site.btaNew Policy Allows One-Day Workers Contracts for 120 Days

Workers can now be hired with one-day contracts for up to 120 days, the General Labour Inspectorate (GLI) Executive Agency said on Thursday. Before the changes to the Labour Code, workers could be employed for no more than 90 days for tasks such as tending to crops, harvesting fruits, vegetables, roses, lavender, and tobacco, GLI added.

Since the beginning of the year, GLI has provided 188,889 one-day employment contracts to 1,532 farmers. Most of these contracts cover the regions of Stara Zagora, Pazardzhik, Haskovo, and Montana, GLI revealed. Data indicates that one-day contracts are predominantly used for the cultivation of vineyards, cherries, oil-bearing roses, strawberries, and peppers.

From January to July, more than 2,300 inspections were done in crop and livestock farming, according to GLI data. A total of 7,781 violations have been identified, with 4,772 related to health and safety conditions at work, and 2,995 concerning labour relations. GLI added that there have been 152 cases of employees working without a labour contract.

Workers on one-day contracts will still qualify for social assistance and unemployment benefits. Farmers and tobacco producers also benefit, as they are not required to register these contracts with the National Revenue Agency or issue employment records, the GLI explained.

A special software, funded by the European Social Fund, now lets farmers apply for one-day job contracts online, even outside of office hours. The system also allows for the automatic generation of data for workers who have been previously employed by the same employer. It also has a calculator that figures out the social security contributions and taxes for employees, and shows how much they should get paid, GLI said.