Additional remuneration

Latest update 23 October 2025

Types of additional remuneration:

• for length of service and professional experience,
• for higher personal qualifications,
• for night work,
• for overtime work,
• for work on weekends and public holidays,
• for a period of time during which a worker or an employee is at the disposal of the employer outside the company premises, etc.

Additional remuneration for length of service and professional experience:
Additional monthly remuneration for length of service (length of service increment):

Additional monthly remuneration shall be paid to workers and employees for length of service and professional experience in a percentage of the basic salary, determined by the individual employment contract. (Art. 12(1) of the Ordinance on salary structure and organisation). As length of service and professional experience shall be regarded the experience, acknowledged pursuant to the Labour Code as the period of time during which the worker or employee has worked and still works at the enterprise, including in different workplaces and on various positions. At calculation of the additional remuneration for length of service and professional experience, the employer shall also take into account the following:

• the length of service of the worker or employee in another enterprise within the meaning of § 1, item 2 of the Additional Provisions of the Labour Code on the same or similar position or occupation or such of the same nature;
• the period of time during which the persons have been carrying out work activity and/or practicing profession which is the same or similar to the work under the concluded employment contract, and have been obligatorily insured for general disease and maternity, disability due to general disease, old age and death, accident at work and occupational disease and unemployment or disability due to general disease, old age and death, general disease and maternity;
• the length of service acquired in another Member State on the same or similar job, position or profession or such of the same nature by workers or employees who are Bulgarian citizens or nationals of any Member State, as well as their family members, provided that the said length of service is acknowledged as such pursuant to the legislation of the respective state;
• the period of time during which Bulgarian citizens, nationals of another Member State or their family members have been carrying out work activity and/or practicing profession on the territory of the Member States, the activity and/or profession being the same or similar to the job under the employment contract concluded in the Republic of Bulgaria, and have obligatorily been insured for general disease and maternity, disability due to general disease, old age and death, accident at work and occupational disease and unemployment or disability due to general disease, old age and death, general disease and maternity pursuant to the legislation of the respective Member States.

Art. 12(5-10) of the Ordinance on salary structure and organisation

The terms under which the similar nature of work, position and profession is considered as such shall be specified by a collective agreement at a branch level or by the internal salary rules at the enterprise.

The minimum amount of the additional remuneration for length of service and professional experience shall be determined by the Council of Ministers following consultations with the representative organizations of the workers and the employees and the ones of employers at national level.

The minimum amount of the additional remuneration for length of service and professional experience in a given branch shall be determined by a collective agreement at a branch level, while the exact amount shall be specified in a collective agreement and/or in the internal salary rules of the enterprise and in the personal labour contract.

Additional remuneration for length of service and professional experience shall be paid for the time during which the worker or employee has actually worked within the frames of the monthly duration of the working hours under the main employment relationship, and in case of part-time – under each employment contract - till the respective monthly duration of the working hours is reached.

The right to additional remuneration for length of service and professional experience shall arise when the person has a minimum of one year of length of service and professional experience.

The amount of the additional remuneration for length of service and professional experience shall be amended in periods of time of minimum a year of length of service and professional experience.

Additional remuneration for night work:

Night work performed shall be paid with an increase agreed between the parties to the employment relationship, but not less than the amounts determined by the Council of Ministers. (Art. 261 of the Labour Code)

Additional remuneration shall be paid out for each night work hour or parts thereof worked off from 22.00 h to 6.00 h by workers and employees in the amount of not less than 0.15 per cent of the minimum wage established for the country, but not less than one lev. (Art. 8 of the Ordinance on salary structure and organisation)

• In case shiftworking time is reported on a daily basis, the duration of night working hours being less than the daily one, the remuneration earned by work standards, shall be increased by a coefficient equal to the ratio between the normal duration of day and night working time; (Art. 9(1) of the Ordinance on salary structure and organisation)
• In those cases where a summarized calculation of working time is carried out, night hours shall be converted into daily ones by a coefficient equal to the ratio between the normal duration of day and night working time, established for reporting working time on a daily basis for the respective workplace; (Art. 9(2) of the Ordinance on salary structure and organisation)
• In the event of summarized calculation of working hours, the remuneration earned according to the work standards shall be increased by a coefficient equal to the ratio between the hours, resulting after the conversion of night working hours into daily ones and the working hours which have actually been worked off during the month or other set period of time.  (Art. 9 of the Ordinance on salary structure and organisation)

Additional remuneration for overtime work:
In accordance with Art. 262 of the Labour Code, overtime work performed shall be remunerated with an increase agreed upon by the worker or employee and the employer, but not less than:

1. 50 percent - for work on working days;
2. 75 percent - for work on weekends;
3. 100 percent - for work on official holidays;
4. 50 percent - for work with an accumulated calculation of the working time.

Unless otherwise agreed, the increase under the preceding paragraph shall be calculated on the basis of the labour remuneration set in the labour contract.

In accordance with Art. 7 of the Ordinance on salary structure and organization, overtime work shall be paid as an increase in the minimum amounts pursuant to Art. 262 of the Labour Code. The increase shall be calculated on the grounds of the basic salary and the additional remuneration of permanent nature of the worker or employee under the personal labour contract, unless otherwise agreed.

No additional labour remuneration shall be paid for overtime work on working days to workers and employees with open-ended working hours. Overtime work performed by employees with open-ended working hours on weekends and official holidays shall be remunerated pursuant to Art. 262(1), items 2 and 3 of the Labour Code (Art. 263 of the Labour Code).

Additional remuneration for work on official holidays:
Work on official holidays, irrespective of whether it represents overtime work or not, shall be remunerated pursuant to the agreement, but not less than double the amount of the labour remuneration. (Art. 264 of the Labour Code).

In accordance with Art. 154 of the Labour Code, 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 - the Day of Valour - the Bulgarian Armed Forces Day;
• May 24 – the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, of the Bulgarian Alphabet, Education and Culture and of Slavic Literature;
• 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.

Where the public holidays, with the exception of Easter holidays coincide with Saturday and/or Sunday, the first, or the first two working days after them shall be non-working days.(Art. 154(2) of the Labour Code)

Additional remuneration for a period of time at disposal:

Additional remuneration shall be paid for each hour or parts thereof during which a worker or employee is available to the employer outside the territory of the enterprise at a location agreed upon between them, amounting to not less than BGN 0.10. (Art. 10 of the Ordinance on salary structure and organisation)

Other additional labour remunerations:

• Labour remuneration for internal substitution 

In accordance with Art. 259 of the Labour Code, where a worker or an employee is to perform the job or work of an absent worker or employee, he or she shall be entitled to the rights of said job or work, including the labour remuneration, if it proves more favourable for him or her. If at the same time he or she performs his or her own work or job, he or she shall be entitled to an additional labour remuneration agreed upon by the parties to the employment relationship.

The employee, whose position is deputy to the absent employee, shall not avail himself of the rights referred to in the preceding paragraph.

Substitution pursuant to para. 1 shall be carried out with the consent of the employer and the worker or employee, given in writing. Lack of consent in writing shall not be an impediment for the worker or employee to receive the substitution remuneration.

• Labour remuneration in case of non-fulfilment of labour norms 

In accordance with Art. 266 of the Labour Code, any worker or employee who fails to fulfil his or her labour norms through no fault of his or hers shall be remunerated according to the output, but not less than the agreed remuneration for full output. In case of non-fulfilment of the labour norms through the worker’s or the employee's fault, he or she shall be remunerated according to the output.

• Labour remuneration in case of stoppage and production necessity 

In accordance with Art. 267 of the Labour Code, a worker or employee shall be entitled to his or her gross labour remuneration for stoppage through no fault of his or hers. The worker or employee shall receive no labour remuneration for the duration of a work stoppage caused through a fault of his or hers. For the time of performing other work due to production necessity, the worker or employee shall be entitled to the labour remuneration for the work performed, but not less than the gross labour remuneration for his or her basic work.

• Labour remuneration for low-quality output 

In accordance with Art. 268(2) and Art. 268(3) of the Labour Code, when through the fault of the worker or employee the products conform partially to the required quality standards (partial waste), the amount of his or her labour remuneration shall be reduced in accordance with the fitness of the products. In case of output of unfit products not through any fault of the worker or employee, the latter shall be entitled to a labour remuneration equal to the remuneration for fit products.

Information about other (additional) labour remuneration may be found here: