Brasília, May 10, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The government plans to help 50 thousand youngsters through the First Job program by the end of this year. According to the Minister of Labor, Ricardo Berzoini, it is possible that the program will receive more budgetary funds, allowing the number of beneficiaries to increase to 70 thousand.
The Ministry's objective for 2005 is to add 120 thousand youngsters to the labor market.
The Minister revealed that, besides some inefficient regulations, the fact that the program was launched last November, a "bad" period for the labor market, might also have gotten in the way of its performance. "What we are doing now is changing the rules so that we can proceed more quickly in implementing and attaining the goals, not only from the quantitative perspective, but from the qualitative perspective as well," he concluded.
NEW RULES
In accordance with the new rules, which the government plans to present in detail this week, low-income youngsters who have finished secondary school but have still not entered the job market will now be eligible for 30% of the places in the First Job Program. The openings had been reserved for young people who were still attending secondary school. This is one of the measures, announced today by the Ministry of Labor and Employment, which, according to Minister Berzoini, "should make the program take off."
Another change is that the selection of youngsters will take into account the proximity between their places of residence and the location of the firms, as well as the order of enrollment. Preference will also be given to participants in Youth Social Consortiums.
The youths can be hired for an indefinite period or for 12 months. If the contract is for 12 months, the firm will receive such benefits as an exemption from the payment of prior notice in cases of job dismissal and the fine equivalent to 40% of the Workmens' Compensation Fund (FGTS) and deductions in social benefit payments, such as contributions to the Social Service of Industry (Sesi) and the Social Service of Commerce (Sesc).
The companies will receive US$ 79.60 (R$ 250.00) for each youth every two months. This value had previously been set at a maximum of US$ 63.60 (R$ 200.00) and varied among small, medium, and large enterprises.
The Minister of Labor will also no longer require firms to provide a list of their employees, whose total cannot be reduced by the youngsters who are hired during the period in which the firm is enrolled in the First Job Program. The Ministry warns, however, that it will continue to monitor the exit of workers through the Ministry's General Register of Employees and Employers (Caged), which covers the movement of company employees. This procedure is to avoid the dismissal of workers who are currently employed.
NEW CRITICISMS
The president of the Union Force, Paulo Pereira da Silva, "Little Paul," once again criticized the First Job program. According to the union leader, the alterations presented today failed to include two important changes: increasing incentives to train youth and reducing bureaucracy.
"I think that this program won't work. It maintains all the red tape of having to go to regional Labor offices, and companies will continue not to do this. Firms want to help the youngsters, but insofar as they are required to comply with a lot of bureaucracy, they end up not doing so. They prefer to get a normal worker on the job market to helping the government make a program operate."
According to "Little Paul," the program has another "serious" deficiency, since, to the extent that it neglects to hold firms accountable for keeping workers on the job, the government is clearing the way for current employees to be replaced by youngsters. "This means firing the father and hiring the son. And the worst and most serious thing is that part of the youngster's salary is paid from public coffers. I consider this very serious!," he judged.
Translator: David Silberstein
