Labour Ministry Initiative to Create New Jobs via Transport Ministry

Bratislava, 21 August (TASR) - The Labour Ministry intends to create new jobs under an initiative called 'Work Instead of Benefits' partly via the Transport Ministry by cooperating with the Slovak Road Administration (SSC), Labour Minister Erik Tomas (Voice-SD) and Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) told a press conference on Thursday. The initiative is part of the Employment Services Act, which will enter into force on 1 September this year. "If someone who is able to work refuses a suitable job offer from the labour office, they will lose their subsistence benefit or have it reduced. This law is aimed against laziness," said Tomas, adding that work is the best tool against poverty. There are around 140,000 available unemployed people, with long-term unemployment already below 40 percent. The ministry's initiative will be targeting this very group, including low-skilled or disabled people, by applying the same mechanism as with the environment and agriculture ministries. Tomas said that his ministry will cooperate with the SSC, the National Highway Company and state-run rail-infrastructure operator ZSR by allowing them to order various types of services from social enterprises that employ disadvantaged people and therefore receive support from EU funds via the Labour Ministry. For people with disabilities the state will reimburse 75 percent of the total labour costs, while for other disadvantaged groups the share will be 50 percent. Social enterprises have been allocated €150 million from EU funds. Raz welcomed the fact that his ministry has joined this initiative, in particular through a framework contract worth €200,000 with SSC for everyday tasks such as mowing, cleaning rest areas and carparks, and trimming roadside vegetation. "In this first framework contract, after market research and evaluating bids, we can save up to 30 percent on mowing costs," he said. jrg/df/ko