DECISION No. 55

from 30 March 2020

Art. 1. (1) An employer who, by reason of the state of emergency declared by a decision of the National Assembly of 13 March 2020, by his order issued on the basis of an order of a state body, terminated the work of the enterprise or part of the enterprise, amounts may be paid pursuant to § 6 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Emergency Measures and Actions Act, announced by a decision of the National Assembly of March 13, 2020, as compensation in order to preserve the employment of employees in enterprises it.

(2) Compensations under par. 1 may also be paid to an employer who by his order issued on the basis of Art. 120c, para. 1 of the Labor Code, terminated the work of the enterprise, part of the enterprise or individual employees.

(3) Compensations under par. 1 may also be paid to an employer who by his order issued on the basis of Art. 138a, para. 2 of the Labor Code, has established part-time work in the enterprise or in its unit.

(4) Compensations under par. 1, 2 and 3 shall be paid for the whole or part of the period of validity of the Law on Measures and Actions during the State of Emergency, announced by a decision of the National Assembly of March 13, 2020, but for no more than three months.

(5) The compensations under para. 1, 2 and 3 shall amount to 60 percent of the amount of the insurance income for January 2020 for each worker and employee to whom the regime under para. 1, 2 and 3 and to whom the employment will be retained for an additional period equal to the period for which compensation is paid. In the case of part-time work, the compensation shall be paid in proportion to the time worked, but for no more than 4 hours a day.

(6) No compensation shall be paid for:
1. employees who have not been employed by the employer before the date of the declaration of emergency;
2. workers and employees enjoying temporary disability leave, pregnancy and childbirth leave when adopting a child up to 5 years of age or raising a child up to 2 years of age;
3. 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.

(7) The insurance income for January 2020 is determined as follows:
1. for persons who have worked days - the average daily insurance income is multiplied by the number of working days for January;
2. for the persons who have used the whole month due to temporary disability, pregnancy and childbirth or adoption of a child up to 5 years of age - the average daily amount of the income from which the benefit is determined is multiplied by the number of working days for January;
3. for the persons who throughout the month have used parental leave up to 2 years of age - the minimum monthly salary for the country;
4. for persons who have used temporary disability leave, pregnancy and childbirth, in case of adoption of a child up to 5 years of age or raising a child up to 2 years of age - the average daily insurance income determined in accordance with items 2 and 3 , is multiplied by the appropriate number of business days;
5. for the persons who have been on unpaid leave or have not been insured under Art. 4, para. 1, item 1 of the Social Security Code (CSR) with this employer - the minimum monthly salary for the country.

(8) The employer shall pay the full amount of the salary to the persons under para. 5 for the respective month and pays the due social security contributions.

Art. 2. (1) For payment of compensations under Art. 1, para. 1 may apply for employers who:
1. are local natural or legal persons, as well as foreign legal entities, which carry on business in the Republic of Bulgaria;
2. request payment of compensation for employees provided for in the economic activities specified in the Annex;
3. have no obligations for taxes and compulsory social security contributions within the meaning of Art. 162, para. 2, item 1 of the Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code to the state or municipality, established by an effective act of a competent authority and for which the employer has not taken any actions for rescheduling, deferral or security;
4. have not been declared bankrupt or are not in bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings;
5. keep the employment of workers and employees for whom they have been compensated for a period not less than the period for which the compensations have been paid;
6. do not terminate employment contracts of employees on the grounds of Art. 328, para. 1