27 December, Minsk /Elena Prus - BELTA/. Amendments to the employment legislation are planned in Belarus. This was announced by First Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection Petr Grushnik at an online conference on the websites of BELTA and the ministry. "The preparation of a draft normative legal act is planned, providing for the possibility of organising and financing advanced training for employees at risk of dismissal, with their subsequent employment in newly created jobs. This is very important in the context of enterprise modernisation," stressed Petr Grushnik. The registered unemployment rate in Belarus as of 1 December this year was 0.6% of the economically active population. The lowest rate (0.2%) was recorded in Minsk and Miory District of Vitebsk Region. The highest rate (1.2%) was in Gantsevichi District of Brest Region. According to Petr Grushnik, a stable labour market situation is forecast for 2013, with no mass redundancies planned. He considers the main problems in the labour market to be inefficient employment and an imbalance between labour supply and demand. "A number of state programmes are aimed at solving these issues, including the State Programme for Employment Promotion of the Population of the Republic of Belarus for 2013, the draft of which was approved by the government in December this year," summarised the First Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection.-0-

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