1. We [1] met in Paris on 7 June 2022 under the leadership of Ms. Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of the United Kingdom, as Chair of the Employment and Labour Ministerial Meeting. The Vice-Chairs were Mr. Tony Burke, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations of Australia; Mr. Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Minister of Economy and Employment of Belgium; Mr. José Luis Escrivá, Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration of Spain; Mr. Tanel Kiik, Minister of Health and Labour of Estonia; and Ms. Luisa María Alcalde Luján, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of Mexico. The International Labour Organization (ILO) participated, as well as representatives from Business at the OECD (BIAC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC).
2. We meet under grave circumstances. Russia’s continued and unprovoked war on Ukraine represents a clear violation of international law and a serious threat to the rules-based international order. We condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in the strongest possible terms. We stand in solidarity with the people and the democratically elected government of Ukraine. We also recall the decision of the OECD Council of 8 March 2022 to immediately suspend the participation of the Russian Federation and Belarus in OECD bodies.
3. Millions of people, mostly women and children so far, have already fled Ukraine and sought refuge in Europe and OECD countries. We are committed to provide them support, including effective reception conditions according to their needs, help to integrate quickly in the labour market and access to relevant services, such as accommodation, education, healthcare and social services. Regardless of their prospects of return, it is vital that refugees, who are able and willing to work, quickly find their way in the labour market so that their skills and talents are recognised and rewarded. To this end, we encourage them to access available services for skills assessment, and language and other training options.
4. Following the COVID-19 crisis, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine risks becoming another shock to our economies. Higher costs of energy and commodities, which are exacerbating existing inflationary pressures, are already affecting workers’ real income. The situation may deteriorate further if this shock slows economic growth and increases unemployment. We stand ready to implement the lessons on strengthening resilience that we discussed today to address the labour market and social impact of the war, including through measures to mitigate the impact of higher energy and commodity prices on vulnerable groups.
5. As we continue to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, and in light of the challenges arising from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, we will focus on rebuilding an inclusive labour market in our countries that offers more sustainable, rewarding and good quality job opportunities to all. We welcome the priority placed on employment, labour and social inclusion in the Ministerial Council Meeting that will be held on 9-10 June 2022. Building on the OECD Jobs Strategy and in alignment with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we commit to taking all relevant measures under our responsibility to ensure that the recovery leads to a durable increase in better-quality, safe and productive jobs, promotes social and environmental sustainability and entrepreneurship, and strengthens our labour markets’ resilience against future shocks.
Bringing all on board
6. We will continue to reach out to people who were hit particularly hard by the crisis and risk being left behind in the recovery. We will make the most of our recovery plans to achieve this objective through well-targeted measures that provide active help for people to find good quality jobs and safeguard incomes, as employment growth picks up and we progress through the recovery phase.
7. Young people have been particularly affected by massive disruption in their education, as well as in their labour market entry, progression and career development, social lives and wellbeing. We are committed to building a better future for all young people, in particular those not in employment, education or training (NEET) and those in precarious jobs. In cooperation with our fellow Ministers, we will promote a whole-of-government approach to improving: outreach and integration of employment, educational and social services; apprenticeships and work-based learning opportunities; hiring and other employment incentives; and income support for young people where appropriate. We welcome the updated OECD Youth Action Plan and the upcoming adoption by the Council of the OECD Recommendation on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People.
8. Gender gaps in employment, pay and career progression remain unacceptably high. In most of our countries, women experienced disproportionate economic hardship in terms of job losses and reduced hours of paid work during the pandemic. Women are also overrepresented in frontline jobs, fighting the pandemic, while facing a greater burden in unpaid work. We commit to speeding up tangible progress towards gender equality in the labour market by: tackling gender gaps in pay (including through greater pay transparency), hiring and career progression; reinforcing efforts to eliminate gender-based discrimination; strengthening women’s collective voice; fostering a healthy work-life balance for all; and providing accessible and affordable care systems.
9. We are also determined to ensure that the labour market recovery benefits all without any discrimination. In particular, we recognise the continued challenges faced by historically disadvantaged groups in our countries, including ethno-racial minorities; indigenous communities; migrants, refugees, and other displaced persons; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people; older persons; and persons with disabilities. [2]
10. We will work with our social partners to make workplaces more inclusive, barrier-free and age-friendly. Giving people greater employment choices at all ages, investing in life-long learning and promoting good practice in managing age diversity in the workplace will improve well-being, company performance and the adequacy and sustainability of our pension systems.
11. We will address gaps in our social protection systems. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted in particular the weakness of social protection coverage for workers in non-standard forms of employment and for the self-employed in some countries, and the need to ensure adequate social protection for all. We will work towards a more comprehensive coverage, as necessary, for workers in all forms of employment, as well as towards preventing the abusive use of some types of work arrangements to escape social security obligations, taking a gender-sensitive approach.
Promoting sustainability and resilience
12. Together with our fellow Ministers, we are committed to promote the creation of good quality jobs, with a specific focus on socially and environmentally sustainable activities and in sectors such as health, care and education. Improving pay and working conditions for workers in these sectors, often women, will make their careers more attractive and fulfilling for all. We will also seek to improve job quality in non-standard forms of employment, reduce employment discontinuity and income uncertainty, including through better regulatory protections, such as ensuring the correct classification of their employment status and supporting efforts for greater collective representation, as well as through greater access to training. We will also step up efforts to promote responsible business conduct in domestic and global supply chains also drawing from the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
13. Action is necessary to accelerate a just transition towards a low-carbon economy, enhance resilience to climate change and ensure energy security. We will work together with our fellow Ministers and the social partners to help firms and workers take advantage of opportunities in expanding green-economy sectors and for existing jobs in the transition to the green economy.
14. To help people transition to new jobs, we will strengthen the adaptability, accessibility and responsiveness of employment services, activation measures for jobseekers and support measures for companies. This will include greater and responsible use of digital tools for processing claims, registering vacancies, profiling, job matching and identifying training needs, as well as through more systematic evaluation of what works and what does not.
15. Transitioning to new jobs will also require a substantial investment in reskilling and upskilling. We are committed to promoting greater and more equal and effective access to training opportunities, while ensuring that training costs and the benefits of productivity gains are equitably shared among individuals, employers and governments. We will scale up lifelong training and career advice for all, in particular those with low skills, taking account of individual and local needs, including the skills needed for the green and digital transition. We will leverage new technologies to develop gender responsive and evidence-based policies to remove employment barriers, and reduce skill and labour bottlenecks.
Paving the way to the new workplace
16. In the face of the global trends driving changes in the world of work, some of which have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, we will continue to help individuals and organisations harness the benefits of these changes. At the same time, we stress the importance of people being protected from hazards in the workplace. We are committed to enhancing productivity and inclusion by accompanying the responsible, inclusive and broad-based adoption of human-centred and accessible digital technologies and ethical artificial intelligence (AI) at the workplace through the co-operation of the government, the social partners, and civil society. We believe that employee oriented, flexible working practices (including teleworking) can deliver benefits to both businesses and workers. But we need to ensure that labour rights and standards, including those to protect health and safety at work, are preserved and delivered, and that risks for job quality, workers’ work-life balance and well-being are well-managed.
17. We will promote cooperative labour relations and aim to work closely with the social partners to identify the key opportunities and challenges of the new workplace and develop joint responses. We agree on the importance of fostering a continued and inclusive social dialogue, according to national practice, covering new forms of business and workers in non-standards forms of employment, including platform work. This should seek to: promote correct classification of employment status, labour rights, job quality and access to training; identify the most suitable policy packages; and encourage all stakeholders to contribute, to the extent possible, to their implementation.
[1] Ministers and Representatives of all OECD Members and the European Union, together with our counterparts from Brazil, Croatia, and Romania.
[2] Hungary, Poland and Republic of Türkiye do not subscribe to the description of disadvantaged groups in Paragraph 9 and interpret the disadvantaged groups in line with their own national context.