Bulgarian Business Outlines Demands for Social Security Talks

The President of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, Bozhidar Danev, talks to labor union leader, Zhelyazko Hristov (l), during a meeting of the now non-existent Three-Way Council. Hristov passed away on September 15. Photo by BGNES

The national representation of Bulgarian business is laying out six provisions in order to agree on negotiating the 2 percentage point increase of social security payments.

The business further states no agreement has been reached during weekend talks between the employers, the labor unions and the State, known as the Three-Way Council, countering earlier announcements from the cabinet.

The first demand is for the government to pay the personal contributions off all employees in the budget sectors of the Ministries monthly, not quarterly and not in one transfer to the National Social Security Institute (NOI) as it is now. In case the transfer is delayed, the institutions must pay a penalty of the interest rate of the Central Bank, BNB, plus 20%, as private companies do.

The business also insists that the police, the army and the judicial system begin paying social security corresponding to the payments made by the private sector.

The third demand is assurance that from 2012, the companies would pay only for the first day of an employee's sick leave, as was the rule until mid-year 2010 when the cabinet decided that employers will pay for the first three days while NOI will start payments on the fourth with the idea to reduce fake doctor's notes and the draining of the social security funds. The decision, deemed an anti-crisis measure, was supposed to be in place only until the end of the year, but it became clear recently that it would continue to be effective all through 2011.

The private sector also wants that in 2011 social security payments are split between employees and employers in 45:55 not as it is now 43:57.

Another demand is to halt for three years business contributions to the "Guaranteed Payments to Workers and Employees" Fund, along with clear cabinet commitments to a reform in the health care sector.

"Currently, all efforts of the negotiating parties are directed to providing funds for a unreformed system, without any commitments on the part of the Doctors' Union. If we want a balanced, reasonable approach, everyone must take on the burdens of the crisis. It is unacceptable to change main economic parameters through "street" pressure," the declaration of the business associations reads.

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