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Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Bulgaria (RATIFICATION: 2008)

The Committee notes the observations of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (CITUB) received on 12 August 2021.The Government is requested to provide its comments in this respect.

Articles 1 to 3 of the Convention. Employment trends and implementation of an active employment policy. Active labour market measures for other specific groups vulnerable to decent work deficits. Consultations with the social partners. The Committee welcomes the information provided in the Government’s report, including replies to its previous questions, updates on the implementation of employment plans and measures and the information on the measures envisaged under the Updated Employment Strategy of the Republic of Bulgaria for the period 2021–2030 (Employment Strategy). The Committee also notes that, while the period 2017 to 2019 was characterized by continuing positive trends in the labour market, including a decrease in the unemployment rate and an increase in employment, the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted these positive long-term trends, with effects being still partly tangible in the first quarter of 2021. The Committee notes that, during this period, unemployment was increasing for the first time since 2013, reaching a total of 168,600 unemployed persons in 2020. The Committee nevertheless notes that the overall unemployment rate in Bulgaria declined to 6.6 per cent (6.6 per cent for men and 6 per cent for women) in the first quarter of 2021, remaining below the average unemployment rate of 7.3 per cent for countries in the European Union. In this context, the Committee notes marked variations in the unemployment rate across the country, with 18 districts reporting a higher unemployment rate than the national average in the first quarter of 2021. The Government indicates that the active employment measures implemented in these districts had only limited effects on improving the employment situation. The Committee notes that the national Employment Strategy has the stated objective of decreasing these disparities by 2024. It also intends to achieve 2019 employment levels (which stood at 75 per cent) and to increase, by 2030, the overall employment rate to 78.2 per cent of the population between 20 and 64 years of age and to decrease the unemployment rate to 4 per cent, below the 2019 rate of 4.2 per cent. The Employment Strategy takes into consideration new forms of work and focuses on, among other things: improving the quality of the workforce to enable it to meet the demands of the labour market and the activation of inactive and disadvantaged groups who face difficulties in securing employment, including school dropouts. The Strategy also provides for key measures to: promote social inclusion and prevent undeclared work; increase labour demand in economically less developed regions; and promote job creation in small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as in the social and the green economy, with a focus on groups in vulnerable situations, such as persons of Roma origin, persons with disabilities and the long-term unemployed.The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed updated information, including statistical data disaggregated by gender, age and region, on employment and labour market trends, including information on employment, unemployment and visible underemployment. It further requests the Government to continue to provide information on any evaluations carried out on the impact of the active employment policies, strategies and other measures taken to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment. In particular, the Committee requests the Government to communicate detailed updated information with respect to the achievement of the benchmarks set for the implementation of the Employment Strategy, including those measures aimed specifically at groups in vulnerable situations, including those vulnerable to intersectional discrimination, and regions with higher unemployment rates. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on the nature, scope and impact of measures adopted and implemented with the objective of supporting the development of the social and green economy. Finally, it requests the Government to include information on the nature and extent of the involvement of the social partners, in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention, in the design and implementation of an active employment policy, as well as in respect to consultations held with representatives of groups affected by the measures to be taken, as contemplated under Article 3 of the Convention.

Undeclared work. The Government indicates that the decrease in undeclared work over the years is mainly due to legislative reforms that have addressed key areas, including strengthening administrative sanctions, and increasing the enforcement capacity of the General Labour Inspectorate, the National Revenue Agency and the National Social Security Institute, in cooperation with the other EU countries and the social partners. Measures taken include the “Gray Skills” project carried out together with CITUB to address undeclared work in the car repair industry, as well as the Strategic Plan 2018–2021 on“Limiting the manifestations of the shadow economy”. The latter aims to create a culture of commitment to declared work and includes campaigns to inform undeclared workers about the risks and costs of undeclared work and the benefits of formalizing their work (for example, informing them what their taxes are spent on), legal incentives to encourage enterprises to work on a declared basis, as well as inspection and educational activities conducted by the Government and the social partners. The Government stresses that trade unions are permitted to inspect enterprises at any time. In this respect, they may request documents and recommend administrative sanctions. The Government also refers to the project on “Improving access to employment and job quality by limiting and preventing undeclared employment", being implemented together with the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria. To create and foster a general culture of compliance with labour legislation, these measures will continue to be implemented under the Employment Strategy and information campaigns will be extended to employers before the start of seasonal employment in agriculture, with the aim of promoting the use of daily employment contracts and educating students who are about to enter the labour market in relation to their labour rights.The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated detailed information, including disaggregated statistical data, on the impact of the measures taken to address undeclared work– particularly in respect to the benchmarks set for the implementation of the Employment Strategy – and the role of both employers’ and workers’ organizations in this regard.

Young persons. The Government indicates that, in the first quarter of 2021, the youth unemployment rate for persons 15-24 years of age stood at 21.3 per cent, whereas the unemployment rate for persons in the 15–29-year age group was 11 per cent. The Government adds that young persons continue to be a priority target group in the national employment policies, highlighting that youth unemployment has recovered and returned to pre-pandemic-levels. The Committee notes the series of active labour market projects implemented by the Government during the reporting period, which benefitted more than 240,000 youths and ranged from employment mediation based on individual action plans to fostering the work of youth mediators, special work projects in the public administration and targeted labour exchanges for young persons, conducted together with local employers. In addition, the Government provided wage subsidies as part of the active labour market measures implemented together with employers under the Employment Promotion Act for persons below the age of 29. The Committee notes with interestthat long-term unemployed youth are also provided with psychological support, according to their individual needs. As of May 2021, 1, 268 young people up to the age of 29 had received individual psychological support, and 925 had received group psychological support. In addition to continuing to implement these current measures, the Government indicates that the Employment Strategy targets young persons’ acquisition of basic, social and soft, as well as entrepreneurial skills, and provides for intensive mentoring and counselling. Partnerships are being constructed at the local level, with a view to ensuring early interventions and the provision of a flexible package of services, with a particular focus on youth from the most disadvantaged groups, and the development of inclusive education systems aimed to prevent youth from dropping out of school. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed updated information, including statistical information disaggregated by age, sex and region, on the impact of measures designed to increase the employability of young people, particularly on their ability to secure sustainable, lasting employment and decent work.

Persons belonging to the Roma minority. The Government reports that, reflecting the overall increase in unemployment throughout 2020, the number of unemployed persons registered with the Labour Bureaus who self-identify as Roma also increased by 9.8 percentage points in 2020. The Government adds that women accounted for 58.1 per cent of this 9.8 per cent figure, while older persons aged 50 and above accounted for 31.1 per cent and persons below the age of 29 accounted for 17.1 per cent. At the same time, the Government has continued to implement measures to increase employability and employment rates, and the development of an entrepreneurial culture among Roma. In 2020, the Labour Bureaus were able to place 17,521 unemployed Roma in employment, with most of these persons being placed in non-subsidized jobs. At the same time, 11,565 Roma participated in targeted programs to enhance their employability. An additional 9,963 economically inactive young persons belonging to the Roma community participated in further targeted activation measures offered by the employment services to assist them in securing employment. The Committee notes that the Employment Strategy undertakes to implement the European Commission’s ten-year plan to support Roma in the EU, adopted in October 2020, which calls on EU Member States to adopt national strategies that promote equality, socio-economic inclusion and participation for members of the Roma community.The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed updated information, disaggregated by age, sex and district, on the nature, scope and impact of measures taken to promote access to full, productive, freely chosen and lasting employment for members of the Roma community.