible for implementing) - these include measures to improve access to training and vocational education in general for workers with low skill levels (and job-seekers with difficulty finding work). A number of NAP tasks focus on supporting the integration of people who are disadvantaged on the labour market and on preventing discrimination against them. Besides passing Act no. 435/2004 on employment, which also covers prevention of discriminatory conduct, one other fundamental piece of legislation is being prepared - an 'anti-discrimination act', the draft of which was approved by the government at the end of 2004, which should ensure that the issue of equal opportunities and discrimination is comprehensively regulated. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, MLSA (Ministerstvo práce a sociálních věcí ČR, MPSV) will prepare, in collaboration with regional social partners, retraining courses to help job-seekers with only basic education find specific jobs, so that, after successful examinations, they can gain an apprenticeship certificate through a two-year course. Contributions to employers for training job-seekers without the required skills or experience for a particular job will be provided via the labour offices. An action plan for what is called the 'Decade of Roma integration 2005-15' will be drawn up and care will be taken to ensure that the defined priorities are fulfilled. The state will use legislative measures to prevent abuses of employment of skilled labour in unskilled occupations (chiefly in the area of illegal employment).

(b) Please summarise the views of trade unions and employers’ organisations on the issue and its implications for collective bargaining.

The trade unions and employer organisations express their opinions primarily when discussing the issue of unskilled workers at national tripartite level, in the Council of Economic and Social Agreement of the Czech Republic (Rada hospodářské a sociální dohody ČR, RHSD). In general, it is fair to say (and this is indicated by the involvement of the social partners in the preparation and implementation of the NAP and other programmes) that unions and employers both advocate the application of non-discriminatory principles, work together in preparing training courses etc. As far as the issue of unskilled work in social dialogue and collective agreements is concerned, the necessary evidence is not available, with the exception of some wage data. (Lenka Dokulilová and Jaroslav Hála, Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs)