ADDITIONAL REMUNERATION /BONUS SYSTEMS/ FOR EMPLOYEES - reference to gross salary
More and more employers, in order to stimulate and promote the work process in their company, introduce various bonus systems designed to motivate employees and help them develop their potential and opportunities for the benefit of the company.
However, the distribution of various bonuses and target rewards raises the question of which of them should be included in the calculation of benefits based on the gross salary of employees (benefits for paid annual leave, benefits for termination of employment, etc.).
Whether additional remuneration should be included in the calculation of benefits based on gross wages depends on whether they are permanent or non-permanent. In order for that assessment to be lawfully made, it is necessary that any additional remuneration be examined on the merits, including the conditions and methods of payment used by the employer. The nature of the specific additional remuneration however should be determined for each individual case.
According to the applicable regulations, additional remunerations of a permanent nature are also considered to be the additional remunerations, which are paid constantly together with the basic remuneration due for the respective period and depend only on the time worked.
In the practice of employers, there is also a difficulty in assessing whether night work has the character of additional remuneration of a permanent nature. Here again, it is necessary to perform a professional competent assessment for each individual case when there is payment for night work of employees.
Apart from the above, when paying the various bonuses, care should be taken not to discriminate any employee. Treating an employee less favorably on the basis of the protected attribute "personal situation" than another employee has been treated in comparable similar circumstances constitutes discrimination.
In order to avoid adverse consequences for the employer related to the payment of various types of additional remuneration, it is necessary correct and detailed professional design of the internal acts of the company related to the payment of various bonuses, including knowledge of the legal matter, opinions and instructions of the Bulgarian authorities in order to prevent errors and incompleteness in the employment relationship between the employer and its employees.
The Bulgarian Consulting Group has a team of experts in the field of labor law, whose main goal is to provide maximum protection of the rights and interests of the Bulgarian employers, including by drawing up and drafting allighned with the requirements of the law employment documentation.
