Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181) - Bulgaria (Ratification: 2005)

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

The Committee notes the observations of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (KNSB/CITUB) transmitted by the Government with its report.

Articles 1(1)(b) and 3 of the Convention. Legal status and services provided by private employment agencies. The Government indicates in its report that, with the active participation of the social partners, the Labour Code, the Employment Promotion Act and the Ordinance on the Conditions and Procedure for Performance of Employment Agency Services were amended to increase protection to temporary work agency workers in the user enterprises. The Government adds that the Labour Code only allows for the provision of temporary workers until a specific task is concluded and as substitute for factory or office workers who are absent from work. Moreover, a user enterprise having concluded a mass layoff may only conclude an agreement with a temporary work agency after six months. The Labour Code also stipulates that the total number of factory and office workers made available to a user enterprise must not exceed 30 per cent of the overall workforce of the user enterprise. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the status of private employment agencies and on any changes made to the legislative framework governing their operation. Please also provide information on the criteria set out under national legislation to establish when the termination of workers is deemed to constitute a collective dismissal.

Articles 4, 11 and 12. Freedom of association and right to collective bargaining. Adequate protection for workers and allocation of responsibilities. The KNSB/CITUB observes a general lack of protection of workers of private employment agencies. Particularly, the workers’ organization is of the view that, despite amendments to the legislation governing the operation of temporary work agencies, the applicability of collective agreements, remuneration and freedom of association differs between workers of such agencies and workers employed by user enterprises. In its 2010 General Survey concerning employment instruments, paragraph 310, the Committee emphasizes that freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are to be fully guaranteed to all workers placed by private agencies or employed by temporary work agencies, as stipulated in Articles 4 and 11 of Convention No. 181. The KNSB/CITUB further indicates that the Government’s aim to reduce unemployment levels through the regulation of private employment agencies has not been achieved. The Committee notes the areas to be covered in the employment contract of a worker employed by a temporary work agency in the Labour Code. It notes, however, that no information was provided with regard to compensation in case of insolvency and protection of workers claims as well as maternity protection and benefits, in addition to parental protection and benefits (Article 11(i) and (j) of the Convention). The Committee also notes that, further to those two points of Article 11, information is insufficient whether the agreement to be concluded between the temporary work agency and the user enterprise stipulating the responsibilities of the user enterprise covers temporary work agency workers’ statutory social security benefits and their access to training (Article 12(d), (e), (h) and (i)). The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information indicating how it is ensured that workers of private employment agencies, including temporary work agencies, enjoy adequate protection with regard to Article 4 and all matters included in Article 11 and how the responsibilities are allocated between private employment agencies and user enterprises in accordance with Article 12.

Articles 8, 10 and 14. Migrant workers. Infringements. Adequate remedies. The Committee notes that no information has been provided on the application of Articles 8, 10 and 14 of the Convention. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the number and nature of any infringements reported and penalties imposed in relation to abuses and fraudulent practices in recruitment, placement and employment of migrant workers. Please also provide information on whether bilateral agreements with other member States have been concluded to prevent abuses and fraudulent practices in recruitment, placement and employment of migrants. The Committee also requests the Government to provide a general appreciation on the manner in which the Convention is applied in the country, including, for example, extracts from inspection reports, information on the number of workers covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention and the number and nature of infringements reported.

Article 13. Cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies. The KNSB/CITUB welcomes the introduction of a new information and communication system in March 2015 as an important step to improve the Government’s control over and communication with temporary work agencies. The KNSB/CITUB deplores a lack of concrete objectives and measures in the National Employment Action Plan 2015 for the cooperation between the Employment Agency and private employment agencies. In this regard, the KNSB/CITUB considers that the system in question constitutes a step toward the improvement of the supervision of the relevant agencies. The KNSB/CITUB nevertheless hopes that this information system will enable the competent authorities to access sufficient information pertaining to the activities of private employment agencies as contemplated in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. In this regard, the Government indicates that, while previously information on persons mediated into employment has been submitted to the Employment Agency on a quarterly basis, the changed legislative framework regulating intermediation activities enables the competent authorities to obtain up-to-date information about the activities of private employment agencies in general. Furthermore, the Government indicates that, as part of the National Employment Action Plan 2015, the Employment Agency has intensified partnerships with mediation agencies and temporary work agencies to bring unemployed persons more effectively into employment. Consequently, by 15 April 2015, the Employment Agency had concluded cooperation agreements with 33 of the 115 certified temporary work agencies. Such agreements resulted in the employment of 2,918 unemployed persons in the period 2012 to 31 May 2015. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the conditions to promote efficient cooperation between the Employment Agency, including local employment agency offices, and all private employment agencies and how these are formulated, established and periodically reviewed.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Articles 1(1)(b), 11 and 12 of the Convention. Services provided by the agencies covered by the Convention. Allocation of responsibilities in regard to the protection of workers. In reply to the previous comments, the Government indicates that the Act supplementing the Labour Code, published in the State Gazette No. 7/2012, regulates the specific labour relations between the agencies providing temporary employment, workers and employees, and the user enterprises. The Government indicates that legislative changes were aimed at aligning the Bulgarian legislation with the provisions of the Convention and Directive 2008/104/EC on temporary agency work. In this regard, the Committee notes the observations of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (KNSB/CITUB), included in the Government’s report, stating that the legislative amendments were aimed at ensuring adequate protection of workers or employees and are aligned with the provisions of the Convention. The Government further indicates that the Employment Promotion Act regulates the terms and procedures for registration of agencies providing temporary employment. The Committee notes that temporary employment agencies can perform their activities following registration with the Employment Agency. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information indicating how the applicable legislation has ensured adequate protection for workers in temporary work agencies working for user enterprises.

Article 8. Measures to provide adequate protection for migrant workers and prevent abuses and fraudulent practices in their recruitment, placement and employment. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the number and nature of any infringements reported and penalties imposed in relation to abuses and fraudulent practices in recruitment, placement and employment of migrant workers.

Articles 10 and 14. Adequate remedies. The Committee notes that 528 violations were found with respect to temporary employment agencies. It also notes from the observations of the KNSB/CITUB that it has received information from the Employment Agency stating that, as of 31 January 2014, there were 56 registered enterprises providing temporary employment. The Employment Agency has concluded a cooperation and joint activities agreement with 21 agencies. Only the latter provide the Employment Agency with a reference for the number of hired unemployed people registered in national labour offices, and for a three-month period, too. Since the conclusion of the agreements in 2012, 1,564 unemployed people registered in labour offices got a job and 1,344 in 2013. The Committee invites the Government to provide a general appreciation on the manner in which the Convention is applied in the country, including, for example, extracts from inspection reports, information on the number of workers covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention and the number and nature of infringements reported.

Article 13. Efficient cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies. The KNSB/CITUB indicates that the Employment Agency does not keep records of the necessary information about the jobs offered by the registered enterprises providing temporary employment. In this regard, the Committee recalls that private employment agencies shall, at intervals to be determined by the competent authority, provide to that authority the information required by it, with due regard to the confidential nature of such information: (a) to allow the competent authority to be aware of the structure and activities of private employment agencies in accordance with national conditions and practices; (b) for statistical purposes (Article 13(3)). The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the manner in which efficient cooperation between the Employment Agency, including local employment agency offices, and private employment agencies is promoted and reviewed periodically. Please also include information on the measures taken to ensure that the competent authority receives relevant information on the activities of the private employment agencies.

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

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 2011 direct request, which read as follows:

Repetition

The Committee notes the Government’s report received in February 2011 in reply to its 2008 direct request, which includes comments by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (KNSB). The Committee also notes the 2010 amendments to the Employment Promotion Act (EPA) and to the Ordinance regulating the conditions for carrying out employment intermediation activities. These amendments concern, inter alia, the requirements and procedure for the registration of private employment agencies acting as employment mediators and the establishment of an electronic database of registered private employment agencies managed by the Employment Agency (EA), which is directly accessible to the labour inspectors.

Article 1(1)(b) of the Convention. Services provided by the agencies covered by the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that temporary work agencies were partially regulated by the Health and Safety Labour Conditions Act (ZZBUT). The KNSB indicates that the National Council for Tripartite Consultation (NCTC) authorized the social partners to prepare a national agreement for regulating private employment agencies. A working group was established for this purpose from March to November 2010. The KNSB proposed that services provided by temporary work agencies be covered by a general legal framework regulating private employment agencies. However, its proposal was rejected because the Government considered that temporary work agencies should be covered by ad hoc legislation. The main issue on which the social partners were unable to agree was related to restrictions to the activities of temporary work agencies with respect to certain categories of workers, which is provided for by Article 2(4) of the Convention. The KNSB recalls that employment intermediation, which is regulated by the EPA, consists of assisting and facilitating the establishment of an employment relationship between the employer and the jobseeker. The main characteristic of intermediation is that the intermediary is not a party to the employment contract between the employer and the jobseeker. The KNSB reckons that the system of employment intermediation reflects the Bulgarian legal and economic framework and operates effectively. On the contrary, the services provided by temporary work agencies do not correspond to the current labour market. Considering the serious violations of labour legislation, the introduction of these services would lead to a serious distortion of the labour market. In addition, the KNSB points out that currently there is no regulation of the employment relationships associated to services provided by temporary work agencies. In fact, the provisions of the ZZBUT concerning such agencies are isolated and limited in scope. The Labour Code contains provisions which exceptionally allow the employer to assign workers to temporarily perform other work in another undertaking (sections 120(1) and 267). The KNSB stresses that the eventual regulation of services offered by temporary work agencies should be very restrictive and ensure additional protection to employees recruited for working in user enterprises. The Government indicates that the regulation of temporary work agencies represents an opportunity to introduce new employment relations that will meet both the needs of employers in hiring a flexible workforce and the needs of workers in finding a work/life balance. These relations will not only contribute to establish an equal treatment between the working conditions of employees hired by temporary work agencies and other employees, but will also meet the dynamics of the local labour market. The Government states that the lack of tripartite consensus over the regulation of the activities of temporary work agencies represented a missed opportunity for the implementation of Convention No. 181 on the one hand, and for the transposition of Directive 2008/104/EC on temporary agency work, on the other hand. In its 2010 General Survey concerning employment instruments, the Committee highlighted the importance of establishing a clear legal framework which regulates the services provided by temporary work agencies and ensures adequate protection to workers employed by temporary work agencies in the areas enumerated in Articles 11–12 of the Convention (paragraph 313). The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the adoption of any legislation which regulates the services provided by temporary work agencies in a way to ensure adequate protection for the workers employed by them in all areas covered by Articles 11–12 of the Convention.

Article 8. Measures to provide adequate protection for migrant workers and prevent abuses and fraudulent practices in their recruitment, placement and employment. The Government indicates that complaints regarding abuses against migrant workers are reported to the General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency (GLIEA), which is in charge of carrying out the relative inspections and imposing sanctions. The employment services in EU Member States collaborate with regard to the employment of migrant workers. In case of abuses committed against migrant workers, countries shall notify each other of the inspections carried out and sanctions imposed. The Government indicates that no bilateral agreements were signed to prevent abuses and fraudulent practices regarding the employment of migrant workers. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number and nature of any infringements reported and penalties imposed in relation to abuses and fraudulent practices in recruitment, placement and employment of migrant workers.

Article 13. Cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies. The Government indicates that the EA receives quarterly reports from private employment agencies, which follow the forms adopted by the EA. These reports are published on the EA website and recorded in its annual Action Plan. They include information on registered jobseekers, persons placed by intermediaries, and employers who used their services. The Government further indicates that the recent introduction of the obligation for intermediaries to submit to the EA information regarding vacancies notified to them enabled the creation of a single portal for vacancies in the country where jobseekers can be informed quickly and free of charge of job opportunities. The Government reports that registered private employment agencies and local EA offices cooperate through collaboration agreements as equal partners in a joint and transparent mediation. As of May 2010, a total of 43 agreements were signed between local EA offices and private employment agencies, which were aimed at exchanging information on job vacancies, carrying out joint meetings with employers, sharing experiences and best practices. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide practical information on the cooperation between the local Employment Agency offices and private employment agencies and the results thereof.

Article 14. Adequate remedies. Practical information. The Government indicates that the 2010 amendments to the EPA included an increase in fines for agencies performing intermediary activities in violation of the requirements fixed by the law. The Committee notes the statistical data provided by the Government regarding the inspections carried out and violations of the legislation regulating the performance of employment intermediation activity. The Government indicates that, since the beginning of 2010, the number of violations by private employment agencies of the requirements for performing intermediation activities decreased compared to the same period in 2009. This trend can be partly explained by the fact that some non-compliant agencies have been repeatedly inspected since 2008 and agencies which are inspected for the first time generally commit a higher number of violations compared to those that have already been inspected. A significant part of registered agencies reported not to be acting as employment mediators due to the economic crisis. In fact, many of them attributed the violation of their information obligations towards the EA to the non performance of employment intermediation activity. The Government also indicates that some of the registered private employment agencies reported to act as temporary work agencies abroad and placed their employees in foreign countries. The Government concludes that it is appropriate to continue to carry out inspections on agencies acting as employment mediators. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on inspection reports and on the number of workers covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention (Articles 10 and 14 and Part V of the report form).

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

The Committee notes the Government’s report received in February 2011 in reply to its 2008 direct request, which includes comments by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (KNSB). The Committee also notes the 2010 amendments to the Employment Promotion Act (EPA) and to the Ordinance regulating the conditions for carrying out employment intermediation activities. These amendments concern, inter alia, the requirements and procedure for the registration of private employment agencies acting as employment mediators and the establishment of an electronic database of registered private employment agencies managed by the Employment Agency (EA), which is directly accessible to the labour inspectors.

Article 1(1)(b) of the Convention. Services provided by the agencies covered by the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that temporary work agencies were partially regulated by the Health and Safety Labour Conditions Act (ZZBUT). The KNSB indicates that the National Council for Tripartite Consultation (NCTC) authorized the social partners to prepare a national agreement for regulating private employment agencies. A working group was established for this purpose from March to November 2010. The KNSB proposed that services provided by temporary work agencies be covered by a general legal framework regulating private employment agencies. However, its proposal was rejected because the Government considered that temporary work agencies should be covered by ad hoc legislation. The main issue on which the social partners were unable to agree was related to restrictions to the activities of temporary work agencies with respect to certain categories of workers, which is provided for by Article 2(4) of the Convention. The KNSB recalls that employment intermediation, which is regulated by the EPA, consists of assisting and facilitating the establishment of an employment relationship between the employer and the jobseeker. The main characteristic of intermediation is that the intermediary is not a party to the employment contract between the employer and the jobseeker. The KNSB reckons that the system of employment intermediation reflects the Bulgarian legal and economic framework and operates effectively. On the contrary, the services provided by temporary work agencies do not correspond to the current labour market. Considering the serious violations of labour legislation, the introduction of these services would lead to a serious distortion of the labour market. In addition, the KNSB points out that currently there is no regulation of the employment relationships associated to services provided by temporary work agencies. In fact, the provisions of the ZZBUT concerning such agencies are isolated and limited in scope. The Labour Code contains provisions which exceptionally allow the employer to assign workers to temporarily perform other work in another undertaking (sections 120(1) and 267). The KNSB stresses that the eventual regulation of services offered by temporary work agencies should be very restrictive and ensure additional protection to employees recruited for working in user enterprises. The Government indicates that the regulation of temporary work agencies represents an opportunity to introduce new employment relations that will meet both the needs of employers in hiring a flexible workforce and the needs of workers in finding a work/life balance. These relations will not only contribute to establish an equal treatment between the working conditions of employees hired by temporary work agencies and other employees, but will also meet the dynamics of the local labour market. The Government states that the lack of tripartite consensus over the regulation of the activities of temporary work agencies represented a missed opportunity for the implementation of Convention No. 181 on the one hand, and for the transposition of Directive 2008/104/EC on temporary agency work, on the other hand. In its 2010 General Survey concerning employment instruments, the Committee highlighted the importance of establishing a clear legal framework which regulates the services provided by temporary work agencies and ensures adequate protection to workers employed by temporary work agencies in the areas enumerated in Articles 11 and 12 of the Convention (paragraph 313). The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the adoption of any legislation which regulates the services provided by temporary work agencies in a way to ensure adequate protection for the workers employed by them in all areas covered by Articles 11 and 12 of the Convention.

Article 8. Measures to provide adequate protection for migrant workers and prevent abuses and fraudulent practices in their recruitment, placement and employment. The Government indicates that complaints regarding abuses against migrant workers are reported to the General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency (GLIEA), which is in charge of carrying out the relative inspections and imposing sanctions. The employment services in EU Member States collaborate with regard to the employment of migrant workers. In case of abuses committed against migrant workers, countries shall notify each other of the inspections carried out and sanctions imposed. The Government indicates that no bilateral agreements were signed to prevent abuses and fraudulent practices regarding the employment of migrant workers. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number and nature of any infringements reported and penalties imposed in relation to abuses and fraudulent practices in recruitment, placement and employment of migrant workers.

Article 13. Cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies. The Government indicates that the EA receives quarterly reports from private employment agencies, which follow the forms adopted by the EA. These reports are published on the EA website and recorded in its annual Action Plan. They include information on registered jobseekers, persons placed by intermediaries, and employers who used their services. The Government further indicates that the recent introduction of the obligation for intermediaries to submit to the EA information regarding vacancies notified to them enabled the creation of a single portal for vacancies in the country where jobseekers can be informed quickly and free of charge of job opportunities. The Government reports that registered private employment agencies and local EA offices cooperate through collaboration agreements as equal partners in a joint and transparent mediation. As of May 2010, a total of 43 agreements were signed between local EA offices and private employment agencies, which were aimed at exchanging information on job vacancies, carrying out joint meetings with employers, sharing experiences and best practices. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide practical information on the cooperation between the local Employment Agency offices and private employment agencies and the results thereof.

Article 14. Adequate remedies. Practical information. The Government indicates that the 2010 amendments to the EPA included an increase in fines for agencies performing intermediary activities in violation of the requirements fixed by the law. The Committee notes the statistical data provided by the Government regarding the inspections carried out and violations of the legislation regulating the performance of employment intermediation activity. The Government indicates that, since the beginning of 2010, the number of violations by private employment agencies of the requirements for performing intermediation activities decreased compared to the same period in 2009. This trend can be partly explained by the fact that some non-compliant agencies have been repeatedly inspected since 2008 and agencies which are inspected for the first time generally commit a higher number of violations compared to those that have already been inspected. A significant part of registered agencies reported not to be acting as employment mediators due to the economic crisis. In fact, many of them attributed the violation of their information obligations towards the EA to the non performance of employment intermediation activity. The Government also indicates that some of the registered private employment agencies reported to act as temporary work agencies abroad and placed their employees in foreign countries. The Government concludes that it is appropriate to continue to carry out inspections on agencies acting as employment mediators. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on inspection reports and on the number of workers covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention (Articles 10 and 14 and Part V of the report form).

[The Government is invited to reply in detail to the present comments in 2013.]

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

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 2008 direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee notes the first report on the application of the Convention received in October 2007.

1. Article 1(1)(b) of the Convention. Services of user enterprises. The Committee notes the Government’s statement indicating that it has not yet adopted an overall legal order that would regulate the specific conditions for services in the sense of this provision. User enterprises are presently partially regulated under the Healthy and Safe Working Conditions Act and the regulations in connection with its application. The Government also indicates that a draft act is currently being prepared by a working group with the participation of the social partners. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the manner in which the Healthy and Safe Working Conditions Act and the regulations for its application regulate the provision of services as described in Article 1(1)(b) of the Convention. Please supply additional information on any new legislative text adopted to give effect to the Convention (Part I of the report form).

2. Article 5(2). Assistance to the most disadvantaged workers. The Committee notes that section 31(1) of the Employment Promotion Act (EPA) provides for employment programmes for general training and vocational training of disadvantaged groups. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on special services or targeted programmes of private employment agencies designed to assist the most disadvantaged workers in their job-seeking activities, as appropriate.

3. Article 8. Measures to provide adequate protection for migrant workers and prevent abuses and fraudulent practices in their recruitment, placement and employment. The Committee notes that section 70 of the EPA requires all foreigners wishing to work in Bulgaria to be in possession of a work permit. It further notes that, according to section 70(2) of the EPA, a work permit is issued by the National Employment Agency but only if the conditions of work and pay offered are no less favourable than the conditions available to Bulgarian citizens for the relevant work category (section 71(1)(3) of the EPA) and where the remuneration sufficiently enables such persons to sustain themselves in Bulgaria (section 71(1)(4) of the EPA). Further, section 68(1) of the EPA requires the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy to foster cooperation with those public authorities of other States responsible for the monitoring of the conditions for job placement and to exchange with these authorities, information regarding the national labour legislation and the legislation governing the placement of foreigners. Section 81 of the EPA provides for penalties on, including the closure of, private employment agencies which engage in activities not in accordance with the law. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report practical information on the implementation of the legislation enacted. It also invites the Government, where applicable, to indicate the bilateral agreements concluded to prevent abuses and fraudulent practices in recruitment, placement and employment of migrant workers.

4. Article 13. Cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies and sharing of information. The Committee invites the Government to provide practical information on the conditions of cooperation between the public employment service and the private employment agencies. It further invites the Government to provide in its next report examples of the information provided to the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy by the private employment agencies. Please report on the content of this information, how it is compiled and how, and at which intervals, it is made publicly available.

5. Article 14. Adequate remedies. Practical information. The Committee invites the Government to supply examples of the remedies provided in cases of violations of the Convention including extracts of inspection reports and, where such statistics exist, information on the number of workers covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention (Part V of the report form).

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

The Committee notes the first report on the application of the Convention received in October 2007.

1. Article 1, paragraph 1(b), of the Convention. Services of user enterprises. The Committee notes the Government’s statement indicating that it has not yet adopted an overall legal order that would regulate the specific conditions for services in the sense of this provision. User enterprises are presently partially regulated under the Healthy and Safe Working Conditions Act and the regulations in connection with its application. The Government also indicates that a draft act is currently being prepared by a working group with the participation of the social partners. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the manner in which the Healthy and Safe Working Conditions Act and the regulations for its application regulate the provision of services as described in Article 1, paragraph 1(b), of the Convention. Please supply additional information on any new legislative text adopted to give effect to the Convention (Part I of the report form).

2. Article 5, paragraph 2. Assistance to the most disadvantaged workers. The Committee notes that section 31, paragraph 1, of the Employment Promotion Act (EPA) provides for employment programmes for general training and vocational training of disadvantaged groups. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on special services or targeted programmes of private employment agencies designed to assist the most disadvantaged workers in their job-seeking activities, as appropriate.

3. Article 8. Measures to provide adequate protection for migrant workers and prevent abuses and fraudulent practices in their recruitment, placement and employment. The Committee notes that section 70 of the EPA requires all foreigners wishing to work in Bulgaria to be in possession of a work permit. It further notes that, according to section 70, paragraph 2, of the EPA, a work permit is issued by the National Employment Agency but only if the conditions of work and pay offered are no less favourable than the conditions available to Bulgarian citizens for the relevant work category (section 71, paragraph 1, subparagraph 3, of the EPA) and where the remuneration sufficiently enables such persons to sustain themselves in Bulgaria (section 71, paragraph 1, subparagraph 4, of the EPA). Further, section 68, paragraph 1, of the EPA requires the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy to foster cooperation with those public authorities of other States responsible for the monitoring of the conditions for job placement and to exchange with these authorities, information regarding the national labour legislation and the legislation governing the placement of foreigners. Section 81 of the EPA provides for penalties on, including the closure of, private employment agencies which engage in activities not in accordance with the law. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report practical information on the implementation of the legislation enacted. It also invites the Government, where applicable, to indicate the bilateral agreements concluded to prevent abuses and fraudulent practices in recruitment, placement and employment of migrant workers.

4. Article 13. Cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies and sharing of information. The Committee invites the Government to provide practical information on the conditions of cooperation between the public employment service and the private employment agencies. It further invites the Government to provide in its next report examples of the information provided to the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy by the private employment agencies. Please report on the content of this information, how it is compiled and how, and at which intervals, it is made publicly available.

5. Article 14. Adequate remedies. Practical information. The Committee invites the Government to supply examples of the remedies provided in cases of violations of the Convention including extracts of inspection reports and, where such statistics exist, information on the number of workers covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention (Part V of the report form).