site.btaGeneral Labour Inspectorate Boasts 117-Year-Long History of Protecting Workers' Rights

Labour inspectors have protected the rights of Bulgarian workers for more than a century. On November 3, the General Labour Inspectorate (GLI) will celebrate 117 years since its establishment, the institution said in a press release on Friday.

The inspectorate traces its history to 1907, when the Labour Inspectorate Act was endorsed by a decree of Prince Ferdinand.

Nowadays, the GLI exercises all-around control over compliance with labour legislation in all economic activities. It oversees the implementation of over 500 regulatory instruments. The agency runs a network of 28 territorial directorates seated in the regional capitals, where members of the public can submit alerts and receive advice. They can use a national helpline at 0700 17 670. All GLI services are accessible via the internet.

Between January and September 2024, labour inspectors conducted 36,681 checks at 31,601 enterprises employing more than 1.4 million workers. The checks found 157,172 legal violations, including 83,355 ones affecting health and safety at work and 72,899 cases relevant to employment relations. Contracts of employment were found to be absent in 2,543 cases.

Five hundred and forty facilities, sites, machines and installations were suspended from operation over the nine-month period as they directly endangered the life and health of employees. Inspectors barred 95 people from work because they lacked necessary qualifications and/or violated work safety rules. This compares to 54 employees suspended between January and September 2023.

The GLI reported BGN 8.2 million in overdue pay to employees in January-September 2024. More than BGN 6.8 million in overdue pay, including money for earlier periods, was cleared after inspectors intervened.

During the reporting period, the GLI was acknowledged by the European Labour Authority as one of the most active national labour institutions. Earlier this year, the GLI and the Ministry of Interior launched a campaign to fight illegal migration.