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Unemployment Insurance in EU->Bulgaria
Unemployment insurance in Bulgaria
Here you can find information on the unemployment benefit system in Bulgaria.
The following are described:
- unemployment benefit (обезщетение за безработица);
- guaranteed debt payment in the event of an employer's insolvency (гарантирано вземане при несъстоятелност на работодателя).
In what situation can I claim?
Unemployment benefits are payable to everyone who has paid social insurance contributions into the unemployment fund of the General State Insurance Fund for at least 12 months in the previous 18 months before becoming unemployed.
Benefits are payable whether or not the insurance contributions have been paid or are due but have not actually been paid.
Employees may also receive benefits if the company in which they work is declared insolvent. Guaranteed debt payments are financed by the Guaranteed Debt Payments for Workers and Employees Fund to which all companies are obliged to pay contributions.
Long-term unemployment benefits have not been payable since 2011.
What conditions do I need to meet?
In order to receive unemployment benefit:
- you must be registered as unemployed at the Employment Agency
- you must not be entitled to a pension for period of social insurance or old age or an early retirement pension in Bulgaria, or an old age pension in another country
- you must not be employed in an activity which is subject to compulsory insurance
If you are employed part-time and your remuneration is less than the minimum wage, you will be entitled to half of the unemployment benefit due to you.
To determine the length of paid insurance contributions which make up your entitlement to unemployment benefit, the following factors are taken into account: paid and unpaid leave for child care, temporary incapacity to work, pregnancy and childbirth, adoption of a child up to 5 years of age and unpaid leave of up to 30 working days in 1 calendar year.
Your length of paid insurance contributions and unemployment insurance period stipulated in the legislation of another state outside the EU with which Bulgaria has an international treaty is taken into account.
You are entitled to receive benefits from the fund that guarantees debt payment in the event of insolvency from the moment the court decision on insolvency procedures is recorded in the Commercial Register. You are not entitled to this benefit if you are a member of the managing bodies of the company, a shareholder in the commercial company or his/her spouse or a direct relative. The employer is obliged to notify you of the amount of paid and unpaid labour remuneration and/or cash compensation due to you.
The regional directorate of the National Social Security Institute checks to establish whether you are entitled to a benefit in accordance with the Guaranteed Receivables Act and drafts a statement. The procedure begins within 1 month of the court decision being recorded in the Commercial Register. While this verification is in progress, you are entitled to submit objections to the information provided by the employer. More information about the procedure can be found on the National Social Security Institute website.
What am I entitled to and how can I claim?
Unemployment benefits
The first step towards obtaining unemployment benefit is to register at the Employment Agency within 7 working days of termination of work. This can be done at the regional labour office departments in the region of your permanent address.
You must then submit an application for unemployment benefit within 3 months to the regional directorate of the National Social Security Institute.
The daily cash benefit for unemployment is 60% of your average insurable income for which you have paid contributions during the 24 months prior to suspension of social insurance. If you have worked in Bulgaria and in another EU Member State, only the periods of unemployment insurance and your income in Bulgaria are taken into account in the benefit calculation. The amount of benefit must be at least the minimum amount set out in the state budget for each calendar year. The minimum amount for 2024 is BGN 18 per day. The maximum amount for 2024 is BGN 107.14 per day.
There are exceptions when determining the amount of benefit. If you have willingly terminated your relationship with your employer of your own accord, you are entitled to minimum benefits for 4 months. You receive the minimum amount if you have already received unemployment benefit in the last 3 years.
The duration of unemployment benefit depends on the period of social insurance cover in years.
Period of social insurance cover (years) | Benefit payment period (months) |
Up to 3 | 4 |
From 3 and 1 day to 7 | 6 |
From 7 and 1 day to 11 | 8 |
From 11 and 1 day to 15 | 10 |
Over 15 | 12 |
Long-term unemployment benefit has not been payable since 2011.
Guaranteeing debt payments in the event of employer's insolvency
Employees who have worked for their employer for at least 3 months are entitled to this benefit. If you began work for an employer at least 3 months before the court decision was recorded, you are also entitled to benefit but to a lesser extent.
- The guaranteed debt is equivalent to the last 6 calculated but unpaid salaries and cash compensation during the 36 calendar months, prior to the month when insolvency was declared. Monthly compensation cannot be more than the maximum amount of guaranteed receivables. For 2024, this is BGN 2332.50 per month;
- Employees whose legal relations with the employer were terminated during the 36 months prior to the date of the recording of the court decision are also entitled to a guaranteed debt payment. The guaranteed debt is equal to the sum of the last calculated but unpaid monthly salaries but not exceeding four time the minimum salary (for 2024 - BGN 933).
Jargon busters
- NSSI: National Social Security Institute;
- SIC: Social Insurance Code;
- Social Insurance Period: calculated in hours, months and years. This takes into account the time during which employees have worked full-time if insurance contributions for the remuneration received have been paid or are payable. A minimum insurable income has been set for each profession and the period covered by insurance does not include contributions made below this income except in special circumstances. If you have worked part time, the length of employment for insurance purposes is calculated proportionally on the basis of working hours set out in law. This is 8 hours per day under normal working conditions. Length of service for insurance purposes is different from total length of service.
Forms you may need to fill in
- Application for registration at the Employment Agency to be submitted to the labour office covering the applicant's permanent or present address;
- Application for unemployment benefits in cash in accordance with Art. 54a of the Social Insurance Code to be submitted to the regional office of the National Social Security Institute;
- Declaration of a bank account for payment of unemployment benefit in cash to be submitted to the regional office of the National Social Security Institute
- Copy of a document issued by the relevant bank with personal bank account details;
- Employment Agency registration: a copy to be submitted to the regional office of the National Social Security Institute;
- The remaining documents required for benefits to be granted are described in point 5 on the National Social Security Institute website.
Know your rights
The laws and web pages of the institutions which determine your rights can be found by following the links below.
- Social Insurance Code
- National Social Security Institute
- Employment Agency
- Guaranteed debt payments for employees and workers in the event of insolvency of their employer
- Guaranteed Receivables for Workers and Employees in the Event of Insolvency of the Employer Act
- Registration of citizens of EEA Member States
- Registration of job seekers
Who do you need to contact?
Employment Agency
Address: Bul. Dondukov No 3
1000 Sofia
Telephone: +359 29808719
Fax: +359 29867802
Email: az@az.government.bg
Regional departments of the Labour Office
National Social Security Institute
Central office of the National Social Security Institute
Bul. Alexander Stamboliiski No 62-64
1303 Sofia
Telephone: +359 29261010
noi@nssi.bg
Regional offices of the National Social Security Institute
This page was last updated in 2024.
- Unemployment insurance in Europe →
Unemployment Insurance in Bulgaria
You might also be interested in:
⇒EU social security coordination
⇒Unemployment Insurance in the Nordic countries
Key points of EU Unemployment Insurance coordination
- Transferring periods of work and insurance between EEA countries As an EU citizen you can transfer acquired rights from Unemployment Insurance when moving between EU/EEA contries. In this way it may be easier to become entitled to unemployment benefit in the country you move to.
In the vast majority of the Member states the aggregation rule become fully applicable as soon as you starts to work in the country. However in Denmark, Belgium and Finland you must work some period there before you can use the aggregation rule.
You need a PD U1 document in the country you leave or if the involved countries use electronically exhange (EESSI) there will be issued a SED U002. The countries who issues the highest number of PD U1 documents are Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The countries who receives most PD U1 documents are Lithuania and Italy. - Transferring unemployment benefits Under certain conditions you can go to another EU country to look for work and continue to receive your unemployment benefits from the country where you became unemployed. The period you can export your unemployment benefits varies from 3 to 6 months in the different Member states.
You have to apply for a PD U2 document in the country you leave, or if you haven't done that the institution in the receiving country must request a SED U008 from the competent institution in your last country.
The countries who issues the highest number of PD U2 documents are Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark. Poland is the country who receives by far most PD U2 documents. - Unemployment benefits coverage According to OECD the net replacement of income after 2 months of unemployment, for a single person without children whose previous in-work earnings were 67% of the average wage varies from 33 percent (Ireland) to 91 percent (Belgium). Read more here..
- Having residence in another EU country than where you work? According to EU social security coordination rules you must only be insured against unemployment in one country at a time. As a generel rule this country is where you work.
In Member states who have compulsory insurance, you will automatically be covered when you start working there.
However you may be insured by your country of residence if you are posted to a EU/EEA country or work in two or more EU/EEA countries at a time. In these situations you can not your self decide where to have unemployment Insurance, but you (or your employer) must apply for a PD A1 document which states in which country you are covered by social security, including Unemployment Insurance. Special rule also apply for cross-border workers ("frontier workers"). - Third-country Nationals working in EU/EEANON-EEA citizens are covered by Unemployment Insurance in the EU countries who have compulsory Unemployment Insurance. In countries with voluntary Unemployment Insurance (Denmark, Sweden and Finland) third-country nationals can become member of an Unemployment Insurance Fund.
In the most countries Third-country nationals can also use the EU Coordination rules when moving within EU/EEA (however not in Denmark, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland).
Third-country nationals in short-tem working relations often faces problems with actually get Unemployment benefits, even though they have contributed to the system. This is due to the fact that one normally need a residence permit which allow one to take any job, and also because of a qualifying period in most countries between 6-12 months.