11.09.2023
DEDUCTIONS FOR DEBTORS RECEIVING MINIMUM WAGE
To the extent that, for social reasons, it is not possible to allow the entire labor income of a person to be used to repay his obligations, the law defines the so-called non-sequestrable income - a minimum to guarantee the satisfaction of the basic needs of the debtor and his family.
Determining the part of the income that can be sequestered depends on two factors: the amount of salary and the number of children that the debtor supports. The detailed rules are contained in the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Bulgaria.
What are the legal provisions regarding the interrelationships between the minimum wage and the determination of the minimum guaranteeing the basic needs of the debtors and their families?
The minimum wage serves as a unit of measure for determining the sequesterable part of a person's income in the sense of the Civil Procedure Code. It provides that if the performance is directed to the labor remuneration or to any other remuneration for labor, as well as to a pension, the amounts of which are above the minimum wage, only:
- if the convicted person receives a monthly remuneration in the amount between the minimum wage and twice the amount of the minimum wage - one third if he has no children and one quarter if he has children he supports;
- if the convicted person receives a monthly remuneration in an amount between twice the amount of the minimum wage and four times the amount of the minimum wage - one second part, if he has no children, and one third part, if he has children he supports;
- if the convicted person receives a monthly remuneration in an amount exceeding four times the amount of the minimum wage - the upper limit above two times the amount of the minimum wage, if he is without children, and the upper limit above two and a half times the amount of the minimum wage, if he has children who it lasts.
In an interpretative decision of the Supreme Court of Cassation, an answer is given to a very debatable question in practice in recent years - whether the words "the amount of which is above the minimum wage" refer only to pensions or also to labor remunerations.
According to the Supreme Court of Cassation, "the non-sequestrable minimum is determined absolutely - in the amount of the minimum wage, and this applies both to any remuneration for work and to the pension.
There is no reason to believe that the legislature treats debtors who receive income from employment differently from those who receive income from a pension. Whatever the source of the income, the absolutely non-sequestable part is the same for all debtors - the minimum wage". Therefore, employees receiving labor remuneration up to this amount do not have a sequesterable part of the salary.
I would like to remind you that for the protection of employees who perform the lowest qualified work, a Minimum monthly gross salary has been set, which at the moment (2023) is BGN 780. This means that, by law, a monthly gross salary cannot be negotiated remuneration (for performing normal work during normal working hours) in smaller amounts.
Reference:
Art. 446 of the Civil Procedure Code
Decision No. 2 of the Supreme Court of Cassation dated 26.06.2015 according to interpretation No. 2/2013
