26.11.2021

WHAT THEY DECIDED ON THE MINIMUM WAGE, MATERNITY AND PENSIONS NEXT YEAR

The budget for 2022 must ensure that pensioners from 1 January next year will not receive a lower pension than they currently receive. From now on, the minimum wage will be determined as a percentage of the average, and the maternity benefit in the second year for 2022 will be the same as the minimum wage. The parties, which are discussing measures in the field of labor and social policy, have united around this.

The moderator of the discussion Asen Vasilev summarizes the proposals of all participants in the discussion.

From December 25, important changes enter the pension system - the percentage per year of insurance, without the so-called conversion, increases from 1.2 to 1.35. With this, the pensions will increase, but probably next year the supplement of BGN 120 will be dropped. It must be ensured that there will be no pensioner with a lower pension than the one he currently receives, all parties believe. All pensions will follow the indexation under the Swiss rule.

The parties propose to make a full analysis of the pension system within six months in order to fairly index pensions and create a new update mechanism that is sustainable over time. The proposals of the BSP for recalculation of the pensions with average insurance income for 2018 were discussed again, as well as an update every five years, which is requested by the ITN.

The minimum wage must be a percentage of the average, in accordance with the European directive, and the directive stipulates that the minimum wage be 50 percent of the average. According to the parties, this is difficult to achieve from 2022, but the goal is to achieve it by the end of the mandate. A mechanism for its determination will be developed, and the state, trade unions and employers will participate in the development.

The maximum insurance income will be increased, there must be a ceiling, but the maximum insurance income will be determined as a coefficient to the average salary, the parties decided. Linking the minimum unemployment benefit to the minimum wage after consultation with the social partners is also proposed by the political forces.

Legislative regulation of telework will be made.

The parties want motherhood in 2022 for the second year to be as much as the minimum wage. A discussion has arisen as to whether working mothers should receive the same amount in the second year as the unemployed, and the thesis of the representatives of "Democratic Bulgaria" is that the money should be the same for both working and non-working, as most children in kindergarten of working mothers from the big cities, they cannot get into either a state or a private nursery and the parents pay over BGN 700 per month for the care of the children.

The parties also united on the topic of state kindergartens and kindergartens being free for children. There will be a voucher system to support parents with unaccepted children from the age of ten months. It is also envisaged to expand the possibility for alternative care for children when there are qualified care specialists, as there is currently a problem with the lack of places to build kindergartens.

The focus of the financial resource must be on expanding the seats. Elisaveta Belobradova from "Democratic Bulgaria" pointed out that currently the mothers are planning the birth of a second child so that he can use the advantage of the first when applying for kindergarten. She warned that a caesarean section had even been performed a month earlier to include the children in the ranking, which gave them an advantage.

ITN asked the measures for the kindergartens to be in the context of the regional policy, not to concentrate families with children only in Sofia.

The scope of energy assistance will be expanded, energy poverty will be defined. It is expected that the possibility for deferred payment of bills will be introduced. A minimum wage will also be given to the self-employed in areas unable to work due to restrictive measures. Antiquity measures to help employers will continue next year.