Translation of "Programme Actions positives pour le travail et l'emploi " (French → English) :

85. Emphasises the importance of developing the legal construct of shared ownership with the aim of ensuring that women’s rights in the agricultural sector are fully recognised, that they receive appropriate social security protection and that their work is recognised; stresses, moreover, the need for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) Regulation to be amended to enable, as with the European Social Fund (ESF), proactive measures to be taken in support of women in the 2014-2020 programming period, which was f ...[+++]easible in previous periods but not in the current one, and which will have very beneficial effects on female employment in rural areas;

48. Supports the objectives announced in the third section of the Action Plan for Work Mobility, in line with the enhancement of the institutional capabilities of EURES; stresses the diverse make-up of the workforce and the need for services adapted to all categories of worker, over and above those listed in the Commission programme, namely older and disabled people who are disadvantaged but can be exploited by the labour ...[+++] market, those who possess special legal status in comparison with other workers, the self-employed, workers returning to employment after a break from work, and so on; stresses that all the information available through the EURES network should be accessible to disabled people;

Promote a lifecycle approach to work through: a renewed endeavour to build employment pathways for young people and reduce the youth unemployment; resolute action based inter alia on affirmative measures to guarantee equal treatment and opportunities for women and men in terms of access to employment, pay, promotion and working conditions; better reconciliation of work and private life, including the promotion of better sharing o ...[+++]f family responsibilities between spouses and partners and provision of accessible and affordable modes of public childcare and services providing a high level of educational quality, a high-quality public care service for elderly people and other dependants; modern pension and healthcare systems, ensuring their adequacy, financial sustainability and responsiveness to changing needs, so as to support participation in employment and longer working lives, including appropriate incentives to work and discourage early retirement; support for working conditions conducive to active ageing through an attractive supply of voluntary part-time work and opportunities for phased retirement (Integrated guideline No 17).

Annex Examples of positive action measures which remain untouched by the Kalanke judgement - Quotas linked to the qualifications required for the job, as long as they allow account to be taken of particular circumstances which might, in a given case, justify an exception to the principle of giving preference to the under-represented sex; - Plans for promoting women, prescribing the proportions and the time limits within which the number of women should be increased but without imposing an automatic preference rule when individual decisions on recruitment and promotion are taken; - An obligation of princip ...[+++]le for an employer to recruit or promote by preference a person belonging to the under-represented sex; in such a case, no individual right to be preferred is conferred on any person; - Reductions of social security contributions which are granted to firms when they recruit women who return to the labour market, to perform tasks in sectors where women are under-represented; - State subventions granted to employers who recruit women in sectors where they are under-represented; - Other positive action measures focusing on training, professional orientation, the reorganization of working time, child-care and so on.

The Prime Minister's office could serve as an example to other departments in showing how an enlightened affirmative action program could contribute to an enhanced work environment, foster harmonious workplace relations and harness the benefits proponent of the increased employment diversity promise.

Finally, the Commission wishes to underline that it will devote a significant proporti!on of this action programme to the labour market, so as to contribute to job development and creation while attacking the acute problems of unemployment.