PARES Strategic Dialogue 2013 Drafting a Memorandum of Understanding on a national level. Recommendations to employment services

Transcription

1 PARES Strategic Dialogue 2013 Drafting a Memorandum of Understanding on a national level Recommendations to employment services

2 Background The PARES (Partnership between Employment Services) initiative is part of the Europe 2020 strategy. The initiative supports EU-level dialogue to promote cooperation between different forms of employment services (public, private and non-profit) and to identify where they can deliver complementary services, with the ultimate objective of improving the functioning of labour markets in Europe. PARES Strategic Dialogues (SDs) provide a forum for relevant stakeholders to discuss specific issues within this remit in order to develop consensus based recommendations targeted at policy makers and/or practitioners in order to take the issue forward. The first SD of 2013, held in Brussels on 26 th April, covered the topic Drafting a Memorandum of Understanding on a national level. In the context of PARES, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is defined as a written agreement to recognise and articulate collaborations between Public Employment Services (PES), Private Employment Services (PRES) and other actors in the labour market. MoU parties are linked by a mutual interest and a public commitment. An MoU defines, without being legally binding, the working relationships necessary for parties to achieve a shared objective. In general, an MoU does not create or imply any financial obligation. However any financial implications arising from a draft MoU would need to be accepted by the parties before signature. This document presents the key points arrived at by consensus from discussions at the SD and consequent recommendations for employment services and other relevant actors. These recommendations will be presented at the next PARES Stakeholders conference to be held in autumn Why and what? Scope and Objectives Consensus observations: The use of MoUs and other cooperation agreements varies considerably between countries. While in some Member States there is a long-standing tradition of partnership between public and private employment services, in others the use of MoUs is still hampered by a range of different barriers (cultural, political, institutional). In the latter case, a lack of mutual trust between PES and PRES has been a key factor in limiting the use of MoUs and the general level of cooperation between employment services. However, the current need to respond to the weak labour market situation in many countries could provide the impetus necessary to encourage dialogue. An MoU represents a commitment for parties to work together to maximise the effectiveness of services provided to clients of employment services (both jobseekers and employers) and provides a transparent declaration of the objectives and common goals of the cooperation. As such, the starting point of an MoU should be a mutual recognition of the contribution that each party makes to the labour market and their role in addressing specific issues. This may be achieved through identification of shared values, relevant specialisms, or a shared interest in working with the same client group or sector. April

3 When considering a first collaboration, parties might usefully engage in a regular exchange of labour market information and the impact on their clients to develop mutual trust and recognition. Some areas of activity that would appear particularly suitable for an initial collaboration include: exchange of information on vacancies, contents of skills training, integration of IT systems. Recommendations: An MoU should reflect a genuine will to co-operate and be established in a positive environment. It should identify concrete fields and forms of cooperation and be driven by its added value to the labour market. In countries where PES-PRES cooperation is currently limited, politicians at national level should consider whether action is necessary to create the right conditions for PES and PRES to work together. Mutual trust is an important prerequisite for an MoU. In order to engender such trust, a good starting point is for the prospective parties to agree a regular exchange of information on the labour market situation as this can help each other understand their respective interests, perspectives and needs. An MoU should include a straightforward statement of intent describing what the parties want to achieve. This should clarify each parties interest in an issue (mutual recognition) and describe the benefits of co-operation. An MoU should be driven by and reflect current labour market challenges to contribute to better functioning labour markets (for example by better mapping and matching, reducing unemployment spells, supporting young people and first time labour market entrants). An MoU should be focused and outcome driven. For countries where there is little or no experience of partnerships between employment services (PES and PRES), it is suggested that a first MoU concentrates on tackling an issue of immediate concern (e.g. youth unemployment) and is focused on improving information exchange. Cooperation between employment services based on an MoU should be recognised as an evolving process developing and strengthening over time, starting with simple forms of information exchange (candidates and vacancies) before moving to more specialised cooperation projects (skills assessment & skills enhancement, job fairs, career guidance, integration of target groups / work on diversity). The language of an MoU should be clear and easy to understand, any jargon should be avoided. To increase the commitment of the people involved it should have an inspirational tone. Consensus observations: An MoU should be succinct and provide a flexible framework for co-operation enabling more specific actions to be taken by the parties or, if appropriate, at local or sectoral level. Although it is important that parties agree on a minimal set of procedures, these should be limited to essential detail to encourage flexible implementation and cooperation to establish better labour market outcomes. An MoU should simply commit April

4 the parties to take action, the precise details of which can be agreed later. Action should focus on concrete labour market challenges (such as exchange of information, facilitating labour market access, reducing youth unemployment etc.) and be output driven. Recommendations: An MoU should be designed to provide a flexible framework for cooperation and avoid potentially restrictive specifications of how the partnership should operate. After MoU signing, an action plan should be produced listing the activities to be undertaken, with a schedule noting the parties/persons responsible. This should be circulated to all relevant personnel to assist implementation. To foster effective cooperation the parties should promote exchanges between representatives at all levels. For example, it is recommended that staff visits/exchanges (at both senior and operational levels) should be arranged. This can foster mutual understanding of work processes and how co-operative arrangements can support these. Clients should be informed about the co-operation and what they can expect from cosignatories. Parties to the MoU might usefully establish protocols (which do not need to be included within the Memorandum) for timely communication and dissemination of information in a common format and with consistent messages. To ensure the effective implementation of MoU provisions, the objectives and procedures described by the MoU should be disseminated to staff in all branches of signatory organisations. It could also be helpful for the parties to operate an ad hoc web-platform for sharing information (e.g. codes of practice, monthly monitoring data, steering committee reports, etc.) and making it available to all personnel involved. Consensus observations: There should be no need to specify a fixed period for which an MoU is valid as it is a flexible framework for cooperation. In the case of an MoU linked to a specific project completion can provide a flexible point of termination. It is important to monitor how the co-operation arrangements contribute towards the achievement of MoU objectives and establish on-going mechanisms for revising these. Recommendations: An MoU should not specify a fixed duration for the co-operation agreement. It can be considered to be valid from the date of signature and remain in force as long as it is relevant or until otherwise agreed by the parties. Any MoU open ended or with a long-term duration should be subject to on-going evaluation and include revision mechanisms. Cooperation between employment services based on an MoU should be understood as a process, built on strengthening particular fields and forms of cooperation over time, reflecting concrete labour market challenges. A steering committee comprising representatives of all parties to the MoU should be established to periodically (e.g. every 6 months) review, report on progress and April

5 achievements against objectives, and make recommendations for on-going improvements to the operation of the partnership and delivery of services. April

6 ANNEX - Summary of group discussions Session 3 of the SD included a period of group discussion. The flip-chart conclusions of each group are summarised below. Group 1 Why and What? Scope and Objectives The MoU should include a statement of purpose (i.e. work together to achieve better labour market outcomes for all stakeholders). An MoU should aim, in the first instance, to improve cooperation between organisations, especially in sharing vacancies, sharing knowledge and expertise. It could also focus on providing training and skills development for jobseekers. An MoU might include details on how internal communication will work and could envisage the creation of a common web platform to exchange information. A protocol of communication and a dissemination strategy could be attached to the MoU. An MoU should be positive, easy to understand, avoid technical language. An MoU should be open ended and evaluation should be on-going. To review progress a steering group should be established, comprising representatives of all parties. The steering group should meet every 6 months and make recommendations on how the implementation of the MoU could be improved. Monitoring should not be based on measuring outcomes against detailed targets, rather it should be a comprehensive assessment of the functioning of the MoU. Group 2 Why and What? Scope and Objectives An MoU should include a clear statement on how each partner contributes to the improvement of the labour market. It should not include details but should be a general framework for cooperation. The basic objective of an MoU should be to increase trust between organisations and break down barriers to cooperation. It should be focused on increasing labour market intelligence between different organisations and raising the standards of services delivered to jobseekers and to employers. It could be envisaged to drive joint campaigns targeted to specific groups or on a specific issue. An MoU could also aim to improve the capacity of organisations in pre-empting future skill needs through a regular briefing and exchange of information. Communication should be simple, straightforward in a way to ease the exchange among people involved in the implementation of MoU provisions. April

7 An MoU should have a long term or open ended duration and should foresee means of regular review and update. Group 3 Why and What? Scope and Objectives Some participants recognised that there are still existing barriers and difficulties to establish an MoU. For instance, in some countries, the prior approval of social partners is needed. The adoption of a legislative act or recommendation at EU level would ease the process of breaking down such barriers. An MoU should contain a statement on the recognition and the contribution that each party can provide in implementing MoU provisions and what each party wants to achieve through the MoU. The general objective of an MoU should be the improvement of labour market functioning and transparency. An MoU should indicate what added value the cooperation will provide. An MoU should avoid detail of working arrangements and financial obligations. The language of an MoU should be inspirational. An MoU should have a long-term duration and should foresee on-going mechanisms for renewal and updates. It should be output driven and the evaluation should be based on results rather than the process. April