LABOUR RIGHTS INDEX 2022

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LRI 2022
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lri 2022 Country Profiles

Bulgaria

Trade Union Indicator

The Labour Rights Index 2022 (LRI 2022) is a de-jure index covering 135 economies and structured around the working lifespan of a worker. In total, 46 questions or evaluation criteria are scored across 10 indicators. The overall score is calculated by taking the average of each indicator, with 100 being the highest possible score. The Index uses a rating system, ranging from “Total Lack of Decent Work” to “Decent Work”. The Labour Rights Index aims at an active contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, by providing necessary (complementary) insights into de jure provisions on issues covered in particular by SDG8 (Decent Jobs), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 16 (Strong Institutions). The Index is based on national labour legislation, applicable on 1 January 2022. The Index does not take into account COVID-19 related labour market measures in its scoring.

Bulgaria’s overall score is 91 out of 100. The overall score for Bulgaria is higher than the regional average observed across Eastern Europe (88). Within the Eastern European region, the highest score is observed for Greece (96).

Bulgaria ratified Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) in 1959 and Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) in 1959.

Labour Rights Index 2022

91/100

LRI Country Score

50/100

Trade Union Indicator

13.7 %

Trade union density rate (%)

10.8 %

Collective bargaining coverage rate (%)

0.89

SDG indicator 8.8.2

3

ITUC Global Rights Index 2022 Ratings

Question

Answer

Score

Legal Basis

Violation

Does the law allow workers to form and join unions of their own choice?

Yes

1

§49 of the Constitution of Bulgaria, 1991; §4,5 & 33 of Labour Code, 1986

No Violation Found

Does the law allow workers to bargain collectively with employers through their representative unions?

No

0

§3 & 50-60 of Labour Code, 1986; Economic and Social Council Act 2001; CEACR, C98, Obs. 2019

B

Does the law provide for the right to strike?

No

0

§50 of the Constitution of Bulgaria, 1991; §11 of Collective Labour Disputes Settlement Act 1990

A

Does the law prohibit employers from terminating employment contracts of striking workers?

Yes

1

§20-21, Collective Labour Disputes Settlement Act 1990

No Violation Found

Textual sources

A : National Law

National Labour Legislation

B : CEACR

CEACR: ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations (latest report)

C : ITUC

ITUC: ITUC Global Rights Index 2022

D : USDOS

USDOS: US Department of States' Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2021

LRI Country Score
The Labour Rights Index has 10 indicators and 46 sub-indicators. The LRI Country score averages 10 indicators and ranges between 0 and 100. The lowest and highest scorers are Nigeria (29/100) and Belgium/Greece (96/100). https://labourrightsindex.org/  

Trade Union Indicator
The trade union indicator is composed of 4 sub-indicators. Scoring is done through the binary method (0 or 1). The score ranges between 0-100. 

Trade union density rate (%)
The trade union density rate conveys the number of union members who are employees as a percentage of the total number of employees in the country. For updated statistics on trade union density, please check ILOSTAT. 

Collective bargaining coverage rate (%)
The collective bargaining coverage rate conveys the number of employees whose pay and/or conditions of employment are determined by one or more collective agreement(s) as a percentage of the total number of employees in the country. For updated statistics on collective bargaining coverage, please check ILOSTAT. 

SDG indicator 8.8.2
SDG indicator 8.8.2 measures national compliance with fundamental labour rights (freedom of association and collective bargaining or FACB). It ranges from 0 to 10, with 0 being the best possible score (indicating higher levels of compliance with FACB rights) and 10 the worst (indicating lower levels of compliance with FACB rights). It is based on six ILO supervisory body textual sources and national legislation.
For an updated assessment on SDG indicator 8.8.2, please check ILOSTAT. 

ITUC Global Rights Index 2022 Ratings
The ITUC Global Rights Index depicts the world’s worst countries for workers by rating 148 countries on a scale from 1 to 5+ on the degree of respect for workers’ rights. Violations are recorded each year from April to March.  For a detailed description of ratings and methodology, please follow the link. 

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Violations

No Violation

Violations

ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR)
CEACR, C98, Obs. 2019

Articles 4 and 6. Collective bargaining in the public sector. The Committee recalls that for a number of years it has been requesting the Government to amend the Civil Servants Act so that the right to collective bargaining of public service workers not engaged in the administration of the State is duly recognized. The Committee notes that the Government provides no information in this regard, and observes that the 2016 amendments to the Civil Servants Act did not address the need to bring this aspect of national legislation into conformity with the Convention. The Committee must recall that, although Article 6 of the Convention allows public servants engaged in the administration of the State to be excluded from its scope, other categories of public servants should enjoy the guarantees of the Convention and therefore be able to negotiate collectively their conditions of employment, including wages. The Committee urges the Government to take, as soon as possible, the steps necessary to amend the Civil Servants Act so as to ensure the right to collective bargaining of public servants not engaged in the administration of the State. The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.

Violations

National Labour Legislation
§11 of Collective Labour Disputes Settlement Act 1990

Art. 11. (1) (Amended – SG No. 25 of 2001) When no agreement is reached on the collective labor dispute under Art. 3 or under Art. 4 , if mediation and/or voluntary arbitration is sought, or the employer fails to fulfill obligations towards them, the workers may strike, temporarily suspending the performance of their work duties.
(2) The decision to declare a strike is taken by a simple majority of the workers in the relevant enterprise or division.
(3) The workers or their representative are obliged to notify the employer or his representative in writing at least 7 days before the start of the strike, to indicate its duration and the body that will lead the strike.
(4) Under the conditions of the preceding paragraph, workers may declare a solidarity strike in support of a legal strike by other workers.
(5) Workers may, without prior notice, declare a warning strike, which may not last more than one hour

Violations

No Violation