site.btaPersons with Disabilities Bill Gains Partial Support from Tripartite Cooperation Council

October 16 (BTA) - The Persons with Disabilities Bill on
Tuesday gained partial support from the National Council for
Tripartite Cooperation (NCTC), which is Bulgaria's main social
partnership institution. All employer organizations represented
in the NCTC as well as the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour
refrained from lending support. The Confederation of Independent
 Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and National Ombudsman Maya
Manolova said they are in favour of the bill.

The results of the NCTC meeting were summed up during a news
conference by Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov, who chairs
the NCTC, Labour and Social Policy Minister Bisser Petkov and
representatives of the trade unions and employers.

"All participants in the meeting shared the view that the bill
had been compiled under unprecedented pressure and amid
unnecessary tensions," Simeonov commented, noting that the
proposed law has serious flaws.

Petkov expressed his satisfaction that after a lot of work and
strain, the bill finally reached the NCTC and things are going
according to the legislative plan for persons with disabilities.
 He said the Labour and Social Policy Ministry played a
balancing role between various groups of persons with
disabilities. Eventually, the bill was supported by the National
 Council for Integration of Persons with Disabilities, which
means that the intended beneficiaries of the future law approve
of it, the minister said.

Employers again objected strongly to the quotas for hiring
people with disabilities proposed in the bill. Bulgarian
Industrial Association Vice President Dimiter Brankov said the
quotas come in addition to the current requirements for
vocational rehabilitation. The heaviest burden will fall on
employers who have fewer workers because, for them, the quota is
 4 per cent of the total staff, while the quota for larger
companies is 2 per cent. In some companies, persons with
disabilities should account for as much as 14 per cent of the
total staff, Brankov said, giving estimates for real-life
situations.

The proposed penalty for failure to hire a person with
disabilities is virtually a new tax, which is contrary to the
government's political programme and the State Fees Act, Brankov
 argued. The penalties to be collected by the General Labour
Inspectorate will be up to 10,000 leva and will apply to all
enterprises with over 50 workers in them - and there are between
 30,000 and 35,000 such enterprises.

Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association Board Chairman Vassil
Velev said the quota policy has proved inefficient and is
becoming a burden for smaller businesses.

The employers warned that an additional 150 million leva will be
 spent without solving the problems of people with disabilities
and without making real change. They do not see any step being
made towards implementing the International Classification of
Functioning, Disability and Health, established by the World
Health Organization.

Industrialists called for employment promotion measures in
specialized enterprises for people with disabilities. They noted
 that such enterprises currently employ a total of 2,000 people,
 compared with over 50,000 people 30 years ago.

Dimiter Manolov, President of the Podkrepa Confederation of
Labour, commented that the bill could be better but it could
also be much worse. According to another Podkrepa official,
Vanya Grigorova, the working group which compiled the bill
struggled to minimize the damage instead of trying to make
progress.

The most important thing for the CITUB is to make it clear that
the policies for persons with disabilities are not only a
responsibility of the Labour and Social Policy Ministry but also
 of all other ministries and the municipalities, said the
organization's National Secretary Assya Goneva. She believes it is unnecessary to
adopt a personal care law.

Labour Minister Petkov stressed the importance of two national
programmes: one supporting employers by channelling money
towards the adaptation of workplaces for people with
disabilities, and the other promoting accessibility and
mobility.

National Ombudsman Maya Manolova was criticized by participants
in the NCTC meeting. Deputy Prime Minister Simeonov said she has
 "driven the nation crazy." Simeonov warned Manolova that she
"should not try to teach employers" about the quotas for hiring
persons with disabilities. The Ombudsman responded by saying
that her office is an example of an institution in which some of
 the most important functions are being performed by a person
with disabilities. She said the government should support
employers in adapting workplaces and noted that the bill
provides for alternatives to the quota system. LI/VE