Hire Employees in Bulgaria

Your own entity is normally an OOD or EOOD. Registration is inexpensive, and Bulgaria’s flat 10% corporate and personal income tax rates are among the lowest in the EU.

An Employer of Record inverts the sequence: the Bulgarian entity signs the contract, registers it with the National Revenue Agency within three days and before the employee starts, pays roughly 19% in contributions and files monthly — while you direct the day-to-day work.

Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026, so any figure quoted in leva needs converting and any system configured in leva needs migrating. That alone makes 2026 a year to re-check every Bulgarian number rather than carry it forward.

Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026, so any figure quoted in leva needs converting and any system configured in leva needs migrating. That alone makes 2026 a year to re-check every Bulgarian number rather than carry it forward.

Employer cost runs 18.92% to 19.62% depending on the accident fund category, plus health insurance, and both are capped at the maximum insurance base. Combined with the employee side the total is around 33%, which is moderate for the region, and income tax is a flat 10% — among the lowest in the EU.

The ceiling changes mid-year. The maximum insurance base is EUR 2,111.64 a month to 31 July 2026 and EUR 2,300 from 1 August. A payroll configured once in January will be wrong from August, and the change is easy to miss because most markets move ceilings only in January.

The registration rule is the other thing to get right. The employment contract must be registered with the National Revenue Agency within three days of signing and before the employee starts work — both conditions, not either.

Break-even rule of thumb: EOR fees begin to exceed the running cost of a small Bulgarian entity somewhere between 15 and 20 employees. Model both before committing — see EOR vs Entity for the full comparison, and plan any later migration so employees keep seniority.

Employer cost runs 18.92% to 19.62% depending on the accident fund category, comprising social security and health insurance, with the accident element rated by activity from 0.4% to 1.1%.

Both employer and employee contributions are capped at the maximum insurance base. Combined with the employee side the total is around 33%, which is moderate for the region, and income tax is a flat 10%.

The ceiling changes mid-year. The maximum insurance base is EUR 2,111.64 a month to 31 July 2026 and EUR 2,300 from 1 August. A payroll configured once in January will be wrong from August, and the change is easy to miss because most markets move ceilings only at the turn of the year.

One recurring cost sits outside the contribution rates entirely. Bulgarian law requires a length-of-service supplement of at least 0.6% of gross salary for each year of an employee’s professional experience. It accrues automatically and compounds across a career, so an experienced hire costs measurably more than the headline rate suggests. Note also that the minimum insurance base and the minimum wage are different figures moving on different dates — the wage rose to €620.20 in January, the insurance base not until 1 August.

Four representative profiles, costed with the 2026 contribution rates above. Salaries are illustrative market midpoints, not GX operating data — use them to see how the on-cost percentage behaves as pay rises, not as a salary benchmark for a specific role. For real market data on your roles, ask for a costing.

Because the main charges are capped, the on-cost percentage falls sharply above the ceiling. Model a senior hire explicitly rather than scaling the junior figure — the error runs in your favour but it distorts the comparison against uncapped markets.

Four representative profiles costed on 2026 statutory rates. Salaries are illustrative market midpoints, not GX operating data.

Payroll runs monthly in euros following the January 2026 adoption. Contributions and withheld tax are declared and paid monthly to the National Revenue Agency.

Personal income tax is a flat 10% with no progressive bands and limited reliefs, which makes gross-to-net unusually simple to explain and to model.

The minimum insurance thresholds are set by occupation and economic activity, not just by the national minimum wage. An employee in a specified role must attract contributions on at least the threshold for that role even if actual pay is lower, so low-paid arrangements in listed occupations carry a floor.

Thresholds and ceilings are uprated periodically, so a figure correct in January may not hold later in the year. Where a row below is flagged, published sources disagreed and the conflict is recorded rather than resolved.

Thresholds move on a local cycle that does not always fall in January, so a figure correct at the start of the year may not hold through it. Where a row below carries a flag, published sources disagreed and the conflict is recorded rather than resolved — none apply on this page.

The sections that follow set out contracts and probation, working time, leave, termination and immigration in that order. Where an entitlement comes from a collective agreement rather than statute it is marked as such, because that distinction determines whether it is negotiable.

The employment contract must be registered with the National Revenue Agency within three days of signing and before the employee starts work. Both conditions apply, and this is the single most commonly missed Bulgarian requirement among foreign employers.

Probation may run up to six months and may be agreed in favour of one or both parties. During it the party in whose favour it was agreed may terminate without notice — so a probation clause drafted in favour of the employer alone gives the employee no reciprocal right.

Fixed-term contracts are limited to three years and may generally be renewed only once, with exceptions for defined circumstances.

Eight hours a day and 40 a week. Overtime is generally prohibited except in circumstances the Code lists, is capped at 150 hours a year, and carries a premium of at least 50% on working days, 75% at weekends and 100% on public holidays.

Overtime is where payroll disputes usually start. Record hours from day one even where the role is salaried and the expectation is that overtime will not arise — reconstructing records after a complaint is far harder than keeping them.

Overtime is where payroll disputes usually begin, and the burden of proving hours worked generally sits with the employer. Record hours from the first day even for salaried roles where overtime is not expected — reconstructing a record after a complaint is considerably harder than keeping one.

Public holidays sit on top of the annual leave entitlement. Where a holiday falls at a weekend, practice varies — some markets move it, some grant a substitute day and some do neither, so check the position before assuming a day in lieu.

The 14 dates below are the statutory position. Employers in many markets grant more by policy or collective agreement, and sector agreements sometimes add local or patronal days that do not appear in a national list.

Bulgaria observes 14 paid public holidays in 2026. Dates that fall at a weekend and any substitution rules are set out below; entitlement is separate from annual leave.

Maternity: 410 days, starting 45 days before the due date — 90% of average daily gross earnings, paid by the National Social Security Institute. Transfer to the father: After the child reaches 6 months, with the mother’s consent — The balance of the 410 days may be taken by the father at the same rate. Paternity: 15 days from discharge from hospital — 90% of average daily earnings, NSSI-funded. Child-raising leave: Until the child is 2, after maternity leave ends — A fixed monthly allowance from the state.

Sick leave: From day 1 — The employer pays 70% of average gross for the first 3 working days; the NSSI pays 80% thereafter.

Termination requires a ground in the Labour Code, and the grounds are enumerated. Notice is 30 days for an indefinite contract unless the parties agree a longer period, capped at three months, and three months for a fixed-term contract.

Severance varies by ground. On redundancy or closure the employee receives one month's gross remuneration. An employee dismissed after ten years or more with the same employer who is entitled to a pension receives up to six months' gross, which is a substantial obligation that a headcount-based model will not surface.

Where an employee is dismissed unlawfully, the court may order reinstatement and award up to six months' compensation for the period of unemployment.

Probation may run up to six months and may be agreed in favour of one or both parties. During it the party in whose favour it was agreed may terminate without notice.

EU, EEA and Swiss nationals need no permit. A third-country national needs a single permit or an EU Blue Card, with a labour market test in most cases.

Allow two to three months. Bulgaria has eased its Blue Card conditions in line with the recast EU directive, lowering the salary threshold and shortening the required contract duration, which makes that route more accessible than it was.

Seasonal and intra-corporate transfer routes operate separately with their own conditions and timelines.

A cross-border hire may not attract local contributions at all. Under EU Regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009 a worker moving within the EEA is subject to one state’s social security system at a time. A posted worker stays in the home system for up to 24 months under Article 12, and someone working across two or more states follows a single state determined by a 25% activity test under Article 13. Where a valid A1 portable document is held, the host state cannot charge contributions. The certificate is declaratory rather than constitutive — the right legislation applies either way — but without it a host state can assess retroactively with penalties, and enforcement is aggressive in France, Belgium and Austria. Residual local charges are not always nil, so confirm the specific position rather than assuming zero.

Registration with the NRA before the start date is a precondition to lawful employment, not a filing formality, and the three-day window runs from signing rather than from the start.

Severance varies by ground, and one entitlement is materially larger than the rest: an employee dismissed after ten years or more with the same employer who is entitled to a pension receives up to six months’ gross. A headcount-based model will not surface that liability.

Practical controls: register within three days and before the start, convert all leva figures following euro adoption, reconfigure the insurance ceiling for 1 August, check minimum insurance thresholds by occupation, and identify long-tenured employees approaching pension eligibility before any restructuring.

Work backwards from the start date. For an EU national, a week or two is realistic. A non-EU hire needs a single permit or EU Blue Card, adding two to three months.

Confirm before making an offer: which accident fund category applies to the activity, since it moves employer cost by seven tenths of a point; whether the start date falls before or after 1 August, since the insurance ceiling changes then; and that all figures are stated in euro following the January 2026 adoption.

The contract must be registered with the National Revenue Agency within three days of signing and before work begins. That is the single most commonly missed Bulgarian requirement among foreign employers, and it is a precondition rather than a filing formality.