This chapter examines the legal and financial control issues regarding compliance with labor legislation. On the one hand, the legal analysis shows that legislation is one of the main factors influencing the financial control practice for compliance with labour legislation. On the other hand, the problems and specifics of the control procedures applied by the General Labor Inspectorate Executive Agency in Bulgaria are presented. The overall inspection process is presented sequentially, analyzing the individual stages that the control procedures go through. The problems and the specifics of carrying out an independent inspection activity by the agency are presented, and the peculiarities of carrying out joint control activities with executive bodies or their administrative structures by the specialized administration are examined. Different types of factors that influence the implementation of control procedures by the General Labor Inspectorate Executive Agency in Bulgaria are considered.
TopIntroduction
Labour right, in terms of rights deriving from employment, is a fundamental human right. The obligation of the countries to take appropriate measures to protect this right is regulated in a number of international acts: the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; EU Treaty; Treaty on the Functioning of the EU; EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by the UN, has been ratified and enforced in Bulgaria in 1976. От 2007 г. Bulgaria is an EU member state, and in this sense, the principles of precedence over the national law of the Member States and direct effect of the norms of European law are applicable to the law of the Union (primary and derivative).
According to the provisions of the EU Treaty and the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, the Union does not have exclusive competence in the field of labour and social policy. As regards labour law, the EU complements Member States' initiatives by setting minimum standards on working conditions, informing and consulting workers. EU membership and the subsequent reforms of Member States' legislation, as well as the accompanying processes of globalization, lead to many challenges and raise a number of fears of job losses and social injustice. Therefore, each state has a responsibility to respect the rights of its citizens and workers at a national level, as well as within international institutions. And in the beginning, it should be clarified that the subject of the research is the control for compliance with labour legislation, under which the employers are the main subject, and the responsibility of the state is not considered.
Given that the EU has 27 Member States and more than 240 million workers, respect for labour rights is of direct benefit to a large number of citizens and has a positive impact on one of the most important and tangible areas of their daily lives. Respect for the basic labour rights of employees goes hand in hand with the united market. The free movement of goods, services, funds and workers must be accompanied by appropriate rules to ensure that the Member States and the companies compete on the basis of the quality of their products and not by lowering the labour law standards. (1). Therefore, monitoring compliance with labour law in both its legal and economic aspects is of great importance given the impact of globalization on the labour market. (Blagoycheva, H. 2016) (Andreeva, A., Yolova, G., 2017) (Blagoycheva, H., Andreeva, A., Yolova, G., 2018).
In view of the above, the relevance of the topic is determined by the importance of the issues concerning the legal framework and financial control practice for the observance of labour rights in accordance with the commitments arising from Bulgaria's membership in the EU. At present, the chosen topic is relevant given the changed social reality of working in the digital environment, when employers have expanded their employer's power, despite the lack of such regulations at the legal level. The pandemic situation and the measures taken to preserve public health have changed the rules of labour law, giving other priorities. This implies increased administrative control by the state to respect the labour rights of employees, so as not to obtain arbitrariness on the part of the employers.
The scientific purpose of this work is to explore, from a legal and economic point of view, some new features in legislation, control procedures and financial control practices for the observance of labour legislation. To achieve this goal, the authors set the following research tasks:
- 1.
To analyze the new features in the legal framework of the control for the observance of labour legislation in the context of the membership of Bulgaria in the EU
- 2.
To analyze the control procedures performed by the General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency and to give some guidelines for improving the performed inspections;
- 3.
To investigate the factors that influence the control practice regarding the observance of labour legislation;
- 4.
To draw conclusions and summaries on the applicability of legal regulations and financial control problems regarding compliance with labour legislation.