Additional pay for work and professional experience

Updated on 25.09.2024

In Bulgaria, you are entitled to additional pay in addition to your basic salary. In this article we will look at additional pay for work and professional experience.

What are the conditions?

Your employer must pay you a monthly additional wage for your work experience as an employee, which is calculated as a percentage of the main salary set out in your labour contract. Together, the additional monthly pay and the main salary form what is known as your gross wage - your salary before deductions for tax and social and health insurance.

The minimum percentage of this additional pay is 0.6% of your main salary for each year of work and professional experience gained. You can negotiate a higher percentage with your employer.

In order to receive such additional remuneration, you:

must have worked and gained work experience at your job. You may also be credited with work experience from other jobs, but you must have been in the same or similar job/profession. It also counts if you have gained work experience in the same or a similar position as an intern, including if you have worked in another European Union country or if you have worked without an labour contract in Bulgaria but have been compulsorily insured (see more about insurance in Bulgaria here).
must have gained professional experience. This means that during the time you have worked in your current job or elsewhere in the same or similar positions, you have increased your professional qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills in the field you are working in.

How much work and professional experience do I need to have?

In order to receive this additional pay you must have at least 1 year of accumulated work and professional experience.

Can my employer refuse me this extra pay for work and professional experience?

Payment of this extra pay is compulsory if you have acquired the necessary work and professional experience, this mean your employer cannot refuse to pay it or make an arrangement with you for you not to receive it.

Other additional pays

There are other mandatory additional pay such as:

For overtime work assigned by order of the employer - you are paid at least 50% calculated on top of your main salary, but it is possible to agree to a higher percentage in your contract with your employer. Overtime work on working days by employees who under their labour contract are supposed to work overtime because of the nature of their work and it is not a one-time thing, is not paid extra.
For work during public holidays, specifically assigned by the employer - not less than twice your daily salary;
For work on non-working days by order of the employer - 75% calculated on your daily basic salary;
For night shifts - night shifts are work between 22:00 and 06:00. The additional pay is at least 0.15% of the minimum wage in the country (BGN 933 for 2024);

There are specifics depending on the type of hours you work under your labour contract:

If you are reporting your working hours on a daily basis or you work on shifts where the night-time working hours are shorter than the day-time working hours, your pay is increased by a coefficient equal to the ratio between the normal duration of the day and night working hours.

In the case of aggregated working time, night hours are converted into day-time working hours by a coefficient equal to the ratio between the normal duration of day and night working time established for the daily working time reporting for the workplace concerned.

In the case of aggregated working time, your pay is increased by a coefficient equal to the ratio of the hours worked after the conversion of the night-time hours into day-time hours and the hours of actual effective work during the month or other established period.

If you hold a doctorate degree or a doctorate degree in science - if these degrees are related to the work you perform, you must be paid an additional amount of at least 15 BGN if you hold a doctorate degree and at least 50 BGN if you hold a doctorate degree in science.

Workers' rights in Bulgaria

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