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Bulgaria
POPULATION
7 million inhabitants
CURRENCY
Bulgarian Lev (BGN)
GDP
$ 142 billion
MINIMUM MONTHLY WAGE:
€ 620,20
TIME ZONE
UTC +3
Bulgaria has an open, upper middle income range market economy where the private sector accounts for more than 70% of GDP. From a largely agricultural country with a predominantly rural population Bulgaria had transformed into an industrial economy with scientific and technological research. The largest companies in Bulgaria are mainly those of oil & gas, telecommunication, and medical industries.
The gross domestic product per capita in Bulgaria has been on the rise and the Bulgarian economy has experienced significant growth for the past ten years. Still, the inflation rate, estimated to recover from a three-year deflation in 2017, is anything but stable. All in all, Bulgaria is an emerging market with a cautiously promising future.
✓ Employment contract – Fixed term
Can only be concluded for a maximum period of three years or for a shorter amount of time until the work stipulated in the contract is completed.
– With an indefinite period
Less risky for the employee and it can be terminated under certain circumstances only by observing the appropriate notice period.
✓ Service contracts
The rights and obligations related to service contracts are generally personal but may be transferred to third parties if nothing else has been agreed upon in the contract.
Fixed duration of the working week in Bulgaria is 40 hours per week; at night a five-day working week shall be not more 35 hours. As Bulgarian law provides for flexible working arrangements, it is up to the employer to decide how an employee’s daily working time should be distributed.
However, the following regulations on breaks and rest periods must be respected:
- employees must have a break of at least 30 minutes to eat
- as a minimum, employees should have twelve hours of rest per day
- weekly rest periods must not be shorter than 48 hours – with Sunday being a mandatory rest day in most cases.
In Bulgaria, the employee is not obligated to work overtime (unless otherwise agreed). Overtime is generally prohibited. Exceptionally, it
may be allowed for strictly specific reasons, described in the Labor Code. Overtime must be performed outside the regular working time.
Overtime work on normal working days is compensated at a rate of 50% – at least. Following regulations apply:
yearly maximum: 150 hours monthly
maximum: 30 hours weekly
maximum: 6 hours
maximum over two consecutive days: 3 hours
maximum daily working time: 12 hours
Each employee is entitled to an annual basis vacation. It shall not be shorter than 20 working days. Regarding minors and employees that are partly unable to work (from a degree of 50 %) the minimum vacation amounts to 26 days according to the special provisions of the Labor Code.
According to Bulgarian law, employees are entitled to a minimum of 20 days of paid annual leave as soon as they have completed eight months of employment. However, additional days off can be negotiated. Unused annual leave can be carried over into the next year but must be used by June.
Employees who are required to work on a public holiday are to be paid at a double rate. As compensation for public holidays falling on a rest day (Saturday or Sunday) – except for Easter – employees receive an extra day off which is usually the first business day following that public holiday.
• 1 January – New Year’s Day
• 3 March – National Holiday /Bulgaria’s Liberation from the Ottoman Empire/
• 1 May – Labor and International Worker’s Solidarity Day
• 6 May – Gergyovden (St. George’s Day), and the Bulgarian Army’s Day
• 24 May – Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavic Script Day
• 6 September – Unification Day
• 22 September – Independence Day
Bulgaria has a mixed public–private healthcare
financing system. The main purchaser of health
services is the National Health Insurance Fund
(NHIF). Social health insurance contributions are
calculated at 8% of monthly income, paid by the
insured individuals, their employers, or the state.
For each child, female employees can claim 410 days of maternity leave which can start up to 45 days prior to the expected due date. During this leave, the employee receives maternity benefits from the national Health Insurance Fund which amount to 90% of her normal salary.
Fathers who are married to or live together with the child’s mother are entitled to 15 days of paid paternity leave, usually beginning with the day the mother leaves hospital. Paternity benefits are paid by the national Health Insurance Fund and amount to 90% of usual wages. Fathers who have a child under the age of 8 can claim 2 months of paid paternity leave. Fathers also have the possibility to use any of the mother’s unused maternity leave days as parental leave – only applicable if the mother consents and if the child is already older than six months.
- Financial compensation: for temporary disability to work (sick leave), occupational accident or disease. These amounts equal to 80% or 90% of the daily gross remuneration – depends on the case.
- Maternity benefit: this benefit is available for 410 days.
- State healthcare system: medical insurance is mandatory and is implemented by the National Health Insurance Fund.
- Supplementary healthcare system: supplementary but mandatory, implemented by private pension companies- Its main goal is to establish a three-pillar pension structure. Contributions to the state insurance system are based on gross remuneration but are limited to a maximum monthly base
Travel insurance benefit: is not compulsory but it is highly recommended.
✓ Healthcare benefit: it can be used as an alternative to the State’s mandatory medical insurance. It covers the following:
- Out/inpatient treatment (immediate access to specialists, lab tests, expensive surgery consumables),
- eyeexaminations,
- dentalcare(limitedservices).
✓ Accident insurance: This insurance only provides compensation in the event of death, permanent or temporary disability due to an accident.
✓ Group life insurance: most employers cover this benefit.
✓ Supplementary pension insurance: the employees and employers can split the cost of the benefit.
All persons meeting the following conditions are eligible to obtain the unemployment benefit:
✓ they have contributed to the social security system for a period of at least 12 months.
✓ they have certificates from the labor offices attesting that they are unemployed,
✓ they are willing and available for training or retraining and they do not receive any other benefit under this law,
except for partial invalidity payments.
✓ Food benefits: many companies with production lines have their own canteens with free food or implement food vouchers.
✓ Fitness/gym membership
✓ Transportation allowance
✓ Benefit cars for managers
✓ Education program / assistance program.
Bulgaria has a mixed public–private healthcare financing system. The main purchaser of health services is the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). Social health insurance contributions are calculated at 8% of monthly income, paid by the insured individuals, their employers, or the state.
All applications for immigration documents, residence permits, visas or other documents must be submitted at your nearest Bulgarian embassy or the general consulate of Bulgaria.
A temporary residence permit in Bulgaria can be obtained for a period of six months to one year and can be extended for up to five years.
After a period of five years, holders are eligible for permanent residence. The Bulgarian Citizenship Act states that non-EU nationals who have held a permanent residence permit for five years can apply
for Bulgarian citizenship and a Bulgarian passport.
A visa for travelling to Bulgaria can be granted for various reasons, like going to visit relatives or friends, opening a limited company, tourism and others. The cost of applying for a visa is approximately
EUR 150 and the Bulgarian embassy processes a D-visa application
within 30 working days.
There are three types of residence permit:
✓ temporary,
✓ permanent and
✓ extended.
Labor code of Bulgaria defines that the notice period for termination of a permanent contract is 30 days, unless the parties have agreed on a longer period, but not more than 3 months. The notice period for termination of fixed-term contracts is 3 months but not more than the remaining term of the contract.
In Bulgaria each party has the option to terminate the employment contract without a notice of termination. This option is provided in the cases of the Labor Code:
✓ By mutual consent = by a termination agreement – the termination requires written form. The party that received the offer to terminate the contract may agree to it within 7 days. If the other party does not react within this time limit, the offer is considered rejected.
✓ If the dismissal of the employee has been declared void by court or if the employee is reinstated to his previous job but does not take up the employment within the following 2 weeks;
✓ Upon the expiration of the contractual term;
✓ With the completion of a specific task;
✓ Upon the return of the substituted employee to work;
✓ If the position is provided for a pregnant woman or for a person with reduced capacity to work and a suitable applicant is present;
✓ If it is impossible for the employee to perform his work, namely in the following cases:
✓ Because of an illness resulting in permanently reduced working capacity;
✓ Because of health contraindications established by an expert medical commission.
Severance payment depends on the reason for dismissal and the legal basis for the dismissal. In general employees are entitled to redundancy compensation in the amount of between 1- 4 monthly salaries.
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