Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

The Committee notes the Government’s report.

Article 3, paragraph 2(2), of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that there have been no new developments, in law or practice, regarding the operation of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation (NCTC) in matters related to the determination of the national minimum wage. The Committee understands, however, that over the past two years the method for fixing the statutory minimum wage has been subject to serious dispute and that the social partners have expressed discontent with the lack of an institutionalized manner for objectively reviewing changes in national economic conditions and adjusting the minimum wage accordingly. It also understands that, in an effort to address the concerns of NCTC members, the Government has committed itself to proposing a draft minimum wage-fixing mechanism which would take into account objective parameters, such as productivity, the average wage, the poverty threshold and the inflation rate. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide detailed information on the elaboration of a new scheme for calculating minimum pay rates and full particulars on the content of any tripartite consultations undertaken to this end. It also requests the Government to transmit a copy of any new legislative or administrative provisions that may have been adopted in this regard.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. The Committee notes that the minimum wage was last revised in January 2006, by virtue of Decree No. 8 of 20 January 2006, and it is currently fixed at 160 BGN (approximately US$106) per month or 0.95 BGN (approximately US$0.6) per hour. Bearing in mind that, in order to play a meaningful role as a tool of social protection and poverty reduction, the minimum wage should maintain its purchasing power in relation to a basic basket of essential consumer goods, the Committee would be particularly interested in receiving statistical data showing the evolution of the national minimum wage in recent years as compared to the evolution of economic indicators, such as the inflation rate, in the same period.

Moreover, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to the 2003–04 activity reports of the General Labour Inspectorate according to which the employers’ failure to comply with the statutory minimum wage is a frequently reported violation of the labour legislation and is usually encountered in less competitive enterprises or enterprises with financial difficulties. The General Labour Inspectorate also refers to the widespread practice of workers being fraudulently presented in payrolls as if they were paid at the minimum rate (even though in reality they receive much higher wages) so as to minimize the corresponding taxes and social security contributions. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide in its next report concrete information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, the number of workers remunerated at the minimum wage rate, labour inspection results showing the number of offences observed concerning the payment of sub-minimum wages and the sanctions imposed, as well as any other measures or initiatives taken or envisaged to ensure the effective enforcement of the minimum wage system.