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

The Committee notes the Government's reports, the annual report of the activities of the General Labour Inspectorate for 1997, as well as the copy of the Act of 16 December 1997 respecting occupational safety and health and the list of recently adopted texts respecting occupational safety and health in certain sectors. The Committee draws the Government's attention to the following points:

Scope and functions of the labour inspectorate. The Committee notes that the Act of 16 December 1997 establishes a system of labour inspection to monitor the application of the legislation respecting occupational safety and health under the authority and coordination of the Ministry of Labour. The Committee wishes to recall that, in accordance with Article 2 of the Convention, the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers are not confined to those respecting occupational safety and health, but also include provisions, as stated in Article 3, paragraph 1(a), relating to hours of work, wages, welfare, the employment of children and young persons and other related matters. Furthermore, the Committee is bound to emphasize for the attention of the Government that the Convention, in addition to the above function of control, assigns to the labour inspectorate the functions covered by points (b) and (c) of the above Article, namely the supply of technical information and advice to employers and workers concerning the most effective means of complying with the legal provisions, and bringing to the notice of the competent authority defects or abuses not specifically covered by existing legal provisions. The explanations provided by the Government on the functions of the General Labour Inspectorate under Decree No. 167 of 1998 do not specify whether the functions covered by points (b) and (c) of Article 3, paragraph 1, of the Convention are included. The annual report of the inspection services for 1997, however, contains much information on inspection activities relating to occupational safety and health, a list of the types of violations of legal provisions relating to other conditions of work, such as wages, unilateral modifications of the contract of employment, working hours, overtime hours, rest periods and leave, and the statutory age for admission to employment. The Committee also notes that the labour inspectorate assumes functions other than those defined as being its principl functions by Article 3. These consist of functions relating to industrial relations, issuing work permits, approving collective agreements, etc. The report also mentions the processing of a large number of complaints which do not lie within the responsibility of the General Labour Inspectorate, but of the employment services, of social security and of other ministries and institutions. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide details on the fields of labour legislation which lie within the responsibility of the General Labour Inspectorate.

Coordination and collaboration with regard to labour inspection. A report on a mission carried out by an ILO expert in June 1996 indicates that employers and workers deplored the number and dispersion of the competent authorities in the field of labour inspection and the total lack of coordination between them. They supported a less costly and more effective single system of inspection with a pluri-disciplinary mandate, a vision of labour inspection which conforms to the spirit and letter of Articles 4 and 5 of the Convention. Furthermore, at a conference organized in January 1998 by the ILO and the Government in Bistritsa, which brought together representatives of the Social and Labour Policy Commission, the ministries of health, industry and the environment, employers' and workers' representatives and representatives of the ILO and the EU-PHARE Programme, emphasis was placed on the need for a far-reaching reform of the system of supervising the application of the legislation respecting occupational safety and health and conditions of work for all workers. The Government refers in its report to a number of bodies which are each competent in a specific field for monitoring occupational safety and health legislation. The Government recognizes that the persistence of two parallel inspection systems, one of which consists of bodies dependant on various authorities and the other of the General Labour Inspectorate, may give rise to problems. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of Decree No. 167 of 1998 and to supply information on the measures which have been taken or are envisaged to ensure, in accordance with Article 5, that the central authority in the field of labour inspection is empowered to make appropriate arrangements to promote: (a) effective cooperation between the inspection services and other government services and public or private institutions engaged in similar activities; and (b) collaboration between officials of the labour inspectorate and employers and workers or their organizations.

Harmonization of the legislation respecting the organization and functions of bodies contributing to labour inspection. The Government referred in its report, among the legislation in force giving effect to the Convention, to the Labour Code of 1986, the Act of 1997 respecting occupational safety and health, Decree No. 167 of 1998 respecting the organization and functions of the General Labour Inspectorate and Decree No. 193 of 193 of 1991 establishing the National Labour Inspectorate and Decree No. 270 of 1992 respecting the reorganization of the inspectorate within the General Labour Inspectorate. The Committee notes a certain number of contradictions between the provisions of the two most recent texts and the earlier texts. It would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the manner in which it envisages harmonizing the various provisions which are in force.