Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Protection of Workers' Claims (Employer's Insolvency) Convention, 1992 (No. 173) - Bulgaria (Ratification: 2004)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Repetition

Article 6 of the Convention. Scope of claims protected by privilege. The Committee notes that section 722(1) of the Law on Commerce (State Gazette No. 48 of 18 June 1991, as last amended – State Gazette No. 61 of 2002), which determines the order of distribution among privileged creditors of the liquidated assets of an insolvent employer, grants fourth-rank privilege to workers’ claims deriving from employment contractual relations which may have occurred up to one year prior to the initiation of the bankruptcy proceedings. It also notes that section 94(1) of the Law on Bank Bankruptcy (State Gazette No. 92 of 27 September 2002, as last amended – State Gazette No. 105 of 2005) places workers’ claims at the sixth position. The Committee notes, however, that these provisions refer generally to claims deriving from employment contractual relations without specifying the types of privileged service claims, such as wages, holiday pay, other forms of paid absence (e.g. sick leave or maternity leave) and severance pay. The Committee therefore requests the Government to specify the legal provisions which ensure that all four entitlements referred to in this Article of the Convention are treated as privileged debts in bankruptcy proceedings.

Article 12. Scope of claims protected by a wage guarantee institution. The Committee notes that sections 3 and 22 to 24 of the Act to Guarantee the Employees’ Receivables in Case of Insolvency of the Employer (State Gazette No. 37 of 4 May 2004, as last amended – State Gazette No. 105 of 22 December 2006) provide that the guaranteed service claims consist of unpaid wages, monetary compensations, and contributions to social security institutions. It notes, however, that no provision is made for other claims, such as claims for holiday pay and other types of paid absence, which according to this Article of the Convention must also be part of the minimum coverage of a wage guarantee institution. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide further explanations on the legal provisions extending protection to the four categories of worker claims set out in this Article of the Convention.

Part IV of the report form. Practical application. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide in its next report general information on the practical application of the Convention, particularly as regards the operation, financing and management of the wage guarantee institution, including for instance the current rate of the employers’ compulsory contribution, any available statistics on the number of applications received, claims settled and sums paid per year, etc.