The minimum monthly salary in Bulgaria is BGN 710, which reflects the minimum wage received for full-time work – 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week.

On the top of that, there is a different minimum insurance income depending on the job position of the employee and the employer’s economic activity based on which are paid the social and health contributions. For example, managers in different industries the minimum monthly insurance income varies between BGN 710 and BGN 1589.

The maximum insurance income in Bulgaria is BGN 3 400. Respectively, for a monthly salary over BGN 3 400, only personal income tax (10%) is due for the part exceeding the maximum insurance income.

Labor Accidents and Occupational Diseases fund covers cases of disability, death, temporary incapacity for work and temporary reduced working capacity due to labor accident or occupational disease. It ranges from 0.4 to 1.1% depending on the economic activity of the employer. The lowest is in the administrative sphere and the highest is in the construction and heavy industry business;

Health insurance in Bulgaria is obligatory and supplementary. The health insurance of the employees under employment contract is paid by the employer and for 3^rd category of labour is split into 4.8% for the employer and 3.2% for the employee.

For the self-employed persons, the health insurance is at their expense. The unemployed in Bulgaria must pay a minimum of BGN 24.40 per month.

The Bulgarian social security system covers general disease, labour-related accidents, occupational disease, maternity, unemployment, aging and death. Any person working in Bulgaria is subject to social security in the country.

In this respect the employer, in the capacity as insurer, is obliged to withhold and pay social security and health insurance contributions to its employees on a monthly basis. The social security and health insurance contributions are due on the total gross remuneration of each employee within the minimum and maximum insurance incomes as explained in the paragraph above.

The Bulgarian labour and social security law divides employees into three categories depending on the nature of their work and their specific working conditions, namely, first, second and third category of work. The Council of Ministers determines which type of work belongs to which category. The most common category is the third category of work, which provides the most standard and favourable working conditions.

Conversely, the working conditions for the first and second categories of work employees are more harmful to their physical and mental state and working ability and the respective employees enjoy some additional employment (reduced working time) and social security rights (such as an entitlement to early retirement).

In Bulgaria, the employee is not obligated to work overtime (unless otherwise agreed). Overtime must be performed outside the regular working time (e.g. before the beginning/after the end of the working day, during the lunch break). The instruction to work overtime is done in writing by the employer.

• within one calendar year, overtime may not exceed 150 hours
• within a month it may not exceed 30 hours daily or 20 hours night work
• within one working week it may not exceed 6 hours of day work and 4 hours of night work
• within one working month it may not exceed 30 hours day work and 20 hours night work
• with collective labor agreement it may be agreed a longer duration of the overtime work, but not more than 300 hours in a one calendar year

It is forbidden to compensate overtime with breaks. The payment must be as following:

• 50 % on the top of the standard rate for work on work days;
• 75 % on the top of the standard rate for work on holidays;
• 100 % on the top of the standard rate for work on public holidays;
• 50 % on the top of the standard rate for work at working time calculated on a weekly or longer basis.

Employment contract is concluded based on the provisions of the Labor Law, whereas the civil contracts are covered by the Law on Obligations and Contracts. The employment contracts are concluded between a worker and an employer for the provision and implementation of a work force.

In the case of a civil contract, the Assignor assigns the performance of a specific task to the Contractor and is expected an exact deadline for implementation to see the results achieved. The Contractor can`t benefit from the right to leave, benefits, protection when terminating joint relationships and others. The Employment contract is subject to registration before the local tax authorities and the civil contract is not.

The Contractor who participates in the civil contract is obliged to notify the Assignor whether he is a self-insured person and whether he receives remuneration on other grounds. On this basis, the Assignor is obliged to withhold and pay social security contributions (excluding contributions for the fund ” Labor Accidents and Occupational Diseases ” and “General (Non-occupational) Disease and Maternity” in the following cases:

• If the amount due after deduction of the statutory recognized expenses -25% under the Personal Income Tax Act Art. 29 para. 1 item 3 for self-employed – is above the minimum wage for Bulgaria during the respective period
• When the contractor is insured on other grounds during the same period

For pensioners who have concluded a civil contract, only health insurance is deducted, but there is an option to be insured for the Pension Fund as well. The insurance contributions for the contractors who work without employment shall be paid by the assignor not later than the 10th day of the month following the month for which they are due. If the person is a self-insured person, the assignor has no obligation to withhold and pay social security contributions – they are entirely at the expense of the contractor – recipient of the income.

In comparison to the employment contract, the self-employed person has the right to choose to pay or not “General (Non-occupational) Disease and Maternity”. At the same time they are not entitled to get insured in the Unemployment fund of the State Social insurance and are not allowed to benefit from this allowance if necessary.