Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - Bulgaria (Ratification: 1935)

The Committee notes the Government’s report.

Article 3, paragraph 2(1) and (2), of the Convention. Further to the explanations provided by the Government in its previous report on the working rules of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation (NCTC), the Committee notes that the composition and functions of the NCTC have now been codified in sections 3(a) and 3(c) of the Labour Code as last amended by the Act of 2 March 2001 (SG No. 25/2001). The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any new developments, in law or practice, regarding the operation of the NCTC, as well as of the councils for tripartite cooperation established at the industry, branch and municipal levels, in respect of the determination of minimum wage rates.

Article 3, paragraph 2(3). The Committee notes that section 12 of the Order on wage determination, referred to in section 4 of the Ordinance No. 129 of 5 July 1991 regarding negotiations on wages, provides that the minimum wage negotiated through collective bargaining or fixed under an individual contract of employment cannot be lower than the national minimum wage decreed by the Council of Ministers, thus giving effect to the principle of the Convention according to which minimum wage rates once fixed have the force of law and may not be subject to abatement.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. In the absence of reply to its previous request on this point, the Committee is obliged to renew its request for up-to-date and detailed information on the practical application of the Convention. Recalling that no specific data on minimum wage rates in force have been provided since 1992, the Committee asks the Government to communicate with its next report all available information in this respect, including copies of relevant statutory instruments fixing minimum monthly and hourly wage rates, statistics on the number of workers covered by minimum wage provisions, extracts from inspection reports showing the number of infringements and sanctions imposed as well as information on any practical difficulties encountered in the application of the Convention. The Committee would be particularly interested in observing the evolution of minimum wage levels in the last ten years to have a clearer idea as to the method for the adjustment of minimum wages and the maintenance of the purchasing power of such wages in the light of fluctuations of economic indicators such as the inflation rate, labour productivity and consumer prices.