Bulgarian Home Workers Face Low Pay and Poor Working Conditions

A survey conducted in the last year for the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria examined the home working sector which employs more than 500,000 people.

 

 

Face-to-face interviews with 500 home workers confirmed the findings of previous surveys and revealed low pay (mainly at piece rate), long hours and poor working conditions. About 80% of the respondents were women and more than half were aged 50–65; 55% were self-employed and the rest worked under contract. (WCxKit)

 

 

The survey aimed to map the employment conditions of home workers and to present a more complete and comprehensive view of the home working sector, which includes more than 500,000 people.

 

 

The survey was undertaken by the Association of Home-based Workers for the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) as part of a project called ‘Security through the law and flexibility through collective bargaining’ funded by the European Social Fund in Bulgaria (ESF) under its Human Resources Development Operational Programme 2007–2013.

 

 

Home workers in Bulgaria are entirely in the informal economy; their work is invisible and is not monitored. The process of surveying home workers is further aggravated by the difficulties in locating these workers and by their fear of the tax authorities. The interviewers were specifically trained to deal with this problem and the survey used specially developed tools to map the home workers. There were also problems associated with the tendency for survey participants to be embarrassed and unwilling to talk about their problems, relationships, ties, etc.

 

 

The survey consisted of face-to face interviews with 500 home workers from 10 regions and from the capital, Sofia. Towns and municipalities of different sizes were selected by the interviewers. The interviewers had more than eight years of experience of working with the Association of Home-based Workers, as 90% of them were themselves home workers. They acted through the established network of home workers, and through them also made contact with new home workers.

 

 

The criteria for the analysis of data collected by the survey are:

 

1.      gender and age;

2.      type of home working;

3.      method of working;

4.      working conditions;

5.      working hours;

6.      type of income (whether only from home working or from a combination of regular employment and home working).

 

 

The conclusions from analysis of the findings of the 2010 survey are very similar to those from previous surveys conducted by the Association of Home-based Workers in 2002–2003 and 2006–2007. The 2002–2003 survey was funded by HomeNet (an international organization for home working) and the 2006–2007 survey was paid for from the association’s own funds.

 

 

All three studies used similar methods and the interviews were conducted at the home/workplace of the participating home worker.

 

 

Over half of interviewed home workers (51.2%) were aged 50–65 years mostly living in small towns. Some (15.8%) were pensioners and most (82.3%) were women (see table). Where unemployment is high and income is low, home employment is a chance to supplement the household income and improve its economic situation.

 

 

Over half (55%) of the respondents were self-employed people who produced and sold items themselves (‘own account’); they have buy the raw materials, provide the machinery, design the product and sell it. ‘Piece-work’ workers (45% of respondents) work under a permanent contractor from companies that supply them with the raw materials and sometimes also provide equipment and purchase the finished goods.

 

 

Previous surveys conducted by the Association of Home-based Workers also found that, both in times of economic development and of crisis, the highest share of home workers are older people aged over 50 years. This group is usually unemployed and considered too old to be employable. In Bulgaria, employers prefer to hire workers aged 30 and under because younger people are willing to work without contract and receive wages in cash.

 

 

The workplaces of home workers do not necessarily comply with the requirements for safe and healthy working conditions. The production process is not controlled, and its effectiveness and safety depends entirely on the ability of the home worker.

 

 

Most of those surveyed (87.5%) worked in a space in their home that is also used by other household members. Only 12.5% of home workers had a specially adapted workplace at their disposal.

 

 

Home workers frequently work under poor conditions, without any organization of production and labor in low productivity. When working at home, 69.8% of the respondents used hazardous materials (paint, chemicals, adhesive, dust and fertilizers). In many cases, members of their household are also in contact with these materials.

 

 

Working time can be from 09.00 to midnight without interruption. The average working time of 160 hours per month relates to those doing extra work at home (for example teachers and accountants) and those who are only employed part time due to the economic crisis. The monthly working time of self-employed home workers can average 200–240 hours overall.

 

 

The pay for a home worker is calculated by what is being produced per hour (piece rate basis). Just over half of these workers (51.2%) not only produce the product, but also sell it themselves.

 

 

Home-based employment in Bulgaria is not regulated by law.

 

 

Bulgaria ratified Convention 177 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on homework in 2009, but still has no legal provisions for its implementation. As a consequence, this economic activity is not reported in Bulgarian statistics and the exact number of home workers is not known.

 

 

Self-employed home workers tend not to comply with the legislation that requires them to register with ID and pay insurance and taxes; they work without benefits and without paying taxes.

 

 

Only 2.8% of respondents in the survey had a work contract.

 

 

The problems of home working in Bulgaria are largely known and identified. CITUB and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been fighting for more than four years for regulation of home working in the country.

 

 

As a result of this fight, a national agreement was signed at the end of 2010 on the regulation of home-based work in accordance with ILO Convention 177. (WCxKit)

 

 

But the fight continues because this agreement will regulate only the labor of home-based workers and the problem of self-employed home workers remains