The Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, the largest employer organisation in the country, is involved in a large range of activities. In addition to its work in the area of social dialogue, where it defends employers’ interests, it also provides advice to business people, as well as educational and legal services. Moreover, the confederation has been active in human resources development for a number of years.
The accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union in May 2004 provided the opportunity to draw on the European Social Fund, support which the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic (Svaz prumyslu a dopravy CR, SP CR) has availed of extensively. Previously, SP CR had also accessed the funds of the pre-accession Phare aid programme to implement various human resources (HR) development projects. As the largest employer organisation in the Czech Republic, SP CR’s activities in this area particularly focus on improving social dialogue, enhancing the quality of management, supporting equal opportunities, developing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and providing management education.
In its work, SP CR forms partnerships with both foreign and domestic entities; a key partner in a number of projects is Services to Entrepreneurs Centre Ltd (Stredisko služeb podnikatelum s.r.o.), a company which specialises in assisting entrepreneurs with accounting, tax advisory, legal and further education matters.
Human resources projects
In total so far, SP CR has implemented or is implementing 11 projects, six of which were ongoing in 2006. The projects are supported within the regional policy framework of the European Social Fund, as part of the Czech Republic’s Single Programming Document for Objective 3 (SPD3) and its Operational programme for HR development. The focus is particularly on developing small and medium-sized enterprise, education in management and disseminating information.
A project, which was concluded in 2005, was run in cooperation with the Belgian Christian League of Employers and Business Executives (Verbond Christelijke Werkgevers/Association des Employeurs et Cadres Chrétiens, VKW), with the support of the Belgian Ministry of Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (FOD Werkgelegenheid, Arbeid en Sociaal Overleg/SPF Emploi, Travail et Concertation sociale). This project focused on the issue of improving social dialogue and the legal knowledge of Czech and Slovakian SMEs, and also on applying new forms of work organisation in accordance with EU directives. At the same time, trade union organisations also organised similar initiatives for supporting social dialogue, sharing experiences and spreading legal awareness.
Initiatives targeting workers
In addition to projects aimed at entrepreneurs and employers, SP CR is also taking part in a further two projects supported by the EQUAL II initiative. These projects focus on improving the situation of employees in the labour market and of jobseekers. The projects ‘Rehabilitation, activation, work’ and ‘Breaking the waves’ began in 2005 and are continuing in 2007.
The Rehabilitation, activation, work project involves the cooperation of eight partners with a budget of CZK 56.2 million (almost €2 million as at 29 January 2007). Its objective is to facilitate access to the labour market for people who find it hard to integrate, particularly those with disabilities. The task of SP CR is to map the opportunities for employing disabled people and suitable job vacancies in selected regions in the Czech Republic. At the same time, the employer organisation provides training seminars and workshops on this subject for SMEs and sole traders, mainly in cooperation with the Chambers of Commerce of the Czech Republic (Hospodárská komora CR).
The ‘Breaking the waves’ project focuses on the issue of equality for men and women in the labour market and is aimed at people aged over 50 years. This project involves changing the institutional framework by introducing gender aspects into educational advisory services, encouraging gender audits in companies, educating company management, exchanging experiences and sharing information.
Jaroslav Hala, Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs (VÚPSV)