Employment agency activities in the Republic of Bulgaria

Description

GENERAL RULES FOR CARRYING OUT MEDIATION ACTIVITY

The conditions and procedures for employment agency activities are regulated in the Employment Promotion Act and the Decree on the Conditions and Procedures for Employment Agency Activities.

  1. Employment agency activities consist of the provision of assistance to jobseekers and to employers offering jobs with a view to concluding an employment contract. The intermediaries may provide, either jointly or separately, the following employment agency services:
    • information and/or consultation to jobseekers and employers;
    • psychological support to jobseekers;
    • referral to adult education;
    • guidance and support for starting work, including elsewhere in the country or in other countries.
  2. The employment activities may be carried out by persons entitled to provide employment services in accordance with:
    • the Bulgarian legislation or the legislation of another Member State of the European Union, or of another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, or of the Swiss Confederation, when they are established in the Republic of Bulgaria and registered with the Employment Agency;
    • the legislation of another Member State of the European Union or of another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, or of the Swiss Confederation, without being subject to registration, when performing such services on a temporary or a one-off basis in the Republic of Bulgaria.
  3. The registration for carrying out employment activities is not limited in time. The registration certificate for carrying out employment activities should be prominently located in the intermediary’s office, and when advertising and/or publishing job vacancies, the intermediary announces the number under which it has been registered to carry out the mediation activity.
  4. The intermediary provides:
    • employment services free of charge and does not collect, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, fees or other payments from jobseekers or employees, including from seafarers;
    • employment services against payment by employers, including shipowners, which may not be deducted from the remuneration of the employed person.
  5. For the purpose of carrying out employment activities, the intermediary concludes an employment agency contract with:
    • jobseekers;
    • employers, including shipowners.
  6. The employment agency contract between the intermediary and the jobseeker contains:
    • details of the intermediary, including the person authorised to sign the contract on behalf of the intermediary, and the jobseeker;
    • the rights and obligations of the parties, including the obligation of the intermediary carrying out mediation for employment abroad or for employment of seafarers to reimburse in full the costs of the stay and transport of the persons it sends in cases where the requirements of Articles 32 and 37 of the Decree on the Conditions and Procedures for Employment Agency Activities have not been complied with;
    • the duration of the contract;
    • the financial terms and conditions for the provision of the employment service;
    • the conditions for early termination of the contract;
    • liability of the parties in case of non-compliance;
    • other terms and conditions.
  7. The intermediary keeps an electronic register of jobseekers and employees. The register is maintained in the electronic database of the Employment Agency.
  8. The intermediary provides information to the jobseekers on the job vacancies and the relevant positions and that information contains:
    • the requirements to the person seeking employment – professional and physical fitness;
    • the working conditions;
    • the proposed remuneration;
    • the social security and health insurance conditions, insurance;
    • the required knowledge of the language of the host country;
    • other specific requirements.
  9. The recruitment services are provided by the intermediary at the request of an employer.
  10. The intermediaries engaged in employment abroad and employment of seafarers may provide the service of “guidance and assistance for employment, including elsewhere in the country or in other countries” under the terms of an agency contract concluded with a foreign employer, including a shipowner.
  11. Employment agency activities in the Republic of Bulgaria
  12. The intermediary provides employment services to jobseekers upon employers’ requests for conclusion of contracts in accordance with the provisions of the Labour Code and other regulations in the field of labour legislation, as well as under the conditions and the procedure laid down in an international treaty for the exchange of workforce to which the Republic of Bulgaria is a party.

EMPLOYMENT AGENCY ACTIVITIES ABROAD

  1. The intermediary provides employment to Bulgarian nationals in another country in accordance with its national law and/or under the conditions and the procedure laid down in an international agreement on the exchange of workforce to which the Republic of Bulgaria is a party. The intermediary may not agree on working conditions and wages for Bulgarian nationals that are lower than the minimum thresholds of the host country according to its national legislation.
  2. The intermediary directs and assists jobseekers in taking up employment in another country under the terms of an agency contract concluded with a foreign employer. The intermediary keeps the original of any agency contract concluded with a foreign employer and an official translation of that contract into Bulgarian. The intermediary keeps a copy and an official translation in Bulgarian of the registration document of the foreign employer containing its legal status, registered address and head office, objects, its managers and representatives, and a copy of the permit for employment of foreigners, where such document is required by the legislation in force in the host country.
  3. The intermediary is obliged to provide the following to the jobseekers:
    • an extract from the legislation in force in the foreign country regulating the employment of foreign nationals in that country, translated into Bulgarian;
    • information about the employer;
    • information about the culture, lifestyle and customs of the foreign country;
    • information about the place of work.
  4. The provision of this information is evidenced by the signature of the jobseeker.
  5. The intermediary is obliged to provide to the jobseeker an individual employment contract signed by the employer or by a person authorised by the employer to sign individual employment contracts, as well as a translation of the contract into Bulgarian, before his/her departure from the Republic of Bulgaria. The provision of the individual contract is evidenced with a declaration signed by the person.
  6. For the performance of any agency contract concluded with a foreign employer, the intermediary keeps a list of the persons sent to work under the contract; copies of their work permits to work abroad; copies of their personal health insurance documents.

EMPLOYMENT AGENCY SERVICES FOR SEAFARERS

  1. The mediation for employment of seafarers is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the conventions of the International Labour Organization and the International Maritime Organization, that have been ratified and have entered into force for the Republic of Bulgaria.
  2. The intermediary guides and assists the jobseekers to take up employment as seafarers in accordance with the terms of an agency contract concluded with a shipowner.
  3. The intermediary keeps the original of any agency contract concluded with a shipowner and an official translation of that contract into Bulgarian. The intermediary must keep along with the agency contract a declaration by the shipowner that it has a system in place to protect seafarers from abandonment in foreign ports. a certified copy of the declaration is kept and, in cases where it has not been drawn up in Bulgarian, also an official translation into Bulgarian.
  4. When performing its employment agency activities, the intermediary:
    • verifies that the seafarers recruited or employed are qualified and hold the documents necessary for the respective job;
    • advises and guides the parties under the individual employment contract so as to bring its content in compliance with the applicable legislation and the provisions of the applicable collective agreement.
  5. The intermediary may not require the seafarers to whom it provides employment to pay fees or other charges directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, except for the costs of obtaining: a medical certificate issued in accordance with the national legislation of the State of which the seafarer is a national; a national seaman’s book; a passport or other similar identity documents, not including the cost of visas that are reimbursed by the shipowner.
  6. The intermediary is to provide to the jobseeker a possibility to be informed of his/her rights and obligations under the individual employment contract before or in the process of concluding the contract, including by providing to the seafarer the draft contract and giving him/her the necessary time to examine its content and to have the necessary consultations regarding that content. Prior to the jobseeker’s departure from the Republic of Bulgaria the intermediary provides to him/her an individual employment contract signed by the shipowner or by a person authorised by the shipowner to sign individual employment contracts, as well as a translation of the contract into Bulgarian. The performance of these actions is evidenced with a declaration signed by the jobseeker.
  7. The individual employment contract must contain at least the following particulars:
    • the seafarer’s full name, date of birth or age, and place of birth;
    • the name and address of the shipowner;
    • the place and date of conclusion of the individual employment contract;
    • the position in which the seafarer is employed;
    • the amount of the seafarer’s salary or, where applicable, the formula used to calculate it;
    • the amount of paid annual leave or, where applicable, the formula used to calculate it;
    • the terms and conditions of termination of the contract, including:
      • if the contract is concluded for an indefinite period of time, the conditions under which each party may terminate it and the period of notice, which may not be shorter for the shipowner than that for the seaman;
      • if the contract has been concluded for a fixed term, the date of its expiry, and
      • if the contract is concluded for one voyage, the port of assignment and the period of time from the arrival at that port to the moment of discharge of the seafarer;
    • funds provided by the shipowner for the benefit of the seafarer in connection with the protection of the health and for the social security of the seafarer;
    • the seafarer’s right to repatriation;
    • references to a collective agreement, if applicable; and
    • any other particulars prescribed as compulsory by the legislation of the flag state.
  8. For the performance of any agency contract concluded with a shipowner, the intermediary keeps a list of the seafarers sent to work.
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