PROJECT DFPO-1.002-0002-C01 “COOPERATION FOR DECENT WORK”
PROJECT DFPO-1.002-0002-C01
“COOPERATION FOR DECENT WORK”
The project is financed under the Fund for Bilateral Relations at National Level within the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area and Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 according to the grant agreement DFPO-1.002-0002-C01/08.10.2019 between Executive Agency General Labor Inspectorate Executive Agency and Central Coordination Unit at the Council of Ministers.
Project budget: 800 000 €, financed under the Fund for Bilateral Relations at National Level within the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area and Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021.
Partner: THE NORWEGIAN LABOUR INSPECTION AUTHORITY
Start of The Project: 08.10.2019
End of The Project: 08.03.2022
Main objective: To counteract the shadow economy by raising the awareness of Bulgarian workers and companies operating in the country, as well as in Norway, about their labor rights and obligations in both countries.
The project activities focus on promoting decent work through information activities, conducting joint inspections and sharing good practices in close cooperation between the labor inspectorates of Bulgaria and Norway.
The project will strengthen the bilateral relations between GLI EA and the Norwegian Labor Inspectorate in accordance with the objectives of the bilateral agreement signed between the two institutions, which are:
- ensuring effective protection of working conditions for workers posted by one of the parties to the Agreement to work in the territory of the other or who travel from one country to work in the other country;
- the cooperation between both labor inspectorates should be based on dialogue and exchange of information on employers; joint inspections of enterprises related to the two countries; exchange of information on national legislation, as well as exchange of experience and good practices.
Objectives and their implementation:
Objective № 1. Promoting decent work and raising awareness of workers, employers and intermediaries about the labor law and rules in Norway through an information campaign aimed at specific target groups.
“Know Your Rights” campaign, developed as activity under the project, which includes not only Bulgaria and Norway but also labor inspectorates in Romania, Estonia and Lithuania, is aimed at workers from the four countries working in Norway. The aim is to inform workers about their labor rights in order to promote their intolerance of the shadow economy and labor exploitation and to achieve sustainability in the labor market.
On https://www.arbeidstilsynet.no/en/knowyourrights-BG the main labor rights of Bulgarian workers in Norway are indicated in Bulgarian, as well as important information for contact with the Labor Inspectorate in the country, if they do not receive what they are entitled to. Information videos have been developed and translated into the languages of the countries participating in the project.
At plenary meeting of the European Platform tackling Undeclared Work in October 2020, Know Your Rights campaign was pointed out as a good example of joint cooperation between countries aimed at informing workers about their labor rights and tackling undeclared work.
The information campaign was awarded two gold prizes in an international marketing competition https://the-cma.com/2020-awards-winners/ In 2021, several advertisements are planned to promote the campaign's website https://www.arbeidstilsynet.no/en/knowyourrights-BG in social networks, and the involvement of social partners in Norway is also envisaged. In Bulgarian, the page is administered by experts of GLI EA.
Information about the implemented activities in fulfillment of the stated objective is published on the GLI EA website:
https://www.gli.government.bg/bg/node/9669
https://www.gli.government.bg/bg/node/11247
Objective № 2. Improving the knowledge and professional skills of Bulgarian and Norwegian inspectors through close cooperation in performing inspections and exchanging information on companies operating in both countries in relation to working conditions, irregularities found in employment-related inspections and established violations of labor rights.
Information about the implemented activities in fulfillment of the stated objective is published on the GLI EA website:
https://www.gli.government.bg/bg/node/4807
https://www.gli.government.bg/bg/node/4842
Objective № 3. Development of new GLI EA website.
The developed site under the project complies with the minimum rules for institutional identity, which should be met by the official websites and portals of the Bulgarian institutions.
Objective № 4. Development of self-assessment tool with a focus of tackling undeclared work
The innovative tool is aimed at tackling and preventing undeclared work, while raising awareness among workers and companies that operate or plan to operate in Bulgaria about labor law and rules in Bulgaria. Through this mechanism, which will be freely available to citizens and companies, they will be able to assess whether there is a risk of undeclared work in their employment relationships.
Objective № 5. Development of guidance and factsheets on the rights and obligations of companies and workers in Bulgaria.
The guidance and factsheets’ development will sharpen the sensitivity of workers and companies to the problem of undeclared work and its negative consequences, as well as fostering intolerance to any shadow practices in the labor field. These information tools will be used in the inspection activity of GLI EA in the future. The guidance and factsheets will be translated into English which will facilitate their use by foreign companies and employees. This is necessary given the intensity of labor mobility and expanding the territorial scope of business.