Labour inspectors of Bulgaria and representatives of the German Customs ZOLL from the Directorate for Financial Control of Undeclared Work performed joint and coordinated inspections of specific case, related to the rights of Bulgarian workers. A reason for the inspections, organized with the support of the European Labour Authority (ELA), was provided of the German Services information about a German company, which for the period from 2017 to the present uses Bulgarian subcontractor companies - owned by a foreign citizen, registered in the Smolyan region.
On the same day joint teams of both institutions visited in Bulgaria companies, in which according to the data the employer was posted workers in Federal Republic of Germany, and a concrete production plant in the area of Hamburg. As part of the ongoing inspections, the competent authorities of the two countries check whether the conditions for the actual posting of the Bulgarian workers have been met.
Among the main requirements for the posting of workers and employees within the framework of the provision of services in another EU member state is that the seconding company carries out a significant part of its economic activity on the territory of Bulgaria.
Posted persons, should have employment contracts with the Bulgarian employer, on the basis of which they have re-signed a secondment agreement with him. In the event that they have not signed such contracts and consider that their employer is the German company, reasonable suspicion arises of the existence of invalid secondment. This is a risk of violating of the labour, insurance and social rights of the workers, including in case of an occupational accident. It is also a prerequisite for social dumping, because Bulgarian workers agree to work for lower wages and lower insurance benefits.
The Labour Inspectorate uses the occasion to remind jobseekers to watch out for signs of possible fraud. Irrespective of the method of posting - through secondment within the framework of the provision of services, through an intermediary or through a company providing temporary work, the employed persons should be notified in writing of the minimum working conditions in the host country (where the work will be performed). They should leave Bulgaria after agreeing in writing, in a language they understand, the conditions under which they will work.
According to the method of sending, they can be agreed in mediation and employment contracts, in agreements on secondment within the framework of the provision of services, in contracts with the user enterprise. More information about possible fraud alerts is published on the website of the Labour Inspectorate https://www.gli.government.bg/bg/node/12431
By filling in a questionnaire published on the Bulgarian single national website on posting of workers in “Genuine Posting” section, under the “Tool to Ascertain Genuine Posting”, anyone can check whether their posting is at risk of being invalid https://postedworkers.gli.government.bg/bg/28/mehanizam-za-proverka-na-dejstvitelnoto-komandirovane/