site.bta Ombudsman Manolova Suggests Revisions of Four Laws to Protect Worker Rights in Case of Unpaid Salaries

Ombudsman Manolova Suggests Revisions of Four Laws to Protect Worker Rights in Case of Unpaid Salaries

Sofia, March 30 (BTA) - Ombudsman Maya Manolova suggested that revisions to four laws should be made to defend the rights of workers when their salaries are not paid. She was speaking at a public discussion she organized Thursday. The discussion was on the subject of "Legal Guarantees for Protecting Employee Rights against Incorrect Employers".

The envisaged revisions concern the Labour Code, the Commercial Act, the Public Procurement Act and the Act to Guarantee Worker Receivables at Employer Bankruptcy. They have already been drafted and can be submitted to the new Parliament immediately after it is constituted, Manolova said.

Manolova proposes that the Labour Code include an obligation for employers to pay due compensations within three months. There is no such time-limit now. Another suggestion is that the Labour Inspectorate should have the right to control payment of compensations and salaries after the termination of employment contracts, as well as to apply coercive administrative measures. Yet another is that the Commerce Act should feature a ban on the transfer of an enterprise and company shares in the case of unpaid salaries and insurance contributions. Another amendment would allow workers to launch bankruptcy proceedings against their employer when their salaries have not been paid. The Ombudsman also wants worker pay receivables to be ranked first among creditor receivables in case of enterprise bankruptcy.

Manolova's team proposes that the Public Procurement Act should not allow access to public procurement procedures of companies that have not paid their workers. The Ombudsman will also insist that the Act to Guarantee Worker Receivables at Employer Bankruptcy include increased opportunities for more workers to receive guaranteed compensations from the state by extension of the period of exigibility of obligations.

The team has also prepared an appeal to the Constitutional Court against Article 245 of the Labour Code, which allows employers in difficulty to pay only 60 per cent of the salaries of its employees.

The meeting was occasioned by 15 alerts about salaries and insurance contributions unpaid by employers received by the Ombudsman, as well as alerts about malpractice in cases of transfer of commercial companies to third socially weak persons.

Participants in the forum included trade union and employer organisations, representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Chief Labour Inspectorate, the Employment Agency, the National Social Security Institute, the National Revenue Agency, the prosecution, the court and others.