04.09.2023
THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT WILL BE IMPROVED WITH BGN 100 MILLION OF EUROPEAN FUNDING
In September, the "Adapted Working Environment" grant procedure, financed with funds from the EU and Bulgaria, through the Human Resources Development Program 2021-2027, begins. The budget of the procedure is BGN 100 million.
Its aim is to improve a healthy and safe environment in organizations and to adapt workplaces to new employment-related challenges. It will be possible to finance activities aimed at the physical safety of employees and improving their mental health. The need for complex care, which became tangible for companies after the Covid pandemic, has already been realized at the program level and among the measures possible for financing is the prevention of "burnout" and the subsequent states of apathy, critical attitude to work and lack of motivation.
Who can apply
Organizations operating in almost all sectors of the economy, with the exception of fisheries and aquaculture, the primary production of agricultural products, as well as the sector of processing and trading of agricultural products under certain conditions, can receive grant-in-aid.
There are no restrictions regarding the date of registration of applicants and realized net sales revenue. The only condition is that they have the financial capacity to implement the investment, according to the methodology developed by the program.
What are the eligible activities?
The procedure meets the modern challenges of the working environment and the need for physical improvement of working conditions and psychological support. The following types of activities are allowed:
Mandatory for every project is the introduction of "green" models of organization of work processes, which are related to increasing resource efficiency, reducing the impact on the environment or increasing the sustainability of the offered products and services. The models may be related to the implementation of new green production investments, changes in the organization of work to include green activities in specific work processes and workplaces, building an overall green company culture and motivating employees for green thinking.
With the help of the program, organizations can also provide psychological support in connection with the prevention and prevention of workplace stress and professional burnout. It is common in large companies with foreign participation to have programs to manage stress and maintain employee motivation and satisfaction, while in SMEs investments in mental health are more of an exception and grant support is a way to adopt such practices.
The ability to purchase collective, personal protective equipment and special work clothing is extremely important for the manufacturing sector. To be eligible for funding, safeguards must not have been used to date or provide higher protection than current ones.
It is also possible to provide collective protection, incl. modernization, reconstruction, securing of existing sites, technological processes, machines and equipment related to improving working conditions. The construction of railings and structures, devices for access to certain premises for the purpose of safety, ventilation and/or air conditioning system, ensuring ergonomics at work, etc. is permissible.
Electric trucks, forklifts, gas trucks and other lifting equipment desired by all enterprises from the mining and processing industry are not eligible for financing.
Among the permissible social benefits are the repair and equipment of places for recreation, rehabilitation, sports and rest for employees. Outdoor or indoor gyms, rest and entertainment areas, as well as dining areas can be equipped with funds from the program.
Food costs are not eligible, nor are purchases of family holiday vouchers, meal vouchers, entertainment vouchers, gym memberships etc. similar.
What is the amount of the grant?
The grant is up to EUR 200,000 (BGN 391,166), provided that the companies have not received any other aid under the de minimis regime in the last 3 years, including the current one. For small and medium-sized enterprises, the aid can cover the costs of the entire project, and for large ones - 80%.
What is different compared to previous procedures?
For the first time, the development and introduction of resource-efficient models of work process organization and psychological support for employees is supported.
The division of the budget by regions is also new. The south-western region, including the districts of Blagoevgrad, Kyustendil, Pernik, Sofia region and Sofia city, is classified as a region in transition and only BGN 7.92 million out of a total of BGN 100 million will be allocated to it. With an average grant of BGN 250 thousand, approximately 30 projects for the entire region will be financed.
What are the weaknesses
There are practically no requirements for applicants. The only criterion for eligibility is financial capacity according to the Program Methodology. The way to define organizations as financially stable is quite irrelevant to real business, as it is easily achieved by newly created companies without profit and with a symbolic amount of assets, but it can be a challenge for companies with a long financial history and investments of millions of BGN.
100% grant aid for small and medium-sized enterprises and 80% for large ones should also not be allowed in the third program period, as it may lead to insufficient efficiency of the planned investments, as well as to non-achievement of the set indicators under the program. When they do not have their own contribution to the financing, organizations are more likely to plan insufficient cost-effective costs.
A serious weakness is the Project Evaluation Methodology, which is entirely subjective and focused on the description of activities and target groups. There are no objective and verifiable criteria such as the number of persons who will be covered by the measures, the financial capacity and experience of the organizations to implement projects, etc. There are criteria such as "realistic and adequate time resource", "detailed description", "reasonable necessity" and other similar definitions that create doubts that project proposals may not be evaluated fairly and objectively.
What is the application deadline and method?
Until September 1, 2023, the procedure is in the process of public consultation, and all interested parties can send comments on the conditions. The application is scheduled to open on September 15, 2023, but due to the high interest, many proposals will be received, which require more technological time to be processed. The projects will be submitted through the ISUN system, and the expected application period is three months from the date of announcement.
The procedure is long-awaited due to the possibility of grant funding of soft measures at 100% grant, which is extremely rare for the third program period. The last scheme with a similar focus was announced in 2016 and had an unprecedented number of projects submitted - 2,520, of which only 401 were approved for funding. It is expected that the interest in "Adapted working environment" will be significantly higher, which necessarily implies a refinement of the criteria for eligibility and assessment under the procedure.
