COVID-19 - State of emergency in Bulgaria. Payment of compensations to Bulgarian employers – “measure 60/40”
General information:
The closing date for submission of applications is April 21, 2020.
Compensation is paid for a period not exceeding 3 months.
The calculation of the amount of compensation (60%) is done on the basis of the relevant employee`s remuneration for January 2020.
The employer pays the full amount of the salary to the employees for the respective month and also pays the social security contributions due, 40% of which remain at his expense.
Requirements for employers:
- To issue an order for ceasing the work of the entire enterprise or the work of part of it or the work of some employees OR for part-time work /min. 4 hours per day/ in the entire enterprise or in its individual unit.
- The company activity shall not be in the economic sectors related to:
- Forestry, agriculture and fisheries;
- Financial and insurance activities;
- Government;
- Education;
- Health and social work;
- Production of goods and services for own consumption;
- Activities of extraterritorial organizations.
4.Have not been declared in bankruptcy or liquidation;
5. Retain the employment of employees for whom is compensated for a period not less than the period for which the compensations have been paid;
6. Shall not terminate employment contracts of employees on the grounds of Art. 328, para. 1, pt. 2, 3 and 4 of the Labor Code (closure of part of the enterprise, redundancy, reduction of the volume of work, stay of the enterprise) during the period for which they are compensated;
7. Have no employment law violation and have not hired an illegally resident person for a period of 6 months prior to the issuance of the order under pt. 1.
8. Declare a decrease in sales revenue:
- Companies registered before March 1, 2019 - by not less than 20 percent in the month preceding the month of submission of the application for payment of compensation, compared to the same month of the previous calendar year;
- Companies registered after March 1, 2019 - by not less than 20 percent in the month preceding the month of submission of the application for payment of compensation, compared to the average January and February 2020 income.
Compensations would not be paid for:
- Employees not been hired by the employer before the extraordinary situation;
- Employees in disability leave due to sickness, pregnancy and childbirth, adoption of a child or raising a child;
- Employees for whom the employer receives financing for salaries and social security contributions from the state budget, with funds from the European Structural and Investment Funds or other public funds.
The legal and accounting departments of Bulgarian Consulting Group is at your disposal with regard to providing comprehensive and highly professional consultancy services related to the compensation procedure, including preparation of the necessary application documents.