The Ministry paid CZK 1.2 billion to increase employment of disadvantaged people. However, it is not possible to assess whether the support actually helped them

PRESS RELEASE ON AUDIT NO 23/21 – 21 October 2024


The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) has spent a total of CZK 1.2 billion between 2016 and 2022 to increase the employment of disadvantaged people, such as people with low qualifications, people with disabilities, the long-term unemployed, people over the age of 50, people caring for young children or other dependents, without specifying what kind of change is to be achieved. It cannot therefore examine the long-term benefits of the projects supported*. The Ministry spent CZK 9.1 million on ineligible expenditures, e.g. by supporting people who did not fall within the defined target groups. The SAO found this during an audit of state and EU funds earmarked for increasing employment of various disadvantaged groups. In addition to the MoLSA, the auditors also examined 10 selected projects at six beneficiaries.

The auditors found that the MoLSA had set only one quantified longer-term target, which related to the desired change in the population. This was to achieve a 75% employment rate for people aged 20 to 64. However, the set target had already been exceeded in the year the support started - at the end of 2016. In 2022, according to the Czech Statistical Office, 81% of people in that age range were employed.

The MoLSA’s evaluation of the success of the support was based primarily on the number of project participants and those who obtained qualifications. However, in many cases, these parameters do not have an impact on their employment in the labour market. Nor do the numbers of participants alone make it possible to assess the real benefits of the projects. For example, the beneficiary of the subsidy organised retraining courses for drivers, welders, metalworkers, care workers, etc. The SAO audit showed that 78% of all retrainees either did not find employment on the labour market at all or found employment outside their retraining.

The following two examples illustrate the use of funds for ineligible expenditures: one project was intended to support people who would have been at risk of unemployment without their participation in the project. The SAO found that 31 out of 62 people were able to return to their original employer after parental leave. Therefore, these were not people who would have been at risk of unemployment without their participation in the project. Another project aimed to contribute to reducing the number of long-term unemployed people and disabled people in debt. The SAO auditors found that thirty-one out of 49 project participants, i.e. more than 63%, had not been identified by the beneficiary as belonging to the selected target group.

According to the SAO, the MoLSA spent funds to support projects aimed at increasing employment of disadvantaged groups with reduced effectiveness and efficiency. The projects contribute only to a short-term increase in employment - mainly for the duration of the project, or for the duration of the wage subsidy for the subsidised job. The SAO did not find any longer-term benefits in terms of increased employment rates.

The audit of the selected ten projects showed that in only one case did the beneficiaries spend the funds effectively but with reduced efficiency. In two cases, the beneficiaries spent all the funds ineffectively and inefficiently, supporting people who did not belong to the target groups. In seven other audited cases, the SAO found partial shortcomings that reduced the effectiveness and efficiency of the funds spent. In four projects, the SAO found evidence of breaches of budgetary discipline.

Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office

* Competitive projects of the Operational Programme Employment 2014-2020 under the specific objective 1.1.1, which was to increase the employment of supported persons, especially the elderly, low-qualified and disadvantaged.

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