Gender, age, nationality, ethic identity, or physical condition requirements will be prohibited in job ads as of January 1, 2002 under the Employment Promotion Act, which passed at second reading in Parliament. Exceptions are allowed only when gender, age, and/or physical condition are essential factors for performing a particular type of job. Establishment of a National Employment Promotion Council (NEPC) and an Employment Agency is envisaged by the Act. The law stipulates various forms of financial compensation for employers who provide jobs to people recommended by the Agency who are aged 29 or younger and lack professional experience, or have limited working capacity as well as people from social care homes and persons who have served prison sentences. The employer will be reimbursed for the wages, social insurance contributions and training expenses for such
employees within a specified period of time. If an employer hires an unemployed person, recommended by the Agency, for at least four hours a day, he will be reimbursed to the amount of one minimum monthly wage plus the social security contribution involved.