Posting and sending of workers and employees in the framework of the provision of services
On 20.12.2016, the National Assembly adopted on second reading the Act for Amendment and Supplement to the Labour Code, which was promulgated on 30.12.2016.
The Act regulates the posting and sending of workers and employees in the framework of the provision of services. The adopted amendments entered into force on 01.01.2017.
Sending of workers or employees on business trips in the framework of provision of services occurs when:
1. a Bulgarian employer posts a worker or an employee to the territory of another Member State of the European Union, of a state - party to the European Economic Area Agreement or of the Swiss Confederation:
a) for his own account and under his direction on the basis of a contract concluded between the employer and the service user;
b) in an enterprise from the same group of enterprises;
2. an employer registered under the legislation of another Member State of the European Union, of a state - party to the European Economic Area Agreement, of the Swiss Confederation or of a third state posts a worker or an employee to the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria:
a) for his own account and under his direction on the basis of a contract concluded between the employer and the service user;
b) in an enterprise from the same group of enterprises.
Sending of workers or employees in the framework of provision of services occurs when:
1. a registered under the Bulgarian legislation enterprise which provides temporary work, sends a worker or an employee to a benefiting enterprise on the territory of another Member State of the European Union, of a state - party to the European Economic Area Agreement or of the Swiss Confederation;
2. an enterprise which provides temporary work, registered under the legislation of another Member State of the European Union, of a state - party to the European Economic Area Agreement, of the Swiss Confederation or of a third state sends a worker or an employee to work in a benefiting enterprise on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.
A worker or an employee may be posted or sent under the above conditions when an employment relationship between him and the posting or sending employer exists during the whole period of posting or sending.
In the period of posting or sending of the worker or the employee at least the same minimum working conditions are provided as the conditions established for the workers and the employees performing the same or similar work in the respective host country.
When the foreign employer and the foreign enterprise providing temporary work, do not provide a basic labor remuneration amounting to at least the minimum labor salary established for the country, and / or at least the minimum amount of the additional labor remunerations for overtime and night work, the worker or the employee is entitled to:
1. the unpaid labor remunerations;
2. compensation or other claims related to the employment relationship which are due under law;
3. reimbursement of taxes and / or social security contributions unlawfully deducted from the labor remuneration;
4. reimbursement of expenses which are excessively high in comparison to the labor remuneration or the quality of accommodation and which are deducted from the labor remuneration of the worker or the employee for accommodation provided by the employer.
A worker or an employee who has submitted a claim for breach of the minimum working conditions may not be treated unfavorably by the employer on this basis.
As labor disputes are deemed the disputes between the workers or the employees who are or have been posted or sent to the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and their employer when they have suffered damages due to failure to comply with the working conditions, including after the termination of the employment relationship.
