Labour Code

(Extract)

Subject Matter and Purpose

Article 1 (1) This Code shall regulate the industrial relations between the factory or office worker and the employer, as well as other relations immediately associated with them.

(3) The purpose of this Code shall be to ensure the freedom and protection of labour, equitable and dignified working conditions, as well as the conduct of social dialogue between the State, the factory and office workers, the employers and their organisations, for settlement of industrial relations and other relations immediately associated with industrial relations.

Employmnet contract

Article 61 (1) An employment contract shall be concluded between the factory or office worker and the employer before beginning of work.

Article 62 (3) Within three days after the conclusion or modification of an employment contract and within seven days after its termination, the employer or a person authorised thereby shall be obligated to send a notification of this to the relevant territorial directorate of the National Revenue Agency. The National Revenue Agency shall provide empowered persons of Labour Inspection Directorates with electronic access in real time to the register of employment contracts and, upon request, shall send a copy of the relevant notification as certified within three working days.

(4) The particulars contained in the said notification and the procedure for the dispatch thereof shall be determined by an ordinance of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, co-ordinated with the Executive Director of the National Revenue Agency and the President of the National Statistical Institute.

Article 63 (1) Before beginning work, the employer shall be obligated to provide the factory or office worker with a copy of the employment contract as concluded, signed by both parties, as well as with a copy of the notification under Article 62 (3), certified by the territorial directorate of the National Revenue Agency.

(2) The employer shall not allow the factory or office worker to begin work, before providing the worker with the documents under Paragraph (1).

Article 66 (1) The employment contract shall contain particulars of the parties and shall specify:

1. the place of work;

2. designation of the position and the character of the work;

3. the date of its conclusion and the starting date of its performance;

4. the duration of the employment contract;

5. the amount of basic and extended paid annual leave and of additional paid annual leaves;

6. equal length of the period of notice to be observed by both parties upon termination of the employment contract;

7. the basic and supplementary labour remunerations of a permanent nature, as was as the frequency of their payment;

8. the duration of the working day or week.

(3) The registered office of the enterprise with which the employment contract has been concluded shall be considered as the place of work, unless otherwise agreed or ensuing from the nature of the work.

(4) The designation of the position shall be specified in accordance with the National Classification of Professions and Positions, endorsed by the Minister of Labour and Social Policy following co-ordination with the Chairperson of the National Statistics Institute.

Article 67 (1) An employment contract may be concluded:

1. as a contract of an indefinite duration;

2. as a fixed-term employment contract.

(2) The employment contract shall be considered as a contract of an indefinite duration unless expressly agreed otherwise.

Article 70 (1) Where the work requires testing of the ability of the factory or office worker to perform it, his or her final appointment may be preceded by a contract providing for a trial period of up to six months. Such a contract may also be concluded where the factory or office worker wishes to verify whether the work is suitable for him or her.

(2) The contract under Paragraph (1) shall specify the party to whose benefit the trial period is agreed. Where this is not specified in the contract, the trial period shall be presumed to be agreed to the benefit of both parties.

Business trips

Article 121 (1) In case the needs of the enterprise so require, the employer may second a factory or office worker for performance of labour duties outside the place of his or permanent work, but such period may not exceed 30 calendar days without interruption.

(2) A secondment for a period exceeding 30 calendar days shall require a written consent of the factory or office worker.

Employer’s Obligation to Charge and Pay Labour Remuneration

Article 128. The employer shall be obligated, within the prescribed time limits:

1. to charge in payrolls the labour remunerations of the factory and office workers for the work performed thereby;

2. to pay the labour remuneration agreed for the work done;

3. to issue, at the request of the factory and office workers, abstracts from the payrolls on the labour remunerations and any compensations, whether paid or unpaid.

Article 129 The employer shall be obligated to insure the factory or office worker against all social insurance risks, under terms and according to a procedure established by a separate law.

Working time and rest

Article 136 (1) The working week shall consist of five days, with a normal duration of the weekly working time of up to 40 hours.

(3) The normal duration of the working time during the day shall be up to eight hours.

Legal Holidays

(1) The public holidays shall be:

the 1st day of January – New Year;

the 3rd day of March – Day of the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman Domination, National Day;

the 1st day of May – Labour and International Workers – Solidarity Day;

the 6th day of May – St. George’s Day – Day of Valour and of the Bulgarian Armed Forces; the 24th day of May – Day of Bulgarian Education and Culture and of Slav Letters;

the 6th day of September – Bulgaria-Rumelia Union Day;

the 22nd day of September – Bulgaria Independence Day;

the 1st day of November – National Awakeners Day (non-study day for all educational establishments);

the 24th day of December – Christmas Eve;

the 25th and 26th day of December – Christmas; Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter (Easter Sunday and Monday) as determined for Easter celebrations in the relevant year.

Types of leaves

Article 155 (1) Each factory or office worker shall be entitled to paid annual leave.

(2) In case of beginning work for the first time, the factory or office worker may use his or her paid annual leave after acquiring at least eight months’ length of employment service.

(3) Upon termination of the employment relationship before acquiring eight months’ length of employment service, the factory or office worker shall be entitled to compensation for unused paid annual leave, calculated according to the procedure established by Article 224(1).

(4) The amount of basic paid annual leave shall be not less than 20 working days.

Pregnancy, Child-Birth and Adoption Leave

Article 163 (1) Female factory and office workers shall be entitled to pregnancy and child-birth leave of 410 days for each child, 45 days of which shall compulsorily be used before the confinement.

(3) Where due to misforecasting of the date of confinement by the health authorities the confinement occurs prior to the expiry of 45 days from the commencement of the use of the leave, the balance to 45 days shall be used after the confinement.

(7) Where the mother and father are married or share a household, the father shall be entitled to a 15-day leave upon the birth of a child as from the date of discharge of the child from the medical-treatment facility.

(10) During the time of leave under Paragraphs (1) to (9), the persons shall be paid a cash benefit under terms and in amounts specified by a separate law. The leave period shall be acknowledged as length of employment service.

Use of paid annual leave

Article 172 Paid annual leave shall be granted to the factory or office worker in a single uninterrupted period or in a piecemeal way and shall be used in accordance with a time-schedule, approved by the employer, during the calendar year for which the leave is due.

Article 173 (1) At the beginning of each calendar year the employer shall approve a time-schedule for using the paid annual leave of factory or office workers after consultations with the trade union organisations representatives and with the factory and office workers representatives under Article 7 (2). The time-schedule shall be prepared in a way allowing all factory and office workers to use their paid annual leave before the end of the calendar year for which the leave is due.

Regulation of Minimum Labour Remunerations and Benefits

Article 244 The Council of Ministers shall fix:

1. the national minimum wage;

2. the types and minimum amounts of the additional labour remunerations and of the benefits under an employment relationship, in so far as they are not fixed in this Code.

Deductions from Labour Remuneration

Article 272 (1) No deductions may be made from a factory or office worker’s labour remuneration without the worker’s consent, except for:

1. advance payments received;

2. amounts overpaid as a result of technical error;

3. taxes deductible from the labour remuneration under special laws;

4. social insurance contributions, which are for the account of the factory or office worker who is insured against all social insurance risks;

Work book

Article 347 The work book shall be an official document certifying the circumstances entered therein in connection with the employment record of the factory or office worker.

Article 348 (1) Upon beginning work, the factory or office worker shall be obligated to present the work book thereof to the employer.

(2) Where a factory or office worker begins work for the first time, the employer shall be obligated to provide the said worker with a work book within five days. The beginning of work for the first time shall be certified by the factory or office worker by a written declaration.

(3) The work book shall be in the custody of the factory or office worker, who shall be obligated to present it to the employer upon request, as well as for entry of new circumstances therein.

Length of employment service

Article 351 (1) Within the meaning given by this Code, length of employment service shall be the time during which a factory or office worker has worked under an employment relationship, unless otherwise provided for in this Code or in another law, as well as the time during which the person has worked as a civil servant.

(2) Length of employment service shall also be the time of civil service to the State or work under an employment relation as per the legislation of another Member State of the European Union, in another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or in the Swiss Confederation, as well as the time of holding office at an institution of the European Union, as certified by an act attesting to the establishment and termination of employment relations.

Length of Employment Service, How Calculated

Article 355 (1) The length of service shall be calculated in terms of days, months and years.

(3) A calendar month shall count towards the length of employment service if at least 21 days have been worked during that month in conditions of a five-day working week.

(4) A year shall count towards the length of employment service it consists of twelve months of employment service calculated in the manner established in the foregoing paragraph.

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