| Brief description |
The project includes activities and topics identified as particularly significant for General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency (GLI EA) and Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority. The project activities will develop the focus of promoting decent working conditions for employees, fair competition for companies and sustainable welfare systems by information activities, performing joint inspections and sharing of good practices in close cooperation between the labour inspectorates. Promoting decent work, including tackling undeclared work and achieving equal rights, equal pay and equal treatment for all employees is a key priority of common interest to both labour inspectorates. Therefore an information tool about the risk assessment of undeclared work will be developed and implemented on the new GLI EA website, which will be developed under the present project.
The project will strengthen the bilateral relations between GLI EA and Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority in line with the aims of the bilateral agreement, signed on 29 august 2017 in Trondheim, Norway, such as:
- ensuring effective protection of working conditions for workers posted from the country of one of the parties to the agreement to perform work in the territory of the other, or that travels from one country to be employed in the other country;
- the cooperation between the both labour inspectorates should be specified in yearly projects, and should be based on dialogue and continuous exchange of information on establishments and on joint inspections of undertakings associated with the countries of both parties to the agreement, on information on the national laws and regulations of the countries, and on the exchange of experiences and best practices.
|
| Activities |
-
Activity: Information campaign: The joint interest in prioritizing common activities is important part of the bilateral agreement between GLI EA and Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, signed on 29.08.2017. According to Article 5.1. of the agreement both labour inspectorates shall in cooperation plan and execute activities, with the aim to increase knowledge on laws and regulations in wages and working conditions among undertakings and workers operating, or planning to operate, in Bulgaria and Norway. The future information activities, their aims and the country specific adaptation have been discussed during the communication workshops in Sofia in September 2017 and February 2018 under project “Bulgaria and Norway: Partnership for decent work”.
The objective of this activity is to develop and implement a joint information campaign to better compliance with Norwegian regulations by increasing the knowledge of Bulgarian employers, job intermediaries and employees about rules and regulations on work in Norway and to raise awareness among employees of their rights and know how and where to seek redress. The long-term campaign purpose is equal treatment and equal labour opportunities of employees in Norway. For that purpose, campaign strategy will be developed by cross-national team of experts from Bulgaria, Norway, Romania, Estonia, Lithuania. The target groups of the campaign will be identified by research institution in Norway. Website www.workinnorway.no will be established as main information channel about work in Norway. In line with the strategy developed, campaign concept and tools will be developed by external experts. The campaign will be launched, according to the campaign concept developed. The campaign results will be analysed and reported by external Norwegian experts.
Implementation of the joint information campaign will promote decent working conditions for employees, fair competition for companies and sustainable welfare systems in Norway. Its main aim is increasing knowledge about rules and regulations on work in Norway among workers, employers and job intermediaries.
GLI EA will use the information campaign’s experience and good practices gained to conduct a national sociological representative survey on employment abroad by Bulgarian citizens. The aim of the study will be to identify groups of Bulgarian citizens who work seasonally or permanently abroad; their demographic features and socio-economic status; geographical concentration (in which countries they prefer to work) and economic sectors; motivation to work abroad; channels through which jobs are created abroad and ways in which communication with employers is carried out, etc. The results of the study will be a valuable source of information for developing a strategy for planning inspection and information activities, as well as for planning international cooperation with foreign labor inspectorates to guarantee the labor rights of Bulgarian workers. The study can define the scale of cross-border employment of Bulgarian citizens and the effectiveness of information policies implemented so far.
Indicators: As a result of international collaboration during the activity implementation and the objectives achieved, the levels of satisfaction and trust will increase as well as the share of cooperating individuals.
The joint information campaign will be presented at kick off press conference about the project. Press releases publications will provide information about the activity progress. The activity results will be presented at final press conference about the project.
,
Contracted Amount: 420 660.89
,
Reported Amount: 291 397.43
-
Activity: Cooperation through exchange of good practices, information and joint inspections.: According to Article 5.1. of the agreement between GLI EA and Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, signed on 29.08.2017, both labour inspectorates shall in cooperation plan and execute activities, with the aim to collaborate on inspections with undertakings, share good practices and increase knowledge on laws and regulations in wages and working conditions. According to Article 6.1. of the Agreement the parties are obliged to meet on an annual basis to discuss and evaluate the agreement.
Under this project activity, annual meetings and joint inspections will be carried out in application of the above-mentioned agreement. This activity is an important measure to strengthen cooperation between the both labour inspectorates and to promote planning and executing joint activities on problems of common interest, such as tackling undeclared work and occupational health and safety issues.
Annual meetings on leader and expert level will be held to increase knowledge on both sides about effective ways to tackle undeclared work by sharing best practices and relevant information about planning and conducting inspections, as well as identifying future common priorities. Joint and concerted inspections in pre-agreed sectors of economy and on particular cases of common interest will be held.
Cooperation under the activity will improve knowledge and professional skills of the Bulgarian and Norwegian inspectors through joint and concerted inspections and exchanging information on undertakings that perform work in the territory of both countries in relation to wages and working conditions, irregularities identified during inspections, which relate to employment and identified infringements upon employment rights.
Indicators: As a result of cooperation during the activity implementation and the activity objectives achieved, the levels of satisfaction and trust will increase as well as the share of cooperating individuals. Joint and concerted inspections and annual meetings will increase the number of events and inspections.
The annual meetings and joint inspections will be presented at kick off press conference about the project activities. Press releases publications will provide information about the activity progress. The activity results will be presented at final press conference about the project.,
Contracted Amount: 193 142.12
,
Reported Amount: 88 594.70
-
Activity: Development of new GLI EA website and self-assessment tool with a focus of tackling undeclared work.: During work meetings under the project “Bulgaria and Norway: Partnership for decent work” (2017-2018) favorable conditions for further sustainable cooperation have been created in relation to tackle undeclared work. The Norwegian websites www.workinnorway.no, www.arbeidstilsynet.no, www.udi.no and www.sua.no have been identified as good practice and important information channels for the employees and employers about work in Norway.
In this context the existing GLI EA website can’t meet the needs of additional information, that has to be provided to employees and employers, as well as the multiple tools of GLI EA control activity needed (for example – tool about signals on irregularities, signals about corruption tool, tool about posted workers, surveys, information campaigns tool, etc.). Therefore under the present activity will be developed new GLI EA website with more functionalities. Technical support will be provided by purchasing of 2 server devices and a storage. The developed website will be the official website of GLI EA after its launch.
A tool about the risk assessment of undeclared work will be developed and available for external and internal users to assess particular labour relationship. The tool is aimed at raising awareness among workers and undertakings about dangers and damages of undeclared work. After its development, the tool will be implemented on the new GLI EA website.
Two Firewall security devices will be purchased to establish a barrier between the trusted internal network and unsure external network.
Norwegian and Bulgarian experts will take part in some steps of the activity execution.
Development of new GLI EA website and self-assessment tool with a focus of tackling undeclared work under the activity will increase knowledge of workers and undertakings operating, or planning to operate, in Bulgaria, about the labour rules and regulations in Bulgaria. It will also improve institutional capacity building of GLI EA.
Indicators: As a result of development of new GLI EA website and self-assessment tool with a focus of tackling undeclared work and the activity objectives achieved, the levels of satisfaction and trust will increase as well as the share of cooperating individuals. Meetings will increase the number of events. Implementation of new GLI EA website and self-assessment tool will increase number of new practices and technologies.
The GLI EA website and risk assessment tool will be presented at final press conference about the project activities. Press releases publications will provide information about the activity progress. Information about the activity results will be disseminated to the users through online media publications.,
Contracted Amount: 649 355.12
,
Reported Amount: 485 194.67
-
Activity: Project management and organisation: A team of project manager, coordinator, accountant, public procurement expert and technical assistant, that have clearly defined responsibilities, will be formed to manage and organise the project implementation.
The team will ensure coordination and completion of the project on time within budget and within scope, monitoring how tasks are performed and implementing corrective actions where required. The team members will manage changes (when necessary) to the project scope, project schedule and project costs using appropriate verification techniques. The team will prepare reports to the NFP and create comprehensive project documentation.,
Contracted Amount: 129 784.00
,
Reported Amount: 125 403.25
-
Activity: Audit activities: An independent and certified auditor in Norway will certify that the claimed costs by the project partner - The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, are incurred in accordance with the Regulations, the national law and accounting practices of the partner’s country.,
Contracted Amount: 58 674.90
,
Reported Amount: 7 655.11
-
Activity: Project publicity: The activity implementation will ensure that the public concerned and the target groups are informed regularly and without delay of events and information regarding the project activities. In the light of principles of transparency and good administration the following events will be conducted:
1. Kick off press conference about the project activities and final press conference about the project results.
2. Regular press releases publications will provide information about the project progress.
3. Information about 3 results from Activity1, Activity 3 and Activity 7 will be disseminated through online media publications. ,
Contracted Amount: 19 558.30
,
Reported Amount: 19 500.00
-
Activity: Development of guidance and factsheets on the rights and obligations of companies and workers in Bulgaria : The development of guidance and factsheets on the rights and obligations of companies and workers in Bulgaria aimed at improving the awareness of employees and companies about their rights and obligations as parties to an employment relationship in Bulgaria will complement and contribute to improving the effectiveness of the project activities. The availability of such materials will increase the sensitivity of workers and undertakings to the problem of undeclared work and its negative consequences, as well as to foster intolerance to the shadow economy. These materials will be also used by GLI EA inspectors when performing their tasks in the future.
The development of the guidance and factsheets (materials) will be facilitated by the exchange of good practices with the Norwegian Рartner regarding their content, targeting and dissemination. This exchange of good practices will be set through webinar.
The materials will be made in Bulgarian and English. Their development will be outsourced. The materials content will be analysed and approved by 5 GLI EA experts.
,
Contracted Amount: 93 488.67
,
Reported Amount: 93 241.48
-
Activity: Conducting trainings to increase profesional qualification of GLI EA employees: Thе objective of thе activity is to increase the effectiveness and the efficiency of the actions aimed to prevent the undeclared work by improving the knowledge and the professional skills of the Bulgarian labour inspectors. It will also increase the institutional capacity of the GLI EA.
The topics for improving the qualification are directly related to increasing the employees' knowledge about undeclared work, such as:
- Current challenges in the implementation of the control powers in the field of labour migration and labour mobility;
- Practical guidelines for inspections to prevent undeclared work;
- Challenges in the new forms of work and the risk of undeclared employment in them;
- Lawful actions when applying forced administrative measures and seeking administrative criminal liability;
- Practical guidelines for inspection in agriculture;
- Practical aspects in the control of working hours and payment;
- Planning of quantitative and qualitative indicators to improve the effectiveness of the activity in relation to undeclared work.
,
Contracted Amount: 215 503.12
,
Reported Amount: 154 087.01
|