Bulgaria ratifies the ILO Home Work Convention

Bulgaria has ratified the International Labour Organization (ILO) Home Work Convention (C. 177). The convention was adopted by the ILO in 1996 and was designed to protect the rights of home-based workers.

By ratifying the convention, the government of Bulgaria recognizes the contribution of home-based workers and commits to adopting, implementing and periodically reviewing a national policy on home-based work aimed at improving the situation of home-based workers, in consultation with organizations concerned with home-based workers.

The ILO convention also calls for equal of treatment of home-based workers as compared to other wage earners who do similar work in an enterprise. Equality includes the right to organize, protection against discrimination, and access to social protection.

Up to now, the Bulgarian Labour Code has not contained any provision covering home-based workers or other forms of informal labour. Following this ratification, the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (KNSB ,the main trade union federation) is working on a revision to the Labour Code to bring it in line with the ILO Convention. The KNSB is also proposing that working conditions for home workers be regulated by a national agreement between representative unions and employers, which would eventually be integrated in the Labour Code and receive force of law.

Bulgaria joins Ireland (1999), the Netherlands (2002), Argentina (2006), Albania (2002) and Finland (1998) which had previously ratified the Home Work Convention.