Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Bulgaria (Ratification: 1949)

Article 3(2) of the Convention. Additional functions entrusted to labour inspectors. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that amendments to the legislation were made in 2011 to guarantee the working rights of foreign workers employed in an irregular situation. These amendments specifically provide that, when such cases are identified by the inspection authorities, the employer owes the worker the wage agreed upon, but not less than the minimum wage established for the country or for the economic activity concerned for a three-month period, unless the employer or employee can prove another duration of employment. The payment is due once the foreigner has returned to his/her usual country of residence, and includes the cost of transferring this payment (section 73(3) of the Employment Promotion Act (EPA)). If the employer fails to pay the benefits due, the foreign worker may take legal action against him or her within the time limit prescribed under the Contracts and Obligations Act and the Code of Civil Procedure. Foreigners who are employed illegally may themselves, or through a person authorized by them, report the violations committed by their employer (section 78(b) of the EPA) to the General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency (GLIEA). In order to prevent and put an end to labour legislation infringements involving foreign workers and to address the negative consequences of these infringements, the supervisory authorities exercise powers provided for under the EPA (Chapter 9).

Following the amendments to the legislation, the amount of the fines and penalties imposed in the event of illegal employment are stipulated under section 48 of the Foreigners Act. Under this Act, a fine of 500–5,000 Bulgarian levs (BGN) is imposed on foreigners working without a work permit or who are not registered with the Employment Agency, on foreigners appointed in the country to provide services without a work permit and who are not registered with the said Agency, as well as on persons who accept foreigners to work without authorization or who fail to register them with the competent body. Fines ranging from BGN2,000 to BGN20,000 may be imposed on legal entities/employers who recruit foreigners with a labour contract, but without a work permit or registering them with the Employment Agency. When these offences are repeated, legal entities may be fined from BGN4,000 to BGN40,000. The efficiency and effectiveness of the supervisory activities are considerably enhanced by the cooperation between the following bodies: the GLIEA; the Employment Agency; the Migration Directorate under the Ministry of the Interior; the National Revenue Agency; and other institutions involved with inspections to ensure respect of the labour legislation for employing foreigners in Bulgarian enterprises. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide specific information on the means and mechanisms provided for under the legislation to ensure that foreign workers in an irregular situation might assert their rights to which they are entitled by virtue of the amendments made to the legislation in 2011, and particularly the Employment Act. The Committee particularly asks the Government to specify whether the labour inspectors inform these workers of the rights to which they are entitled, and provide them with information on the way in which they might obtain these rights; it is also asked to describe briefly the procedure (including its duration) instigated when such cases are identified by the labour inspectorate, which allows foreign workers in an irregular situation liable to expulsion from the country to obtain actual payment of wage arrears and other benefits due to them by virtue of their employment.

The Committee also asks the Government once again to provide data on the results of the activities carried out by the labour inspectorate in the area of controlling the illegal employment of foreign workers (including information on the detected violations and the illegal provisions concerned, the number of legal proceedings initiated, the number of penalties imposed and the number of decisions ordering employers to settle unpaid debts and other benefits).

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.