Social policy throughout GERB party’s first year in the rule

published on 7/14/10 12:50 PM

Photo: BGNES

The GERB government tried to stop the jump of unemployment, to open new jobs, to protect more efficiently employees and to start negotiations on continuing the pension reform during the first year in the rule. It was a really difficult year due to the financial and economic crisis that affected many Bulgarians and the business too. “Despite that” – Social Minister Totyu Mladenov pointed out:
“The government did its best pensions, salaries and social benefits not to be reduced during the crisis, and taxes not to be raised. We have achieved that thanks also to the active dialogue with our social partners within the past year.”

Two packets of anti-crisis measures were approved together with trade unions and employers with the idea business to be supported, so that redundancies to be stopped. These measures stimulated the labor market and also created opportunities for raising the employees’ qualification. “It all stops unemployment” Mr. Mladenov underlines.

“We managed to take control over the raising of unemployment with our active dialogue at the National Trilateral Council and with the packets of anti-crisis measures. The peak of unemployment in Bulgaria was in February 2010 with 10.26% of jobless – Mr. Mladenov adds. – We cut the trend of smooth rising of unemployment levels that had continued from December 2008 to February 2010. Unemployment has gone down by 1% for the past 4 months of this year and now it is 9.26%. And this means some 37 000 unemployed people less at the labor bureaus.”

Many things have also been done in order labor rights of employees to be protected. A lot of them sink into the grey sector in times of crisis and work with no contracts and social securities. Both the employees and the budget suffer in such cases. General Labor Inspectorate Executive Agency, National Social Security Institute and National Revenue Agency are making inspections all over the country in order employees to be taken back into the social-security network. 240 cases of people working with no contracts have been found only for the past few days. Employers are fined with some EUR 7500 in such cases. “And the inspections will continue, even if I have to take part in them myself” Minister Mladenov assures. The deficit in the NSSI appears exactly due to avoiding of payments of social securities that are supposed to be the financial base for paying of pensions. The control in that sphere will be tightened in the next months too. The government also did a lot for stopping the illegal siphoning of budget funds via aids for handicapped people. The Social Support Agency has given to the prosecutor many people that have taken social benefits without having that right. Expenses have been reduced by some EUR 1mln. per month due to this tightened control. 140 social kitchens in 300 settlements were unveiled in the autumn and winter months of 2009 and 2010. Some 11 200 people have been eating there. The state also protects the most vulnerable groups in society via giving aids for heating. Some 300 000 Bulgarians are expected to use these aids in the 2010-2011 autumn-winter period.
Negotiations on the pension reform started during the first year of the GERB governing at the Consultative Council of experts, syndicates and employers at the minister of labor and social policy. The negative demographic trends demand stabilization of the pension system and correcting of its mistakes. The suggestions that perhaps will be discussed by the end of the year provide increasing of the length of service for retirement for men and women respectively to 40 and 37 years, decreasing of cases of early retirement and also bonuses for those employees that choose to continue working after having their length of service fulfilled.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev

По публикацията работи: Milka Dimitrova

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Social policy throughout GERB party’s first year in the rule

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