Closed call for proposal under procedure BG05SFPR002-1.012 “Sustainable employment for disadvantaged people”

PROCEDURE OBJECTIVE:

Еnsuring sustainable employment of disadvantaged persons, including by adapting workplaces for people with disabilities.

TOTAL BUDGET FOR THE PROCEDURE:
100 000 000 BGN

AMOUNT AND INTENSITY OF GRANT FUNDING:

• Minimum amount of the applied grant: 40 000 BGN
• Maximum amount of the applied grant: 391 166 BGN
• Intensity of funding: 100%

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS:

1. All physical persons and legal entities, and their associations, who apply for a grant by submitting a project proposal.

2. Applicants with financial capacity based on data from the Balance Sheet for 2022 or for organizations newly established in 2023 - based on data from the Balance Sheet of the organization for the current year, for the period from the registration of the organization to the last day of the month preceding the month in which the present procedure was announced. The accounting balance sheet of an organization newly created in the current year should contain data for at least 3 months, counted from the date of the organization's registration to the last date of the month preceding the month of announcing the procedure.

3. The applicant has the operational capacity to implement the project proposal: experience in the implementation of at least one of the activities included in the project or has completed at least one project financed with funds from the EU, the national budget or other donors, in which he participated in the role of candidate/partner.

4. The applicant must be an employer - have employment contracts in effect at the time of submission of the project proposal.

5. The applicant is a person with independent legal personality, registered and entitled to carry out activities on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.

ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES:

1. Recruitment of persons from the target group /Mandatory activity/.

• disadvantaged persons without permanent disabilities, incl. and those who will perform their work duties in conditions of home work - up to 12 m. (4 quarters).
• persons with permanent disabilities, incl. and those, who will perform their work duties in conditions of home work - up to 24 m. (8 quarters).
  • Persons are employed under labor relations.
  • The employer should maintain employment at a minimum of 50% of the newly created/supported jobs.

2. Support at the workplace through a mentor, according to the individual needs of newly hired persons from the target group for a period of up to 6 months.

• The mentor should be a person from the same enterprise, who will support the newly hired person from the target group in his/her entry into the specifics of the workplace/held position.

3. Provision of transport for the persons of the target group from and to the workplace, in case the person works in a settlement other than his place of residence.

• Transportation costs of an employed person, a representative of the target groups under the procedure, are admissible for the period of subsidized employment of the relevant person, only in case the person works in a populated place, different from the permanent address of his place of residence.
• Allowance is not paid for employees who perform their work duties remotely and/or work from home according to the Labor Code.

4. Adaptation of the workplace for newly hired persons with permanent disabilities - PPE, equipment and furniture.

• This activity is permissible only if the employer hires persons from the target group who are permanently disabled.

ELIGIBLE COSTS:

I. COSTS FOR PERSONNEL

1./1.1. Costs for remuneration of disadvantaged persons without permanent disabilities.

1./1.2. Costs for remuneration of persons with permanent disabilities.

1./1.3. Costs for mentor fees.

• According to item 1.1 and item 1.2, costs for labor remuneration of the persons from the target group, included in subsidized employment are permissible for a quarter.
• The maximum period of admissibility of costs for one workplace is as follows:
  • for disadvantaged persons without permanent disabilities, incl. and those who will perform their work duties in conditions of home work - up to 12 m. (4 quarters);
  • for persons with permanent disabilities, incl. and those who will perform their work duties in conditions of home work - for a period of up to 24 months (8 quarters);
  • A "quarter" is considered a period of three consecutive calendar months.
• Remuneration costs for an employed person, representative of the target groups under the procedure, are reimbursed in the form of a standard table per unit of cost.
• The standard unit cost table covers the Employer's quarterly labor cost for an employed person in an economic sector (the economic activity of the enterprise in which the person is employed, according to the Classification of Economic Activities (KID) 2008) with a minimum of 85% of days worked for the period including the days on which the person uses paid annual leave.
• In the value of per unit cost are included the employer's quarterly labor costs per employee. They include gross remuneration (expenditure for net remuneration, personal insurance contributions and tax of an individual) and insurance contributions at the expense of the employer, incl. and paid annual leave expense.
• The size of the standard table per unit of expenditure on employers' economic activities for 8-hour and 4-hour working days is shown in an appendix to this presentation.
• According to item 1.3, expenses for gross labor remuneration for a mentor for a period of up to 6 months are permissible.
  • Costs for remuneration of mentors, determined by the employer, who will be responsible for representatives of the target group, the monthly remuneration being ½ of the minimum wage established for the country for the respective year. The mentor must report a minimum of 40 hours per month in order to receive a corresponding remuneration for this, and it is permissible to report only in days actually worked.

II. COSTS FOR TRANSPORT:

2./2.1. Transport allowance for persons from the target group:

• The daily transport allowance is in the amount of 7.00 BGN and is reimbursed for each day worked when the workplace address is different from the place of residence of the employed person. The cost per unit includes daily transportation costs to and from the employee's workplace, when the workplace address is different from the employee's place of residence.
• Allowance is not paid for employees who perform their work duties remotely and/or work from home according to the Labor Code.

III. COSTS FOR TANGIBLE ASSETS:

3./3.1. Costs for the purchase of furniture and equipment

• These costs are allowed ONLY for the implementation of activity 4) for the purpose of adapting a workplace for persons with permanent disabilities.

IV. COSTS FOR INTANGIBLE ASSETS:

4./4.1. Costs for intangible assets

• These costs are allowed ONLY for the implementation of activity 4) for the purpose of adapting a workplace for persons with permanent disabilities.

The sum of the costs under item 3.1. and 4.1. should not exceed 10% of the cost of remuneration of persons with permanent disabilities employed under the project.

V. COSTS FOR CONSTRUCTION INSTALLATION WORKS (CIW):

5./5.1. Costs for CIW

• These expenses are allowed ONLY in the amount of up to 15% of the amount of the remuneration costs of the persons with permanent disabilities, employed under the project.

VI. FLAT RATE:

6./6.1. Indirect cost

• Project management and administration costs - 10%.

ELIGIBLE TARGET GROUPS:

• Disadvantaged persons who should be unemployed or inactive for a period of at least 4 weeks at the time of inclusion in activities under the procedure.

DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECTS:

• The procedure does not specify a minimum and/or maximum duration of individual projects. It is determined by the applicants, in accordance with their individual needs and taking into account the maximum duration of subsidized employment for one person.

DEADLINE FOR PROJECT SUBMISSION:

21.03.2024