The new regulation on entry into the employment register is already a fact

19.08.2024

THE NEW REGULATION ON ENTRY INTO THE EMPLOYMENT REGISTER IS ALREADY A FACT

Comment from the specialist

Larisa Todorova, lawyer

In "State Gazette", no. 65 of 08/02/2024, Decree No. 267 of the Council of Ministers of July 29, 2024 on the adoption of an Ordinance on entry into the employment register (the Ordinance) was promulgated. With the decree, changes are also made to the Ordinance on the work record and work experience.

Legal delegation for the adoption of the regulation are Art. 62, para. 5 of the Labor Code and Art. 120, para. 1 of the Civil Servant Act. With the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Labor Code, published State Gazette, no. 85 of 2023, significant changes were adopted in the two normative acts related to the regulation of the work and service record. The changes in the Labor Code come into force on June 1, 2025, and in the Civil Servant Law - on June 1, 2026.

Therefore, for labor relations, the Ordinance for entry in the employment register enters into force from June 1, 2025, and for official ones - from June 1, 2026.

The changes to the Ordinance on the employment record and work experience shall enter into force on June 1, 2025.

In order to present the regulations contained in the Ordinance, it is necessary to recall the main changes in the Labor Code and in the Civil Servant Act:

  1. Changes to the Labor Code

With the changes in the Labor Code, the obligation of employers to issue and make entries in paper work books is removed. It is regulated that when concluding, amending and terminating employment contracts, employers must enter the relevant data in the employment register (the Register). The creation of the Register has been assigned to the executive director of the National Revenue Agency, until June 1, 2025. The Register contains the electronic labor records of employees.

The unified electronic labor record is an electronic document that contains data and circumstances related to the labor activity of the worker or employee, and is an official certification document.

It is important to note that the work book, issued before June 1, 2025, is an official document certifying the circumstances related to the labor activity of the worker or employee entered in it.

The unified electronic labor record contains data on:

  1. the names of the worker or employee;
  2. the personal identifier of the worker or employee (according to § 1, item 23 of the additional provisions of the Labor Code "personal identifier" is a uniform civil number, personal number, personal number of a foreigner, service number or other identifier of a natural person, determined in law);
  3. the employer's identifier and name;
  4. the basis of the employment contract;
  5. the date of conclusion of the employment contract and the beginning of its implementation;
  6. the term of the contract, when such is agreed;
  7. the date of conclusion of additional agreements;
  8. the date and reason for termination of the employment relationship;
  9. the amount of the basic salary;
  10. the code of the position held according to the National Classification of Professions and Positions;
  11. the code of the main economic activity in which the person is employed, according to the Classification of economic activities approved by the National Statistical Institute;
  12. the code of the place of residence of the worker or employee according to the Unified Classifier of Administrative-Territorial and Territorial Units;
  13. the duration of working hours;
  14. the duration of the time that is recognized as work experience, as well as the time that is not recognized as work experience;
  15. compensation paid upon termination of the employment relationship on the basis of Art. 222, para. 2 and 3 of the Labor Code;
  16. arrest notices provided for in art. 512, para. 5 of the Civil Procedure Code;
  17. the agreed paid annual leave;
  18. the days of paid annual leave used for the year of termination of the legal relationship.

Part of the data that will be contained in the Register is data that is entered in the work book of the worker or employee according to Art. 349, para. 1 of the Labor Code (before its amendment) and data contained in the notification submitted to the National Revenue Agency pursuant to Ordinance No. 5 of December 29, 2002 on the content and order of sending the notification under Art. 62, para. 5 of the Labor Code (Ordinance No. 5 of 2002). The register will also contain other data (compensation paid upon termination of the employment relationship on the grounds expressly stated under Art. 222, paras. 2 and 3 of the Labor Code, the agreed paid annual leave and the days of used paid annual leave due for the year of termination of the legal relationship), which have a bearing on the rights of the worker or employee upon his/her employment with a subsequent employer.

With the amendments to the Labor Code, it was determined that access to the Register and the unified electronic labor record is carried out in accordance with Art. 5 of the Law on Electronic Government. Identification is required for the provision of an administrative service through the means regulated in Art. 5 of the law. The administrative bodies enter the means of electronic identification, through which citizens and organizations declare the electronic administrative services provided by them, in the Administrative Register under Art. 61 of the Administration Act.

Access to the data contained in the Register is also provided free of charge in the territorial directorates of the National Revenue Agency in accordance with the procedure determined by the Ordinance.

The processing of personal data in the Register is carried out in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons in connection with the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and for the repeal of Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OB, L 119/1 of May 4, 2016) and the Personal Data Protection Act.

With the creation of the Employment Register, the maintenance of the Register of Employment Contracts is terminated. The initial data in the Employment Register will be filled in by the National Revenue Agency on the basis of the Register of Employment Contracts and, if necessary, on the basis of other sources.

Employers will be obliged to submit notifications for the conclusion, amendment and termination of employment contracts in accordance with Ordinance No. 5 of 2002 until June 1, 2025.

Until June 1, 2025, employers should also fulfill their obligations to enter the relevant data in the work books of employees. Until June 1, 2025, the employer's obligations under Art. 349, para. 2 of the Labor Code to issue a work book to a worker and an employee who enters work for the first time, and under Art. 350, para. 1 of the Labor Code for the entry in the employment book of the data related to the termination of the employment relationship and its transmission to the worker or employee.

The current provisions of the Labor Code regarding the employment record, the Ordinance on the employment record and work experience and Ordinance No. 5 of December 29, 2002 on the content and procedure for sending the notification under Art. 62, para. 5 of the Labor Code will continue to apply until June 1, 2025.

  1. Changes to the Civil Servant Act

With the changes in the Civil Servant Act, it was envisaged that the data on the employment relationship would be stored as part of the single electronic employment record in the Employment Register. The unified electronic employment record is an official certification document for the entered data and circumstances related to the civil service.

The service book, issued in accordance with the Civil Servant Act before June 1, 2026, is an official certification document for the circumstances related to the civil service entered in it.

The following data about the employment relationship will be entered in the Register:

  1. the names of the civil servants;
  2. the personal identifier of the civil servant;
  3. the names and identifier of the administration of the appointing authority;
  4. the basis of the act of appointment;
  5. the number and date of the act of appointment and the date of establishment of the employment relationship;
  6. the term of the act of appointment, if any;
  7. the number and date of the acts for changing the official legal relationship;
  8. the date of termination and the reason for termination of the employment relationship;
  9. the amount of the basic monthly salary;
  10. the code of the position held according to the classifier under Art. 2, para. 2 or according to the Classifier of Diplomatic Posts under Art. 42 of the Diplomatic Service Act.
  11. the code of the main economic activity in which the civil servant is employed, according to the Classification of economic activities approved by the National Statistical Institute;
  12. the code of the place of work of the civil servant according to the Unified Classifier of Administrative-Territorial and Territorial Units;
  13. the duration of working hours;
  14. the length of time that is recognized as seniority, respectively seniority in the diplomatic service;
  15. the benefits paid upon termination of the employment relationship;
  16. the rank of the civil servant, respectively the diplomatic rank;
  17. arrest notices provided for in art. 512, para. 5 of the Civil Procedure Code.

Within a period of 6 months, starting from January 1, 2026, the appointing authorities for existing employment relationships under the Law on Civil Servants shall enter in the Register all data from the service book issued pursuant to the same law, regardless of the authority that entered them in the booklet.

All data from the official records, issued in accordance with the law on the civil servant of individuals, are also entered in the cases of termination of official legal relations within the above-mentioned period.

All data from the official records issued in accordance with the Civil Servant Act to persons, except for the cases of active or terminated official legal relationships, specified above, are entered by the appointing authority when a subsequent official legal relationship occurs.

III. What does the new Ordinance for entry in the employment register provide

The Ordinance contains 3 sections - "General Provisions", "Employment Register" and "Single Electronic Labor Record", an additional provision and final provisions. There are 5 attachments to it, as follows:

  1. Appendix No. 1 to Art. 8, item 1 "Electronic labor record for concluding, amending and terminating an employment contract and for the establishment, changing and terminating of an employment relationship - (Appendix No. 1).
  2. Appendix No. 2 to Art. 8, item 1 "Electronic employment record for change of employer under Art. 123, para. 1 or under Art. 123a, para. 1 or para. 4 of the Labor Code, or of an appointing authority" - (Appendix No. 2).
  3. Appendix No. 3 to Art. 8, item 2 "Data on electronic employment record for concluding, amending, terminating and deleting an employment contract and for establishing, changing, terminating and deleting an employment relationship by the Executive Agency "General Labor Inspectorate" - (Appendix No. 3).
  4. Appendix No. 4 to Art. 9, para. 3 "Covering letter for submission of electronic labor records according to the Ordinance to be entered in the employment register - (Appendix No. 4).
  5. Appendix No. 5 to Art. 12, para. 1 "Protocol for registered and unregistered electronic labor records according to Appendix No. 1, 2 and 3 to Art. 8 of the Ordinance to be entered in the employment register - (Appendix No. 5).