02.11.2022
BY HOW MUCH BGN SHOULD THE TRAVEL ALLOWANCE BE INCREASED?
Comment from the specialist
Let's remember that according to the legislation in Bulgaria, the mandated worker or resident who wants to spend the night in the place of the mandate will be paid a daily allowance of BGN 20 for each day of the mandate. There are appointments that perform military duties for the greater part of the working time in the target area without overnight stays, they are paid per diem in the amount of 50 per cent of the day. BGN 10
The amount of daily allowances for business trips in the country has not been changed since 2008. This means that for more than 14 years the amounts have not undergone an update, as actually happened with a number of additional payments related to the performance of official duties.
With the last amendment from 2008, the daily allowance was raised from BGN 12 to BGN 20. After that, there is no movement to increase this amount. All this more and more often arouses the dissatisfaction of workers and employees, who ask the question when the amount of these funds will be increased. Dr. Todor Kapitanov, an expert in the field of labor law, explains what are the grounds for increasing the amount of travel allowances and in what amount.
According to the law, when the needs of the enterprise require, the employer can send the worker or the employee to perform the labor duties outside the place of his permanent work, but for no more than 30 calendar days without interruption. Appointment for a period longer than 30 calendar days, which is performed by the employee or the resident in writing. The delegation issues the written order.
Many times in recent years, the trade unions have made proposals to the management for amendments and additions to the Ordinance on business trips in the country. This is precisely the normative act that determines the conditions for secondment in the country, the amounts of the secondment money (travel, per diem and accommodation), the procedure for their accounting, as well as the rights and obligations of the seconded and seconded. The managers in the various years back, for some unknown reason, however, answer that there are no arguments for increasing the amount of daily allowances during a business trip in the country, despite the obvious increase in prices in the past years.
It is clear to everyone that in the last 2 years the cost of living has increased, including food and services, which is a sufficient argument to determine an adequate amount of daily travel money in relation to the prices of food offered at present.
What do the calculations show? In short, in the period 2008 – 2021, the accumulated average annual inflation is 26.5%. If we add to it the inflation reached so far, we are already talking about an accumulation of over 44%. In this case, the daily allowance for a business trip in the amount of BGN 20 should rise to BGN 29. In this case, the increase in the allowance for business trips will only catch up with the growth of inflation for the specified period of time.
However, if we start from the fact that the daily money for a business trip covers food costs, then it follows that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food products, which is updated by the official statistics in Bulgaria, should be used. In this situation, it follows that for the period 2008-2021 The CPI for food increased by 34.5% and after adding to this percentage the data for the period December 2021 - September 2022, an accumulation of 61.5% is obtained. Under these conditions, it follows that the daily allowance for a business trip of BGN 20 should reach at least BGN 32.
Whether this will be achieved remains to be seen. The law in Bulgaria determines the minimum amounts of money for a business trip, which means that employers have the opportunity, if they wish, to allocate a larger amount of funds for the business trip of workers and employees both in the country and abroad. Another question is how many of them do it at all.
Reference:
Art. 121, paragraph 1, paragraph 2 of the Labor Code,
Art. 8, Art. 9, para. 1, 19, para. 1, para. 2 of the Order for the candidates in the party.
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
