site.btaTrade Unions' Support for 2018 State Social Security Budget Depends on Solution to Sick Leave Problem

Sofia, October 20 (BTA) - The representatives of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CITUB) and the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour at the Supervisory Board of the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) will support the draft state social security budget for 2018 only if the problem with employees' sick leave is solved in a different manner, CITUB President Plamen Dimitrov and Podkrepa President Dimiter Manolov told journalists here Friday. They took part in a business breakfast with representatives of the largest Bulgarian companies.

The draft state social security budget envisages that employees be paid 50 per cent (instead of 70 per cent as now) of their wage for the first three days of sick leave; from the fourth day the NSSI will pay 80 per cent of their wage, as it is now. According to Dimitrov and Manolov, this proposed change will not curb sick leave abuse and will just curtail rights. There are various options that should be discussed, Manolov added.

"We all know that there are tariffs for the price of a sick note, there has to be a way to catch at least one doctor and let him bear the responsibility to serve as an example to the others," Dimitrov commented. The two confederations' leaders said that in Poland, for instance, a doctor caught giving a fake sick note is stripped of his rights permanently. Some countries punish employees using fake sick notes under the Penal Code, Dimitrov and Manolov added. According to them, there is indeed a problem with sick leave abuse but stricter control is needed to solve it. Another issue that needs solving is fake disability pensions, Dimitrov noted.

Both confederations also disapprove of the proposed introduction of a longer social security period (12 months instead of the current 9 months) as a requirement for the right to unemployment benefits.

During the business breakfast, the trade unionists and business representatives agreed that the problem of enterprises in Bulgaria is the lack of cadres and grey economy. They also agreed that branch contracts should be applicable to all companies. There currently are 73 branch contracts and around 2,000 collective bargaining agreements in this country. The business community and trade unions are ready to broaden these agreements to cover new topics, such as reduced working hours in metallurgy when new investments are made.

Taking a question, the Podkrepa President said that his confederation will not join CITUB in its national protest rally in front of the government building and the headquarters of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association on October 27. "We have arguments for this decision, which we took at a meeting last week," Manolov explained.