After Navickienė’s speech, he gave an explanation: In the Seimas: Intensive debates on support for the unemployed

In the public sphere, when doubts arose as to what the Minister’s statement was about whether it was planned to deprive people who had lost or were looking for work of their compulsory state health insurance (PSD), the Social Democrats assured that such plans did not exist.

A little later, the minister herself explained that it was not understood that way.

“Do you think that here I no longer want to ban the unemployed? On the contrary, I believe that the state should prohibit the unemployed and not just the unemployed. It seems to me that, in general, perhaps we should opt for a universal compulsory health insurance. But my main idea and the question is whether the Employment Service should administer the receipt of compulsory contributions to health insurance ”, he said. Delfi.lt clarified by M. Navickienė.

Not the deprivation of the PSD, but the transfer of the functions of the Employment Service

Asked what the plans expressed by the minister of the faction mean and if they were not related to the deprivation of the PSD of the unemployed, the Social Democrat Algirdas Sys assured that it was not.

“It just came to our knowledge then. It’s about the Health Insurance Funds having to deal with that. It’s a question of functions. It may be necessary to create a registry with all the population data and be able to register that a person is unemployed. and not overload the Employment Service with this function. “All the functions that are not typical of it should be removed from the Employment Service,” he explained.

This, according to Mr. Sys, would simply be a division of functions according to what really belongs to the Employment Service, and not politically accepted at one time or another.

“It was necessary to capture people who are excluded from the PSD somewhere, but do not obtain income, so for some reason it was conceived that the Job Bank is the place where these people can register because they do not have a job. – are unemployed, regardless of parenting, supervise something and enjoy the legal right not to work. Over the years, the Employment Service was entrusted with completely different functions that did not correspond to it, the last one being invented by the peasants that the job search subsidy had to be paid again by the Employment Service. It was the employees of this institution who did not carry out their own work and, considering the benefits, could not undertake the search for employment, which belongs to them.

The employment service did not fulfill its functions ”, explained the Social Democrat.

According to the parliamentarian, such a practice forced job seekers to resort to the services of private intermediaries in their search, because the Employment Service simply did not have time to carry out its direct functions.

Since it is only a question of delegating the administrative function of the PSD to another authority, Delfi.lt also approved by the Minister of Social Security and Labor.

“I wonder if it is correct for the Employment Service to administer the PSD contribution as such, because there are people who register with the Employment Service just to obtain that insurance. Wouldn’t it be better to look for a different management mechanism than what those people could secure? And the Employment Service could then have its direct mission: find people to find a job when they lose it, receive unemployment benefits when they lose income, etc. ”Explained M. Navickienė.

There is only discussion

When asked if the ministry already has a specific plan or project, how the PSD administration should be restructured, M. Navickienė emphasized that so far it is only about speeches and discussions. He assured that it would not be necessary to wait for changes already during the spring session of the Seimas. The main task, in his opinion, at the moment is to find the most effective solutions through discussion.

“We don’t have a specific model yet. I think we need a quiet discussion. It is not necessary to make quick decisions. So far, this is just a discussion of the goals set for both the Employment Service and the efficiency of that service. That discussion it is still theoretical, but it is necessary to discuss in that direction to find the most effective solution ”, said M. Navickienė.

The chairman of the Seimas Labor and Social Affairs Commission, Mindaugas Lingė, assured that the discussion is not really about depriving the PSD of the unemployed. It continues on the fact that it is certainly not the responsibility of the Employment Service to administer the PSD.

“The employment service has to take care of people’s employment, not the benefits and administration subsidy,” he said.

M. Lingė also confirmed that the Seimas is not currently preparing any projects related to this issue. However, he did not rule out the possibility of making certain adjustments to the Employment Law.

“It may be necessary to make some adjustments to the Employment Law if the Employment Service is to be released from the administration,” he said.

Includes broader questions

For his part, Orinta Leiputė, a social democrat and member of the Health Affairs Committee, said that solutions should be sought for the long-term unemployed who maliciously avoid work.

“I would like to see a broader discussion. Apparently, when it comes to those long-term unemployed who avoid work, this should be decided because we are probably not raising people for the first time who can survive without working. Paying benefits per se it’s just not appropriate, because the situation doesn’t fundamentally change – because it didn’t work, it doesn’t work. ” Delfi.lt said the parliamentarian.

According to O. Leiputė, these unemployed need complex care and assistance, especially those who agree to “hang out” in the labor market.

“The municipalities still have to make several payments for those people who are not registered at all, even in the same Employment Service, and receive help. It is probably necessary to discuss and find solutions to get these people out of such a mess, because not paying or leaving does not come out. There should be programs like case management for that person, trying to carve it out, ”said O. Leiputė.

According to her, although there will still be people who will not give in to the help offered for various reasons, the situation cannot be left to their own devices, according to the Social Democrat.

“I believe that it is really not possible to leave these processes to oneself and the State must take care of its citizen, no matter how bad the situation is.” I believe that political will can always be enough if both the government and the opposition discuss it and try to find a common solution, “said the deputy from Seimas.

He also noted that the market situation is changing dramatically: the country will have to deal with a large number of bankruptcies and the growing unemployment curve, which will require the agreement of all political forces and specialists to get people out of trouble.
O. Leiputė also pointed out that, like Minister Navickienė, she is of the opinion that it is necessary to find ways to keep a person in the labor market until retirement age.

“If an older person loses their job after leaving the labor market, it is extremely difficult to find a job and people choose that early retirement as a possible solution. There should be separate measures for those people and incentives for employers, because I think that the extension of the retirement age and the existence of an aging society (…) make you think and keep those people in the labor market the largest possible time, ”said O. Leiputė.

According to her, it would be possible to find solutions with a lower or lower workload so that a person feels necessary. According to the politician, when people leave the job market, older people still have a hard time finding work, even after a recycling program.