“So They Don’t End Up in a Movie”: New Rules on Length of Service Will Take Effect Next Year

The new method for calculating work experience – based on actual hours worked – will take effect on January 1, 2027, rather than September 1 of this year. This was decided by members of the Budget and Finance Committee during the second reading of the 2026 state budget.

The bill proposed by “Progressive Bulgaria” stipulated that the current calendar-based method for calculating length of service would be replaced by a calculation based on actual hours worked, effective September 1, 2026. Thus, one day of work experience will be recognized as the day on which the full statutory working hours were worked, and for part-time work, experience will be calculated proportionally. It was precisely this idea that met with the strongest opposition from members of parliament.

The ruling party defended its proposal by arguing that the current rules encourage fictitious four-hour contracts, under which employees actually work a full day, but part of their income and social security contributions remain undeclared. With this change, the Ministry of Social Affairs believes that when four hours worked count as half a day of seniority, employees will have a stronger incentive to insist that their actual working hours be recorded in their documents.

During the debate, however, it was pointed out that the change violates the Constitution, reduces vacation time for part-time workers – even when they are employed under two or three such contracts – and infringes on the rights of Bulgarians.
Asen Vasilev of “We Continue the Change” expressed doubt as to how much the measure would help in the fight against the shadow economy, but noted that “it will certainly make life more complicated for people working on an hourly basis.” He pointed out that part-time work is typically done by mothers, students, and people with disabilities, for whom this is often the only way to remain in the labor market.

Lyuboslav Kostov, chief economist of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (KNSB), emphasized that the proposed amendments to the Labor Code violate the Constitution.

You cannot amend the Labor Code through transitional provisions. There must be a public debate,” he stressed.

“We Won’t Take Anything Away”

Vacation time is calculated proportionally to the length of service, meaning we won’t take anything away; rather, we will simply introduce standard, equal treatment based on hours worked,” argued Minister of Labor and Social Policy Natalia Efremova.

According to her, the procedure remains the same as set forth in the ordinance.

Regarding concerns about unconstitutionality – due to the reform being pushed through via the transitional provisions of the budget law – the minister noted that “given that this is a matter of increasing revenue and ensuring fair treatment, it can reasonably be argued that this text is related to the budget.” Efremova described the proposal as a matter of fairness and noted that for shifts of two or three hours, seniority is already calculated proportionally, while a four-hour workday is counted as eight hours.

The minister also reported that there has been an improvement in the work of the National Revenue Agency (NRA) and the General Labor Inspectorate (GLI), but there is still room for improvement in the fight against the shadow economy. “This does not mean that we are satisfied with the extent of the fight against the shadow economy, and there are numerous measures that can be taken,” she added.

You hope this measure will reduce the shadow economy, but the logical effect is that it will increase it,” noted Martin Dimitrov of “Democratic Bulgaria.”

According to him, the measure creates incentives for more people to avoid reporting their actual income for social security purposes.

A key question was whether a person working under two 4-hour employment contracts could receive the same number of days off per year as someone working under a single full-time contract. Minister Efremova’s response was succinct:

“4 plus 4 equals 8,” she said.

What Happened in the End

After several hours of debate and discussion of every possible scenario, the lawmakers finally reached a consensus—the amendments to the Labor Code will take effect, but not on September 1 of this year, but on January 1, 2027. The proposal came from Assen Vassilev, who argued:

So that, if people have taken advance vacation days this year, they won’t end up in a bind.”

The proposal was accepted unanimously, with even the Ministry of Social Affairs agreeing to the postponement.
Thus, until December 31, 2026, the current system remains in effect, under which one day of work experience is recognized as the time during which the employee worked at least half of the statutory workday. Thus, those employed for four hours accumulate a full day of work experience.

Starting January 1, 2027, the rules will change:

• A full day of service will be recognized only if the entire statutory working time has been worked;
• For part-time work, seniority will accrue proportionally;
• In practice, an employee who works four hours a day for one year will accrue approximately six months of seniority instead of one year.