Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, Republika Bŭlgariya, is a country occupying the eastern portion of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. Founded in the seventh century, Bulgaria is one of the oldest states on the European continent. The country is remarkable for its variety of scenery. Its rugged mountains and relaxing Black Sea resorts attract many visitors. Ethnically, the population is fairly homogeneous, with Bulgarians making up more than four-fifths of the total population. Bulgarians are the fastest shrinking nation in the world. In the last 30 years after the fall of the totalitarian regime, Bulgaria has lost 2.4 million people or nearly 28% of its population.
Almost two-thirds of all exports are capital goods such as machinery and equipment, and one-fourth are consumer goods mainly of agricultural origin (such as fruit, wine, cigarettes, dairy products, and meat).
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in Bulgaria.
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Fast-track your talent onboarding while ensuring 100% compliance with local regulations. using an Employer of Record in Bulgaria
Calculate net salary post deductions and compare it with the salary in other countries instantly.
Receive process support by an experienced team of experts & pay your talent on time and in their local currency, ideal for companies looking to hire employees or contractors in Bulgaria
Easily onboard your remote talent in Bulgaria through our Employer of Record (EOR) solution. Our subsidiaries and network partners make this process fast and 100% compliant.
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, Republika Bŭlgariya, is a country occupying the eastern portion of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. Founded in the seventh century, Bulgaria is one of the oldest states on the European continent. The country is remarkable for its variety of scenery. Its rugged mountains and relaxing Black Sea resorts attract many visitors. Ethnically, the population is fairly homogeneous, with Bulgarians making up more than four-fifths of the total population. Bulgarians are the fastest shrinking nation in the world. In the last 30 years after the fall of the totalitarian regime, Bulgaria has lost 2.4 million people or nearly 28% of its population.
Almost two-thirds of all exports are capital goods such as machinery and equipment, and one-fourth are consumer goods mainly of agricultural origin (such as fruit, wine, cigarettes, dairy products, and meat).
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in Bulgaria.
The national holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2026 and are critical for hiring in Bulgaria planning:
The national holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2026.
| January 1 | New Year’s Day | |
| March 3 | Liberation Day | |
| April 10 | Orthodox Good Friday | Movable - As per the Orthodox Calendar |
| April 11-13 | Orthodox Easter Holidays | Movable - As per the Orthodox Calendar |
| May 1 | Labour and International Worker’s Solidarity Day | |
| May 6 | St. George’s Day and the Bulgarian Army’s Day | |
| May 25 | Culture and Literacy Day and Slavic Script Day | In lieu |
| September 7 | Unification Day | In lieu |
| September 22 | Independence Day | |
| November 1 | Day of the Bulgarian Enlighteners | Holiday for all educational institutions |
| December 24 | Christmas Eve | |
| December 25 | Christmas | |
| December 28 | 2nd Day of Christmas | In lieu |
The approximate time for sharing the contract with an employee in Bulgaria is 4 business days assuming no special requests or changes to our standard employment contract. Any such requests or changes would need to undergo internal and external review, directly leading to a time delay.
NOTE: This number is subject to change and is only an estimation of the Contract Sharing Time. The estimated Contract Sharing Time begins from the moment that WorkMotion has received all required information from both the client and the employee.
The total monthly contributions for the employer include:
The National Social Security Institute (NSSI) is the public institution that manages the state social security in the Republic of Bulgaria. NSSI administers compulsory social security for sickness, maternity, unemployment, accident at work and professional diseases, disability, old age, and death.
An overview of the mandatory monthly contributions for the both the employer and employee are presented below:
|
Benefit |
Employer Contribution |
Employee Contribution |
|---|
|
Benefit |
Employer Contribution |
Employee Contribution |
|---|---|---|
|
Pension Fund |
8.22% |
6.58% |
|
Additional Pension Insurance |
2.8% |
2.2% |
|
General Disease and Maternity Fund |
2.1% |
1.4% |
|
Unemployment Fund |
0.6% |
0.4% |
|
Accident at Work and Occupational Diseases Fund* |
0.5% |
– |
|
Health Insurance |
4.8% |
3.2% |
|
Total |
19.02% |
13.78% |
The wage ceiling to which social security contributions are tied is BGN 4,130.
The duration of a working week in Bulgaria is five days, with the normal amount of weekly working time not exceeding 40 hours. The normal length of the working day may not exceed eight hours. For operational reasons, employers may extend the working hours on certain working days by a written order and compensate for that extension by reducing working hours on other days. Extended daily working time may not exceed 10 hours.
The duration of overtime work cannot go beyond 150 hours in one calendar year, 30 hours for a day’s work, and 20 hours of night work in a calendar month. The rate of payment for overtime work can be agreed upon between the employer and the employee but it should not be less than 50% for work on working days, 75% on weekends, and 100% on public holidays.
The probation period may last up to six months. During the probation period, both parties are entitled to the same rights and subject to the same obligations as parties that concluded an unlimited employment contract.
The employer must provide the employee with a written notice regarding the termination.
Contracts with a trial period may be terminated without prior notice.
If the employee or employer terminates an indefinite employment contract with notice, at least a 30-day notice is required.
The notice period for a fixed contract is three months but not more than the remaining period of the contract.
No notice is required if the employment contract is due to expire (as in the case of a fixed contract).
The duration of a working week in Bulgaria is five days, with the normal amount of weekly working time not exceeding 40 hours. The normal length of the working day may not exceed eight hours. For operational reasons, employers may extend the working hours on certain working days by a written order and compensate for that extension by reducing working hours on other days. Extended daily working time may not exceed 10 hours.
The duration of overtime work cannot go beyond 150 hours in one calendar year, 30 hours for a day’s work, and 20 hours of night work in a calendar month. The rate of payment for overtime work can be agreed upon between the employer and the employee but it should not be less than 50% for work on working days, 75% on weekends, and 100% on public holidays.
The probation period may last up to six months. During the probation period, both parties are entitled to the same rights and subject to the same obligations as parties that concluded an unlimited employment contract.
The employer must provide the employee with a written notice regarding the termination.
Contracts with a trial period may be terminated without prior notice.
If the employee or employer terminates an indefinite employment contract with notice, at least a 30-day notice is required.
The notice period for a fixed contract is three months but not more than the remaining period of the contract.
No notice is required if the employment contract is due to expire (as in the case of a fixed contract).
The total monthly contributions for the employer include:
The National Social Security Institute (NSSI) is the public institution that manages the state social security in the Republic of Bulgaria. NSSI administers compulsory social security for sickness, maternity, unemployment, accident at work and professional diseases, disability, old age, and death.
An overview of the mandatory monthly contributions for the both the employer and employee are presented below:
|
Benefit |
Employer Contribution |
Employee Contribution |
|---|
|
Benefit |
Employer Contribution |
Employee Contribution |
|---|---|---|
|
Pension Fund |
8.22% |
6.58% |
|
Additional Pension Insurance |
2.8% |
2.2% |
|
General Disease and Maternity Fund |
2.1% |
1.4% |
|
Unemployment Fund |
0.6% |
0.4% |
|
Accident at Work and Occupational Diseases Fund* |
0.5% |
– |
|
Health Insurance |
4.8% |
3.2% |
|
Total |
19.02% |
13.78% |
The wage ceiling to which social security contributions are tied is BGN 4,130.
As an employer of record, WorkMotion acts as the legal employer for your Bulgarian hires – handling every step from contract generation to monthly payroll remittance, so your company can focus on the work, not the administration.
WorkMotion generates a written employment contract aligned with the Bulgarian Labour Code.
Every contract includes the mandatory elements required by Bulgarian law:
Contracts are prepared in Bulgarian, as required for legal validity, and issued for e-signature – so your new hire can review and sign without delay.
Before your employee can start work, the employment contract must be registered with the National Revenue Agency (NRA).
Bulgarian law requires this notification to be filed within three business days of signing, and the employee cannot legally begin work until the NRA confirms registration.
WorkMotion handles this filing directly, using its own entity in Bulgaria, so there is no risk of the hire starting before the legal formalities are complete.
Bulgaria has replaced paper labour books with a Unified Electronic Employment Record maintained by the NRA.
All employment events — contract conclusion, amendments, and termination — must now be submitted electronically via the NRA’s employment register using a qualified electronic signature.
WorkMotion manages this obligation on your behalf, ensuring every entry is filed accurately and on time.
WorkMotion enrolls your employee in Bulgaria’s mandatory social security and health insurance system. Employer contributions range from 18.92% to 19.62% of gross salary, depending on the occupational risk category.
Employee contributions are 13.78% of gross salary. Personal income tax is withheld at Bulgaria’s flat rate of 10% from gross salary after social security deductions.
WorkMotion calculates all of these components, processes payroll in euros, and remits contributions and taxes to the NRA on the correct monthly schedule.
WorkMotion administers all statutory benefits required under Bulgarian law, including paid annual leave (a minimum of 20 working days), sick leave (the first two days are paid by the employer; subsequent days are covered by the National Social Security Institute), and maternity leave.
Where applicable, WorkMotion also handles the seniority supplement. Bulgarian law requires an additional 0.6% of gross salary for each year of professional experience, which must be factored into the total cost of employment.
Each month, WorkMotion processes payroll, accurately calculates gross-to-net, and remits all employer and employee contributions to the NRA by the statutory deadlines.
Bulgarian employment law continues to evolve. The 2025 minimum wage increase, the transition to the Electronic Employment Register, and ongoing EU directive alignment all create new obligations for employers.
WorkMotion monitors these changes and automatically updates employment terms, contribution calculations, and reporting processes.
For most companies making their first hire in Bulgaria, the choice comes down to speed and risk. Here is how the two paths compare.
| Factor | WorkMotion EOR | Bulgaria Entity Setup |
|---|---|---|
| Setup cost | Per-employee monthly fee — no upfront formation cost | Approximately between €680–€1,500+ in registration fees, plus ongoing accounting from ~€120/month |
| Time to first hire | Days from signed contract to payroll enrollment | 2–4 weeks for basic registration; longer if bank account opening or apostille requirements cause delays |
| Ongoing legal exposure | WorkMotion holds compliance responsibility as the legal employer | Your entity is directly liable for all labour law, payroll, and tax obligations, requiring local legal and accounting support |
| Ongoing admin burden | WorkMotion handles NRA filings, payroll declarations, and employment record management | Monthly NRA declarations, social security filings, annual financial statements, and labour inspectorate compliance — all managed internally or outsourced |
| Exit flexibility | Wind down a hire without entity dissolution costs or procedures | Closing a Bulgarian entity requires formal deregistration, which adds time and cost |
An EOR in Bulgaria is ideal for companies that need to hire one or a few employees quickly — without committing to the ongoing overhead of a local entity.
If you’re planning to build a substantial, long-term team in Bulgaria and want to employ directly under your own brand, WorkMotion’s Direct Hiring solution offers a path to register as a foreign employer while keeping payroll and compliance managed.
Bulgaria’s employment framework is straightforward in structure but strict in execution. These are the compliance gaps that most often catch foreign employers off guard.
Many employers assume the employment relationship begins when the contract is signed. In Bulgaria, it does not.
The contract must be registered with the NRA within three business days of signing, and the employee cannot legally start work until the NRA confirms registration.
Missing this window — or allowing a hire to begin work before confirmation arrives — is a direct violation of the Labor Code and exposes the employer to fines.
Since June 2025, all employment events — new hires, contract amendments, and terminations — must be submitted to the NRA’s Unified Electronic Employment Record using a qualified electronic signature.
Companies that attempt to manage Bulgarian hires directly, without a properly authorised local representative, will find this technically and administratively difficult.
When employment ends, the NRA must be notified within 7 days after the termination takes effect. Failure to file on time carries a fine of up to BGN 15,000 per violation.
Foreign employers managing offboarding from abroad often miss this deadline — particularly when time zones, internal approvals, and document preparation slow the process.
Bulgarian law requires employers to pay an additional 0.6% of an employee’s gross salary for each year of professional experience.
This supplement is not optional and must be included in the employment contract and payroll calculation. Foreign employers who build cost models based on gross salary alone will find their actual cost of employment is higher than projected.
Bulgaria sets minimum social security contribution thresholds not just by the national minimum wage, but by economic activity and profession.
Even if an agreed salary is above the national minimum, contributions must be calculated on the applicable minimum insurable income for that role, which may be higher.
Getting this wrong leads to underpayment of contributions and potential back-payment obligations.
Bulgarian labour law amendments aligned with EU directives have introduced explicit requirements for remote employees, including the right to disconnect and new reporting options for remote work arrangements.
Foreign employers hiring Bulgarian talent for fully remote roles need to ensure their employment contracts and working arrangements reflect these provisions.
A B2B SaaS company headquartered in Berlin or Amsterdam wants to hire a senior backend developer or product manager based in Sofia.
Setting up a Bulgarian entity for a single hire is not viable – the registration process, ongoing accounting obligations, and management overhead do not justify it. WorkMotion provides a compliant employment structure in days, with payroll in euros and a locally compliant contract, so the hire can start without delay.
Post-Brexit, UK companies building EU-facing operations frequently look to Bulgaria for cost-effective access to skilled talent within the EU.
A fintech or e-commerce company hiring its first EU-based compliance analyst, customer success manager, or software engineer in Bulgaria can use WorkMotion’s EOR to establish that employment relationship quickly – without navigating Bulgarian company registration from scratch.
Green tech firms and NGOs with project-based operations in southeastern Europe increasingly use Bulgaria as a hiring hub for regional roles – project managers, field coordinators, and technical specialists.
WorkMotion’s EOR model lets these organizations onboard Bulgarian employees compliantly without building local HR infrastructure, and its Contractor Management solution handles project-based engagements where full employment is not required.
Bulgaria offers a skilled, EU-based workforce, a flat 10% income tax rate, and a relatively straightforward employment framework — but getting the compliance details right matters.
WorkMotion operates through its own entity in Bulgaria, holds direct compliance accountability, and handles every step from contract generation to monthly payroll remittance.
Use the employment cost calculator to see the full cost of a Bulgarian hire before you commit – including gross salary, employer contributions, and the seniority supplement.
When you’re ready to move forward, book a demo, and we’ll show you exactly how hiring in Bulgaria works through WorkMotion.
WorkMotion operates through its own entity in Bulgaria, which means it holds direct compliance accountability for every hire — not a third-party intermediary arrangement.
This matters because the legal employer of record is directly responsible for NRA filings, payroll accuracy, and labor law compliance. When something needs to be corrected or escalated, there is no partner layer in between.
Onboarding through WorkMotion’s Bulgaria EOR typically takes a few business days from contract signing to payroll enrollment.
The main regulatory constraint is the three-day NRA registration window — the employment contract must be filed with the National Revenue Agency within three business days of signing, and the employee cannot legally begin work until the NRA confirms registration.
Bulgaria adopted the euro on January 1, 2026, replacing the Bulgarian lev.
Payroll for employees hired through WorkMotion in Bulgaria is processed in euros, which simplifies cost forecasting for European companies and eliminates the currency conversion complexity that previously applied to Bulgarian hires.
Employer social security and health insurance contributions in Bulgaria range from 18.92% to 19.62% of gross salary, depending on the occupational risk category assigned to the role.
On top of this, Bulgarian law requires a mandatory seniority supplement of 0.6% of gross salary for each year of the employee’s professional experience — a cost that foreign employers frequently overlook when building initial hiring budgets.
Bulgaria has replaced paper labour books with a Unified Electronic Employment Record maintained by the NRA.
Every employment event — new hires, contract amendments, and terminations — must now be submitted electronically using a qualified electronic signature.
Foreign employers managing Bulgarian hires without a properly authorized local representative will find it technically and administratively difficult to execute correctly. WorkMotion’s local entity in Bulgaria handles all NRA submissions on your behalf, including the qualified electronic signature requirement.
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