You're Too Young to Work vs. My First Money: Teenagers and the Job Market

Article 48. (1) Citizens have the right to work. The State shall ensure the creation of conditions for the exercise of this right.

Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria

In the Constitution we read that every citizen of Bulgaria has the right to work, and a citizen is anyone whose at least one parent is a Bulgarian citizen or who was born on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, if they do not acquire another citizenship by origin.

Minors are also citizens and, according to the Constitution, have the right to work. This right of theirs is also subject to labor legislation. The work of minors in the Republic of Bulgaria enjoys special protection from labor legislation, which is harmonized with European requirements and ILO standards. The Labor Code provides for a special procedure for hiring persons under the age of 18. Minors may be hired only after a permit issued by the Labor Inspectorate for each individual case. Allowing minors to work without a permit from the Labor Inspectorate is illegal and criminalized. The Criminal Code has created a legal norm that provides for a penalty of imprisonment and substantial fines for employers who hire minors without a permit issued by the Labor Inspectorate.

However, it is striking that Bulgaria is one of the countries in which the same minimum age is set - 16 years, for compulsory education, regulated in the Constitution, and for starting work according to the Labor Code, i.e. those who have reached the age of 16 can stop studying on the one hand, but cannot start work under the same conditions as adults on the other. Minors work a reduced working day of 7 hours. They are prohibited from working at night and overtime. Those under 18 can work from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and those under 16 - from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. They are also entitled to an extended annual leave of 26 days, the right to sick leave before they have completed 6 months of work experience, and the Labor Inspectorate conducts a mandatory preliminary inspection before issuing the permit in question.

Demotivation

The complicated procedure for hiring minors, the mandatory visit of the Labor Inspectorate before anyone is hired, and the fact that young people still do not have the professional and human experience that would guarantee them a smooth start to work without mentoring and additional training, make this alternative extremely unattractive for employers. On the other hand, there is the youth unemployment rate for Bulgaria, which, although steadily decreasing, still remains above the European average, and the paradoxical requirements such as "we are looking for an 18-year-old with 20 years of work experience."

However, the lack of personnel in the tourism and restaurant industry, accompanied by the easing of regulations in recent years, help to naturally resolve this paradox.

According to data from the General Labor Inspectorate (GIT), the number of permits requested by employers for the employment of minors in 2016 was 5,283, almost double the number in 2015, when the requests were 2,700. The permits issued last year were 5,009, 90 of which were for the employment of minors under 16. In the first five months of 2017, the GIT received 1,232 requests for permits for the employment of minors, 993 of which were granted, of which 24 were for those under 16. For comparison, during the same period in 2016, the requests were 734. Most often, minors are hired to perform activities in the hotel, restaurant and trade sectors during the long summer vacation. In Varna, the tourism staffing crisis last season led to a boom in permits issued, with the increase being nearly 100% compared to last year, according to data from the city's labor inspectorate.

Still, the procedure remains more complicated than that for hiring adults and almost as complicated as that for hiring foreigners, for example from Moldova and Ukraine, who are, however, experienced. Hiring teenagers under these conditions remains more a personal business cause than a stimulated state policy.

Business doesn't give up

Petya Dimitrova is HR manager of the Godzilla restaurant chain, which is implementing a program for students 16+ "My First Money". This is a paid summer program for students from all educational institutions. This project is a kind of handshake from Godzilla, which gives students the opportunity to start their professional path in one of the most famous restaurant chains and earn their first money. In addition to funds and professional skills, students also acquire many organizational skills, learn to work in a team, develop their communication skills and have an advantage when applying for permanent employment in the future. During the program, students have a mentor who constantly teaches the "young" employee to best cope with their duties, they are surrounded by warm colleagues and managers who constantly help in the work process.

"Although the procedure is cumbersome and finding these students is the result of our personal initiative, we believe it is worth it. These are our future staff, whom we want to include from their school years. I myself have been working in the chain for 18 years and started as a waiter - I undertook additional training in parallel with my development in the organization. It is important for us to show teenagers that success has many paths and sometimes starting a job at 16 and feeling the good feeling that the first income gives is very stimulating, and combining education and work is extremely useful! Everyone chooses their own path - business understands it, children too - what is lagging behind are the regulations. We view this program more as a program for corporate social responsibility and investment in the future and we do it not thanks to, but despite the complicated procedure."

Starting this school year, Godzilla restaurants have also launched a scholarship program for students from the Professional High School of Tourism "Professor Dr. Asen Zlatarov" - Varna. Students over 16 years of age with a minimum grade of Very Good 4.50 can apply for a scholarship. The scholarship is valid until the end of secondary education for each student, and Godzilla restaurants, in addition to the monthly payment of the amounts, provide work for the students during the summer vacation for the positions of waiter, bartender and chef. For this period, they have an employment contract, receive remuneration, training from a mentor and all the privileges that other employees benefit from.

"The mandatory success of Very Good 4.50 is more of a curtsy to education and an additional incentive for students. The expected results of the scholarship program are to improve the connection between vocational training and business and to improve the prospects for successful implementation of graduating students, in particular in our chain, but globally - on the labor market." - Dimitrova also shares

How do they do it around the world?

In most Western societies, regulations for hiring minors are also complicated. In the United States, regulations are similar to Bulgaria, and there is a debate on the topic with three main arguments in favor of easing them. First, according to the Declaration of Independence and the Ninth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, teenagers have the right to work and the "pursuit of happiness."

„We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”

(We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness) — from the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

And although the Founding Fathers of the United States did not specify exactly what "the persecution of the state" means, we could turn to the philosopher of natural rights and one of the inspirers of the Declaration - John Locke, according to whom "The happiness or unhappiness of every man is in fact the work of his own hands."

Second, employment stimulates their responsibility and their transformation into productive members of society. Third, stimulating youth employment is good public policy, since denying the right to work is denying the opportunity to take responsibility for one's own life and gain valuable experience.

In Canada, the regulations are similar to those in the US, with the exception that teenage labor is regulated at two levels - once by the federal government and once at the regional level, i.e., in relation to our reality, it would be possible for regions with an acute need for teenage workers for temporary employment, such as the Black Sea coast, for example, to benefit from relief.

Another example is the United Kingdom, where even 14-year-olds can be engaged in certain types of employment such as light field work under parental supervision. Unlike in Bulgaria, however, during the last two years of compulsory education children have their first contact with a professional environment. The local educational institution and the school board are responsible for negotiating with businesses on vocational qualification programmes.

In conclusion

Child labor is a sensitive topic that, not coincidentally, has become an issue of public importance throughout human history. The relatively high youth unemployment rate, coupled with a declared hunger for qualified employees, reveals a gap in the system that is visible to the naked eye. The law allows 16-year-olds, who are at an age beyond childhood and important for their formation as responsible citizens, to not have the same working conditions as other adults. They are no longer required to study, but they also do not have the right to equal work. Business has the need and capacity to eliminate these discrepancies, but administrative burdens discourage it from freeing the system up one step further towards freedom of choice and personal responsibility. New changes to the law are coming, and until then, young people are still on the periphery of the labor market, but at the top of the unemployment statistics.

Sources

Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria

Nathaniel Ang ,  TEENAGE EMPLOYMENT EMANCIPATION AND THE LAW (2007)

Official website of the General Labor Inspectorate; http://www.gli.government.bg

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