BULGARIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Marin Sarafov, Petya Norova, Iva Georgieva and Eduard Milchev, G&P Law
Dismissals Employer-initiated dismissals are permissible only on statutory grounds, which broadly fall into business- related reasons (eg, closure of the enterprise, redun - dancy, reduction in workforce, etc). Bulgarian employment law imposes strict substantive and procedural requirements on dismissals. Depend - ing on the legal ground relied upon, the employer may be required to apply statutory selection criteria and conduct a statutory selection process where only part of the workforce is affected, or obtain prior approval from the Labour Inspectorate or consult the compe - tent medical authorities in cases involving employees entitled to protection against specific unilateral ter - mination grounds (eg, pregnant female employees or employees in advance in-vitro treatment, etc). Failure to comply with the applicable legal requirements may result in the dismissal being declared unlawful by the courts. Employees may challenge the lawfulness of their dismissal before the competent court. Where a dis - missal is found to be unlawful, the court may order the employee’s reinstatement and award compensa - tion of up to six months’ gross remuneration for the period during which the employee was unemployed as a result of the unlawful dismissal. Severance Bulgarian law does not provide for a general statu - tory entitlement to severance pay upon termination of employment. However, employees are entitled to receive all outstanding remuneration accrued up to the termination date, including compensation for any unused paid annual leave and payment in lieu of notice (if applicable). Collective Redundancies Collective redundancies are specifically regulated by Bulgarian labour legislation, which implements the rel - evant EU legislation. Where the statutory thresholds are met, employers must initiate prior information and consultation procedures with employee representa - tives and trade unions, where such representatives exist, with a view to discussing measures to avoid or reduce the proposed redundancies and mitigate their consequences. The employer must also notify
and on-call duties, subject to the statutory conditions applicable to each arrangement. Bulgarian employ - ment legislation also provides for reduced working hours for certain categories of employees, including those performing work under hazardous or otherwise harmful working conditions, as well as in other cases expressly provided for by operation of the law. Rest periods Employees are entitled to statutory minimum rest peri - ods. As a rule, employees are entitled to a minimum uninterrupted daily rest period of 12 hours between two working days and a minimum uninterrupted week - ly rest period of 48 consecutive hours in a five-day working week. Regulation of night work Night work is subject to specific statutory regulation. Night working hours are shorter than daytime work - ing hours, and employees performing night work are entitled to additional remuneration, enhanced health and safety protection and periodic medical examina - tions. Special restrictions apply to certain categories of employees, including minors and pregnant employ - ees. Overtime Overtime work is generally prohibited unless it falls within the limited exceptions expressly provided for by the Labour Code, such as work required for national defence, the prevention or mitigation of disasters, etc. 4.4 Termination of Employment Contracts Grounds for Termination Bulgaria is not an “employment at will” jurisdiction. Employment contracts may be terminated only on the grounds and in accordance with the procedures expressly provided for by the Labour Code. Depend - ing on the applicable legal basis, an employment con - tract may be terminated: • by mutual agreement, by either party upon notice; • without notice in the circumstances prescribed by law; • upon expiry of a fixed-term contract; or • by operation of law.
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