House gives nod to new jobs agency
What you need to know:
The National Employment Authority will be headed by a director-general and will have offices in every county to advise the national and county governments on employment policies.
- The National Youth Employment Bill was changed significantly, on the advice of the Labour and Social Welfare Committee, and the functions of the authority broadened to encompass all unemployed people, not just the youth.
- The authority will be required to circulate all job vacancies advertised using social media, the Internet and published materials and provide counselling to the unemployed.
A law has been passed to set up a national institution to keep data on the unemployed.
It will be the first place the government looks to when job vacancies arise.
The National Employment Authority will be headed by a director-general and will have offices in every county to advise the national and county governments on employment policies.
The National Youth Employment Bill was changed significantly, on the advice of the Labour and Social Welfare Committee, and the functions of the authority broadened to encompass all unemployed people, not just the youth.
The word “youth” was also taken out of the title.
Its sponsor, nominated MP Johnson Sakaja, said having a National Youth Employment Authority would be discriminatory.
It wouldn’t make sense for Parliament to set up similar authorities for women, disabled groups and other classes of society, Mr Sakaja pointed out.
He said he was happy with the changes made by the committee and that the Bill would provide opportunities that lead to employment, such as internship and attachment.
EMPLOYMENT CENTRES
“Once this Bill becomes law, all public entities will be required to provide internship and employment opportunities,” said Mr Sakaja.
The authority will be required to circulate all job vacancies advertised using social media, the Internet and published materials and provide counselling to the unemployed.
Each county would be required to set up an employment centre for this purpose.
Nakuru East MP David Gikaria said the removal of the word “youth” from numerous sections of the Bill had not changed it drastically.
“The letter and the spirit of the Bill is not lost. Everything that has been said here is to help the youth,” he said.
He said that with more than 250 government institutions, there would be many opportunities for the unemployed to get experience and if each could take 50 youth to work.
He said each county would be required to set up an employment centre, which would have as an accessible repository of the human resources available.
He said from his research, he had established that the creation of an employment authority was among the ideals expressed in policy papers in the government.
