WORKING CONDITIONS

The working week in the Republic of Bulgaria is 5-day with a normal duration of the weekly working time up to 40 hours (art. 136, para. 1 of LC). The normal duration of the working hours during the day shall be up to 8 hours (art. 136, para. 3 of LC).  The normal duration of the working hours shall not be extended, except in the cases and by an order stipulated by the Labour Code (art. 136, para. 4 of LC).

The law stipulates establishment of reduced working hours for workers and employees performing work under specific conditions (art. 137, para. 1, item 1 of LC) and for employees who have not reached 18 years of age (art. 137, para. 1, item 2 of LC).

The parties to the employment contract may negotiate work for a part of the statutory working hours (part-time work). In this case, they shall specify the duration and allocation of the working hours (art. 138, para. 1 of LC). 

Due to the specific nature of the work, the employer may establish for some positions open-ended working hours (art. 139a, para. 1 of LC).

The normal duration of the weekly working hours at night for a five-day workweek shall be up to 35 hours. The normal duration of the night working hours for a five-day workweek shall be up to 7 hours (art. 140, para. 1 of LC).

Where the nature of the production process necessitates it, the work in the enterprise shall be organised in two or more shifts (art. 141, para. 1 of LC).

Working hours shall be calculated in working days, for each day (art. 142, para. 1 of LC).

Overtime work shall be prohibited (art. 143, para. 2 of LC).

The working hours of the employee shall be interrupted by one or several breaks.

The employee shall be entitled to an uninterrupted rest between workdays, which shall not be shorter than 12 hours (art. 152 of LC).

For a five-day working week, the employee shall be entitled to a weekly rest of two consecutive days, one of which shall be Sunday on principle. In such cases, the employee shall be ensured at least 48 hours of weekly rest at a stretch (art. 153, para. 1 of LC).

The public holidays shall be:

January 1 - New Year;

March 3 - the Day of the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman Domination - the National Day;

May 1 - the Day of Labour and International Workers' Solidarity;

May 6 - St. George's Day - the Day of Valour and of the Bulgarian Armed Forces;

May 24 - the Day of Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture and of the Slavonic Script;

September 6 - Unification Day;

September 22 - Bulgaria's Independence Day;

November 1 - the Day of the Leaders of the Bulgarian National Revival - a legal holiday for all educational establishments;

December 24 - Christmas Eve; December 25 and 26 - Christmas;

Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter - Sunday and Monday on which it is celebrated in the respective year (art. 154, para. 1 of LC).

Upon observance of the general rules for providing healthy and safe working conditions, the Council of Ministers can establish different duration of the of the daily, weekly and monthly working time, of the daily and weekly rest periods, of the breaks during the workday, and of the night work for workers and employees, performing work of specific nature and/or work organization (art. 154a of LC).

Each employee shall be entitled to an annual paid leave (art. 155, para. 1 of LC).

Longer duration of the leaves may be agreed in a collective agreement, as well as between the parties to an employment relationship (art. 156a of LC).

Upon the request of the employee, the employer may permit him/her an unpaid leave, regardless of the fact whether he/she has used his/her annual paid leave or not, and irrespective of his/her  length of service (art. 160, para. 1 of LC).

The employee shall be entitled to a leave in case of temporar disability resulting from common sickness or an occupational disease, an occupational accident, for sanatorium treatment or for urgent medical examination or test, quarantine, suspension from work prescribed by the medical authorities, for taking care of an ill or quarantined member of the family, for urgent need to accompany a sick member of the family to a medical check-up, test or treatment, and for taking care of a healthy child dismissed from a child-care facility because of quarantine imposed on that facility or on the child (art. 162, para. 1 of LC).