The EU strengthens knowledge about fair work standards for young people and employers
Perhaps we all use a chat-bot when inquiring about Facebook pages for assistance. However, chat-bots can go even further. The European Union (EU) co-founded the programme EU4Youth and created a Telegram chat-bot game Fair Employment. The game’s primary goal is to raise awareness and promote a better understanding of fair labour practices and standards that must be ensured before and after signing the contract for both young people and employers.
Interactive way of learning
Young people often find the transition from education to the labour market complicated and uncertain, with difficulties in finding their first job, understanding decent work standards, and their legal rights, which can lead to misinterpretation of those standards. Employers’ violation of labour rights is a significant issue, particularly for young people who may be starting their careers and may not be fully aware of their legal rights or feel powerless to assert them, leading to a need for greater awareness and advocacy.
To guide the youth through this nerve-racking process, the EU cofounded the EU4Youth Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship programme and created a Telegram chat-bot game on fair labour. Telegram, a messaging platform, is chosen for its user-friendliness and chat-bot integration, which is not available on other messaging platforms. Additionally, Telegram has been successfully used for other chat-bot games, such as “Шлях до роботи,” developed in Ukraine in 2021.
This game, among other EU4Youth initiatives, corresponds to the European Year of Skills 2023 activities aiming to increase people’s skills and empower them to navigate the labour market and its changes successfully and to engage in society and democracy fully.
Learning about real-life problems through simulations
The @fairemployment Telegram chat-bot game will embark a player on an exciting and educational journey, where one can choose whether to be an employer or an employee and challenge the knowledge of fair labour practices in a series of workplace scenarios. This four-stage game features simulations of pre-interview, interview, and contract stages where participants answer three questions and become aware of risk zones based on their responses, with the match identifying violations of employees’ rights and risk zones for employers at the end.
The game is available on the Telegram app in Georgian languages by following the links:
For Georgia: https://t.me/Ge_Fairemployment_bot
About the project
The Telegram chat-bot game Fair Employment is part of the EU4Youth: Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship programme activities. The EU and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania co-financed the programme. It aims to spread information about the career guidance process, the labour market, personal development, and detailed information about decent work standards for youth. The initiative is implemented by the Central Project Management Agency (CPMA) in Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine) until the end of 2024. It comprises technical assistance activities to support organisational structures and institutions (governmental and non-governmental) addressing youth employment and employability.This article has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Central Project Management Agency (CPMA) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.