The National Council for Tripartite Cooperation held an emergency online meeting
The National Council for Tripartite Cooperation (NCTC) held an emergency online meeting assembled by Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Demographic Policy and Minister of Tourism Mariana Nikolova.
The government and social partners discussed a draft Decree amending Decree № 151 of the Council of Ministers of 2020 at the beginning of the session.
The changes extend the measure that maintains employment until May 31st, 2021.
Workers and employees who have worked part-time from March 13th to December 31st, 2020/ were forced to go on unpaid leave by Art.173a of the Labor Code/ whose work was suspended due to the state restrictions will continue to receive funds. The employees have to present an employment relationship dating before the 1st of October 2020.
During the additional period of implementation of the measure, the amount of state support will cover up to 60 percent of the insurance income and the insurance contributions owed by the employer for October 2020. The extra financial resource for extension of the measure amounts to 147 million BGN, which is expected to save approximately 100 thousand jobs.
After the change in the Decree, employers with a 20% decline in their sales revenues compared to the same period for 2019 will be able to apply for support by following the specific requirements.
Employers will be able to submit their applications for state aid for the period from January 1 - March 31, 2021, until April 15th, 2021. The applications will then be revised and granted funding.
The social partners did not unequivocally support the draft Decree.
As a second item on the agenda of the NCTS meeting, the government and the social partners discussed a draft Decree amending Decree № 325 of the Council of Ministers of 2020 on determining the terms and conditions for the compensations' payment to employees active in economic sectors for which temporary restrictions were imposed by the state during the emergency period.
According to the recommended changes, people are entitled to compensation for no longer than 60 days in 2020 and no longer than 90 days in 2021, during which they have been on unpaid leave due to the imposed restrictions by the state body.
The eligibility period is also raised, with June 30th being the new deadline. The additional financial resource, guaranteeing the measure amounts to BGN 24.6 million and is expected to reach 33 thousand employees.
The financial resources required for the measure are provided by the Operational Program "Human Resources Development" through the financial mechanism REACT-EU. The conditions and the order for applying and receiving support remain the same.
The social partners did not reach consent on the draft Decree as well.
On item three of the agenda, the NCTS elected rotating Vice-Chairmen, in accordance to Art. 3a, para. 4 of the LC. Mr. Dimitar Manolov, President of Podkrepa Labor Confederation, was elected Deputy Chairman of the NCTS by the workers 'and employees' organizations. From the employers' organizations' quota, Mr. Vasil Velev - Chairman of the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria (BICA) was elected Deputy Chairman of the NCTS.
The NCTS stated its position regarding the PMS М 429 of the Council of Ministers from 2020 on determining terms and conditions for the compensations of the self-insured persons and employers, which preserve the employment in enterprises directly affected by the emergency state declared by the National Assembly on March 13th, 2020.
