Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Home Work Convention, 1996 (No. 177) - Bulgaria (Ratification: 2009)

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 3 of the Convention. National policy on home work. The Committee notes the Government’s first report on the application of the Convention, in particular the Law Amending the Labour Code (State Gazette No. 33 of 26 April 2011) by adding new section VIII(a) “Additional conditions for home work” in Chapter Five, “Formation and Alteration of Employment Contract Relationships”. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that this legislative amendment was based on the National Agreement on the regulation of home work, signed on 24 November 2010 by several representative employers’ associations and workers’ organizations. The Committee would appreciate receiving a copy of the National Agreement of 2010 on the regulation of home work.

Article 4(2)(g) and (h). Equality of treatment – Minimum age and maternity protection. The Committee notes that section 107(d) of the Labour Code which sets out the employer’s obligation to ensure equality of treatment between homeworkers and other employees in areas such as remuneration, health and safety, social security or training, does not make any specific reference to either minimum age or maternity protection. The Committee also notes that the Government’s report is silent on this point. In this connection, it is noted that section 301 of the Labour Code provides that the general minimum age for admission to employment is 16 years and that section 163 of the Labour Code provides for 135 days of maternity leave. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to clarify whether the provisions of the Labour Code on minimum age and maternity protection, including maternity leave entitlement, apply also to home workers without exception.