Albania’s labor force numbers around 1.22 million people, according to official data.  After peaking at 18.2 percent in the first quarter of 2014, the official estimated unemployment rate has decreased in recent years, falling to 11.2 percent at the end of 2019 compared to 12.3 percent in December 2018.  However, unemployment among people aged 15-29 remains high, at 21.4 percent. The effect of the 6.4-magnitude earthquake in November 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic on Albanian unemployment will take time to unfold. Around 40 percent of the population is self-employed in the agriculture sector. Informality continues to be widespread in the Albanian labor market.  According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), almost 30 percent of all employment in the non-agriculture sector is informal.

The institutions that oversee the labor market include the Ministry of Finance, Economy and Labor, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection; the National Employment Service; the State Labor Inspectorate; and private entities such as employment agencies and vocational training centers.  Albania has adopted a wide variety of regulations to monitor labor abuses, but enforcement is weak due to persistent informality in the work force.

Outward labor migration remains an ongoing problem affecting the Albanian labor market. There is a growing concern about labor shortage for both the skilled and unskilled workforces.  Over the last several years, media outlets have reported that a significant number of doctors and nurses have emigrated to Europe, mostly to Germany. There are also claims that the textile industry, which hires unskilled labor, is facing difficulties replacing workers s resulting from growing due to emigration of Albanian citizens.  In December 2019, the average public administration salary was approximately 63,826 lek (approximately USD 575) per month.  The GoA increased the national minimum wage in January 2019 to 26,000 lek per month (approximately USD 225), but it is still the lowest in the region.

While some in the labor force are highly skilled, many work in low-skill industries or have outdated skills.  The government provides financial incentives for labor force training for the inward processing industry (in which goods are brough into the country for additional manufacturing, repairing, or restoring), which in Albania includes the footwear and textile sectors.  In March 2019, parliament approved a new law on employment promotion, which defined public policies on employment and support programs. Albania has a tradition of a strong secondary educational system, while vocational schools are viewed as less prestigious and attract fewer students.  However, the government has more recently focused attention on vocational education. In the 2018-2019 academic year, about 21,300, or 18 percent, of high school pupils were enrolled in vocational schools, compared with 17.1 percent in the previous year.

The Law on Foreigners and various decisions of the Council of Ministers regulate the employment regime in Albania.  Employment can also be regulated through special laws in the case of specific projects, or to attract foreign investment.  The Law on TEDA-s also provides financial incentives for labor taxes on investments in the zone. In February 2020, parliament approved some amendments to the Law on Foreigners, extending the same employment and self-employment rights Albanian citizens have to the citizens of five Western Balkan countries. The new law extends to these citizens the same benefits that the original law provided to the citizens of EU and the Schengen countries. The recent amendments also allow hiring of foreign citizens in different sectors in the framework of to work in the reconstruction process efforts due to the November 2019 earthquake.

The Labor Code includes rules regarding contract termination procedures that distinguish layoffs from terminations.  Employment contracts can be limited or unlimited in duration, but typically cover an unlimited period if not specified in the contract.  Employees can collect up to 12 months of salary in the event of an unexpected interruption of the contract. Unemployment compensation makes up around 50 percent of the minimum wage.

Pursuant to the Labor Code and the recently amended “Law on the Status of the Civil Employee,” both individual and collective employment contracts regulate labor relations between employees and management.  While there are no official data recording the number of collective bargaining agreements used throughout the economy, they are widely used in the public sector, including by SOEs. Albania has a labor dispute resolution mechanism as specified in the Labor Code, article 170, but the mechanism is considered inefficient. Strikes are rare in Albania, mostly due to the limited power of the trade unions and they have not posed any risk to investments.

Albania has been a member of the International Labor Organization since 1991 and has ratified 54 out of 189 ILO conventions, including the 8eight Fundamental Conventions, the four Governance Conventions and 42 Technical Conventions. The implementation of labor relations and standards continues to be a challenge, according to the ILO. Furthermore, labor dialogue has suffered from the 2017 division of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection into two different institutions.

See the U.S. Department of State Human Rights Report:
https://www.state.gov/reports-bureau-of-democracy-human-rights-and-labor/country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/;
and the U.S. Department of Labor Child Labor Report:
http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor .

Alex MacFarlane
Economic and Commercial Officer
U.S. Embassy Tirana, Albania
Rruga Elbasanit, Nr. 103
Tirana, Albania +355 4 224 7285
USALBusiness@state.gov

Georgia offers skilled and unskilled labor at attractive costs compared not only to Western European and American standards, but also to Eastern European standards. Skilled labor availability in the engineering field remains underdeveloped. The official unemployment rate was 11.6 percent in 2019, according to State Department of Statistics, but actual unemployment is considerably higher given significant underemployment in the working population, especially in rural regions where subsistence farmers are considered employed for statistical purposes and job creation has remained a particular challenge. Some investment agreements between the Georgian government and private parties have included mandates for the contracting of local labor for positions below the management or executive level.

Georgia’s Labor Code defines the minimum age for employment (16), standard work hours (40 per week), and annual leave (24 calendar days). The law allows for other wage and hour issues to be agreed between the employer and employee. The amendments to the Labor Code in July 2013 defined the grounds for termination and severance pay for an employee at the time of termination, including the payment term. An employer is obliged to give compensation of not less than one month’s salary to an employee within thirty (30) days. Additionally, an employer is obliged to give the dismissed employee a written description of the grounds for termination within seven days after an employee’s request. The Labor Code also prescribes rules for paying overtime labor (over 40 hours), which must be paid at an increased hourly rate.

The Labor Code specifies essential terms for labor contracts, including: the starting date and the duration of labor relations, working hours and holiday time, location of workplace, position and type of work, amount of salary and its payment, overtime work and its payment, the duration of paid and unpaid vacation and leave, and rules for granting leave. The code states that the duration of a business day for an underage person (ages 16 to 18) should not exceed 36 hours per week. Regulations prohibit interference in union activities and discrimination of an employee due to union membership. The Labor Code amendments mandate the government to reestablish a labor inspectorate to ensure adherence to labor safety standards. The labor inspection program under the Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs, employs 25 labor inspectors, although in 2019 the government increased the number of inspectors to 100 to deal with increasing demand, and the vacancies are still to be filled. In 2018, Parliament passed the Occupational Safety, and Health (OSH) Law, that gave the government power to make unannounced inspections in some circumstances in companies operating among “hard, harmful, hazardous, and increased danger” occupations. Subsequent amendments that entered into force in September 2019 allowed unannounced inspections across all sectors of the economy. Employees are entitled to up to 183 days (six months) of paid maternity leave, which can last up to 24 months when combined with unpaid leave. The state subsidizes leave taken for pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, and adoption of a newborn. An employer and employee may agree on additional compensation. The Labor Code permits non-competition clauses in contracts; this provision may remain in force even after the termination of employment.

Employees are entitled to up to 183 days (six months) of paid maternity leave, which can last up to 24 months when combined with unpaid leave. The state subsidizes leave taken for pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, and adoption of a newborn. An employer and employee may agree on additional compensation. The Labor Code permits non-competition clauses in contracts; this provision may remain in force even after the termination of employment.

The government adopted a new law in 2018 establishing an accumulative pension scheme, which came into effect as of January 1, 2019. The pension is mandatory for legally employed persons under 40, while for the self-employed and those above the age of 40 enrollment in the program is voluntary. Each employee, employer, and the government must each make a contribution of two percent of the employee’s gross income to an individual retirement account. As for the self-employed, they will make a deposit of four percent of their income, and the state will match another two per cent. Employees pay a flat 20 percent income tax. The state social security system provides a modest pension and maternity benefits. The minimum monthly pension is GEL 220 (USD 73). The average monthly salary across the economy in 2019 was GEL 1,217 (around USD 420). The minimum wage requirement for state sector employees is GEL115 (USD 40) per month. Legislation on the official minimum wage in the private sector has not changed since the early 1990s and stands at GEL 20 (USD 7) per month, but is not applied in practice and is not being used for reference.

The law generally provides for the right of most workers, including government employees, to form and join independent unions, to legally strike, and to bargain collectively. Employers are not obliged, however, to engage in collective bargaining, even if a trade union or a group of employees wishes to do so. While strikes are not limited in length, the law limits lockouts to 90 days. A court may determine the legality of a strike, and violators of strike rules can face up to two years in prison. Although the law prohibits employers from discriminating against union members or union-organizing activities in general terms, it does not explicitly require reinstatement of workers dismissed for union activity. Certain categories of workers related to “human life and health,” as defined by the government, were not allowed to strike. The International Labor Organization noted the government’s list of such services included some it did not believe constituted essential services directly related to human life and health. Workers generally exercised their right to strike in accordance with the law.

Georgia has ratified some ILO conventions, including the Forced Labor Convention of 1930, the Paid Holiday Convention of 1936, the Anti-Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention of 1951, the Human Resources Development Convention of 1975, the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention of 1949, the Equal Remuneration Convention of 1951, the Abolition of Forced Labor Convention of 1957, the Employment Policy Convention of 1964, and the Minimum Age Convention of 1973.

Information on labor related issues is also available in the State Department’s annual reports: Human Right Report: http://georgia.usembassy.gov/officialreports/hrr.html. Child Labor Report: http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/georgia.htm .

United States Embassy, Political/Economic Section
29 Georgian-American Friendship Avenue, Tbilisi
Mackenzie Rowe, Economic Unit Chief +995-32-2-27-7000
RoweML2@state.gov