The broad range of rights and obligations affected requires swift alignment of employers’ internal procedures and practices with the regulatory changes.

As of 1st of August 2022, significant amendments were introduced to the Labour Code, the Social Insurance Code, the Health Insurance Act with the Act on Amending and Supplementing the Labour Code. They concern the issue of amendment of the employment relationship, some of the employer’s main obligations under this relationship, leave, the employer’s obligations to improve employees’ professional qualifications, reconciliation of parents’ professional and private life and accompanying changes in employees’ social security rights.

The broad range of rights and obligations affected requires swift alignment of employers’ internal procedures and practices with the regulatory changes.

To facilitate employers in this task and to inform employees on their rights, Stankov, Todorov, Hinkov and Spasov Attorneys – at – Law have drafted this newsletter, which summarises the amendments to the Labour Code and provides guidelines on their implementation.

New provisions concerning the employment contract amendment.

1. Amendments to Article 66, para. 5 of the Labour Code –obligation to provide information in case of modification of the employment relationship.

Under the former legislation, in case of amendment of the employment relationship, the employer was obliged to provide the employee with the necessary written information containing details of the amendments made “at their earliest opportunity or at least within one month after the amendment takes effect”. Such changes relate, for example, to a change in the job function, the place of work, the amount of remuneration, etc.

By the Act of Amending and Supplementing the Labour Code, into force since 1st of August 2022, this period has considerably been shortened. Employees shall be informed in writing by the entry into force of the relevant amendment at the latest.

Failure to comply with the obligation above shall render the employer with administrative liability.

2. Amendments to Article 70, para. 1 of the Labour Code – introducing a trial period for a fixed-term employment contract.

The legislator has placed a limit on the maximum duration of the trial period of one month in the case of a fixed-term contract of less than one year. In this way, the probationary period complies with the agreed duration of employment.

3. Amendments to Article 111 of the Labour Code – concluding an employment contract for an additional work with another employer.

A significant amendment has been introduced in Art. 111 of the Labour Code. This amendment extends the opportunity for employees to exercise their right to work with another employer.

Under the former legislation, the employer was able to put a restriction in the employment contract regarding the employee’s ability to work with another employer.

However, with the newly introduced amendments, an agreement to limit the employee’s right to perform additional work for another employer may be concluded in the employment contract only to protect commercial confidentiality and/or to prevent conflicts of interest. In other words, employers will not be entitled to provide for an absolute restriction on additional work for another employer.

4. Amendments to Article 119 of the Labour Code – providing the employee with the right to offer certain amendments to the employment contract and the employer’s obligations to give a reasoned response.

A novelty in the current regulation is providing the employee with the right to offer the employer the option of moving from a fixed-term contract to an open-ended contract or from part-time to full-time.

The employer’s obligation to provide a reasoned response in writing within a month is introduced unless the proposal has been made more than twice a year.

Failure to comply with the obligation above shall render the employer with administrative liability.

New provisions concerning the duties of the employer and the improvement of the employees’ professional qualification.

5. Amendments to Article 127 of the Labour Code – extending the scope of information the employees should be provided with by their employer.

Under the former legislation, the employer was obliged to provide the employees with:

• information on workplace and work conditions;
• information on healthy and safe working environment;
• a job description, a copy of which shall be given to the employee upon conclusion of the employment contract against signature and the date of service shall be noted;
• instructions on the performance of employment duties and the exercise of employment rights, including on the Internal Labour Regulations and Health and Safety Rules.

The following have been introduced with the Act on Amending and Supplementing the Labour Code:

• the employer’s obligation to make employees aware of the Internal Salary Regulations;
• information on the conditions and procedure for termination of the employment contract according to the Labour Code;
• information on trainings related to maintaining and improving professional qualifications and skills provided by the employer.

Employers are advised to provide their employees with the Internal Salary Regulations (modelled on the Internal Labour Regulations)  and to provide information on termination of the employment contracts and/or information on trainings in the Internal Labour Regulations or in a separate information form.

6. Amendments to Article 228a of the Labour Code – equating maintenance and upgrading time to working hours in some cases.

An important legislative amendment has been introduced for those employers who are obliged to ensure the maintenance and improvement of the professional qualifications of employees by virtue of a statute, collective labour agreement or agreement to the individual employment contract. In these cases, it is provided that the time of training is to be counted as working time, with all the resulting consequences – the right to increased remuneration for training that exceeds the established working hours; the right to daily and weekly rest, etc. Whenever possible, training shall take place during the employee’s established working hours.

It is expressly regulated that all costs related to the training shall be borne by the employer.

• Paternity leave. Reconciliation of work and professional duties.

The main focus of the amendments discussed is to ensure the right of the father or adoptive father to parental leave for raising a child up to the age of 8, with a guaranteed right to allowance. The legislator thus seeks to improve the possibilities of reconciling work and family obligations as follows:

7. New Article 164c of the Labour Code – use of leave by a father and an adoptive father for raising a child up to the age of 8.

Until the introduction of the current regulations, the father (adoptive father) of a young child was entitled to the following:

• 15 days’ leave for childbirth from the date of discharge of the child from the health facility if married or living in the same household as the mother;
• With the mother’s approval after the child reaches 6 months of age – leave for the remaining up to 410 days of the mother’s maternity leave, and in the case of adoption, the remaining 365 days of the adoptive mother leave, but not before 6 months after the child’s handover and until the child reaches the age of 5 years, or 365 days after the child’s handover and until the child reaches the age of 5 years if the adoptive mother herself adopted the child;
• With the approval of the mother, for the period from the child’s one year of age to the child’s two years of age and if the child is not placed in a child care institution;
• The appropriate portion of the mother’s or adoptive mother’s leave should she become seriously ill or die;
• Unpaid parental leave up to 6 months for each parent for a young child up to the age of 8.

In addition to the foregoing leave entitlements, a new one has been introduced in Art. 164c of the Labour Code for childcare until the age of 8. The amount of this leave shall be up to two months.

However, if the foregoing are used (with the exception of the 15 days’ maternity leave granted to fathers and the unpaid parental leave for children up to 8 years of age), the father or adoptive parent is entitled to paid leave in the amount of the difference between the leave used and the two months granted.

For example, shall father or the adoptive father have, with the consent of the mother or the adoptive parent, used parental leave instead of the mother or the adoptive mother until the end of the first year following the birth or adoption, respectively, for a period of more than two months, they will not be entitled to parental leave under Art. 164c of the Labour Code. If they have taken these rights for a period of one month, they will be entitled to leave under Art. 164c of the Labour Code for the remaining one month.

Leave shall be taken in in a single period or in parts, with at least 10 working days’ notice to the employer.

The time during which leave is taken shall be recognised as length of service.

Monetary benefits from the state social insurance shall be paid for the duration of this leave when the father or adoptive father has 12 months of contributory insurance for the respective risk.

The amount of the benefit is determined by Budget of the State Social Insurance Act, which for the period from 01.04.2022 to 31.12.2022 shall be BGN 710.

Identical insurance rights are provided for self-employed persons who are insured for sickness and maternity.

When taking leave under Art. 164c of the Labour Code, the health insurance contribution shall be borne by the employer.

8. Amendments to Article 167b of the Labour Code – employee’s rights to combine work and family duties.

The amendments introduce the right of a certain categories of employees to propose, in writing, changes to the duration and distribution of working time, to propose a remote working  and other changes to the employment relationship to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities.

The right is granted to:

• Parent or adoptive parent of a child under the age of 8;
• An employee who is caring for a parent, child, spouse, sibling and parent of the other spouse or other lineal relatives due to serious medical reasons.

In this case, the employer may either proceed with a written amendment of the employment relationship or, within 14 days, refuse the relevant amendment, providing the employee with a written reasoned response within the same period.

Failure to comply with the obligation above shall render administrative liability for the employer.

Author: Ida Golemanova, Attorney-at-law