19.03.2021
THE DEADLINE FOR ASSISTANCE FOR TOUR OPERATORS AND TRAVEL AGENTS IS EXPIRING
The Ministry of Tourism reminds all tour operators and travel agents that the deadline for submitting documents for applying for state aid of BGN 51 million expires on March 22.
This is one of the measures taken by the agency to help the sector to overcome the effects of COVID-19, the ministry said in a press release.
The term is consistent with the need to conduct an official inspection of the circumstances declared by the applicant company by the National Revenue Agency and the National Statistical Institute, as well as to ensure the possibility of eliminating any incompleteness and irregularities in the application.
The amount of one-time grants is 4 percent of turnover without VAT in 2019, disclosed in the financial statements under the Accounting Act, and the assistance provided is to compensate for losses of tour operators and travel agents for the period from March 1, 2020 until 31 December 2020.
The aid must be used as a matter of priority to reimburse passengers whose packages have been canceled due to COVID-19 for the same period.
The submission of applications for state aid is done electronically by filling in a web-based application form and the accompanying documents through the National Investment Management System (NIMS), through the module "E-application".
The currently implemented measure for tour operators and travel agents will be applied until April 5, 2021, after which a new state aid scheme will enter into force, which was published in the State Gazette today, the ministry said. It is to be notified to the European Commission.
The measure envisages the state to provide grants to tour operators in the amount of up to 15 percent of their turnover without VAT in 2019, but not more than the amount due for tourist packages for unrealized trips.
Funding for the new measure is provided by the already allocated but not used funds from the national budget. According to the indicative values, the unspent funds are nearly BGN 19 million. The funds under the new state aid are received regardless of the receipt of funds under the current scheme and in compliance with the rules for state aid.
18.03.2021
THE BUSINESS WILL BE SUPPORTED DURING THE LOCKDOWN
We have a dialogue with the institutions and the branches regarding the lockdown. We provide full business support for these 10 closing days.
Immediately after the order of the Minister of Health, we will notify the European Commission (EC) of the procedures under which we will compensate the affected businesses.
This was stated at a briefing by Economy Minister Lachezar Borisov regarding the partial lockdown in the country, which will start on Monday (March 22nd) and will last for 10 days.
"We have a ready platform and we communicate with all stakeholders. On a project basis we have decided to run the notification to the EC, and in parallel we will apply to the NRA so as not to waste time. Economic measures 60/40, 80/20, “Keep me” continue. The goal is to reach each of the companies affected by the measures," he assured.
The measures through the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) for individuals on unpaid leave will continue and will be active from next week. Guarantee schemes with loans will also be extended at this stage.
According to him, the socio-economic development is important, and even during the crisis Bulgaria is relatively well compared to other EU member states.
The affected companies will receive compensation through the National Revenue Agency, as well as through the Innovation and Competitiveness Program. According to him, they will be able to receive up to 50 thousand euros.
18.03.2021
PEOPLE ON UNPAID LEAVE FOR THE 10 DAYS OF LOCKDOWN WILL HAVE RETAINED INSURANCE
"75% of the insurance income will be paid for the period of the new measures. People on unpaid leave in the next 10 days will have retained insurance."
This was announced by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy Denitsa Sacheva. According to her, under the measure "Keep me" there will be a need for additional BGN 7 million for the period of the new lockdown.
The Minister reminded that with a change in the law, up to 90 days of unpaid leave due to an order of a state body are now considered insurance experience and those affected will not have a problem with retirement.
The measures 60/40 and 80/20, which can be used by employers in case of partial closure, continue, as is the case with hotels.
All parents on unpaid leave can apply to the Social Assistance Agency for assistance of BGN 650 for one child and BGN 975 for two or more children in distance learning. The money is given proportionally for these 10 days, in which the gardens and schools will be closed, explained Minister Sacheva.
"As for the "Parents in Employment" program, it also continues its action and whoever wants, can take advantage of it and can apply for support in the Employment Agency," Sacheva said.
Under this measure, unemployed relatives or people who have the relevant qualities and are chosen by the parents can be employed in the Child Care Offices. They will receive a minimum wage, along with social security contributions.
No additional social measures are planned at this stage. Existing hypermarkets, which have not been closed so far, can also be used.
All compensations will be eligible until April 15 if applied at the beginning of the month.
17.03.2021
THE GOVERNMENT EXTENDED THE MEASURES BECAUSE OF COVID-19
The government has extended measures for people and businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At its meeting, the Council of Ministers adopted amendments to Decree № 151 determining the terms and conditions for the payment of funds to employers for maintaining employment in sectors affected by the distribution of COVID-19.
The changes provide for extension of the deadline for payment of funds under measure 60/40 until 31 May 2021.
Funds will continue to be paid for workers who during the period from March 13 to December 31, 2020 have worked part-time, have used leave under Art. 173a of the Labor Code or their work has been suspended due to introduced temporary restrictions on activity. Employees should have been in an employment relationship with the employer before 1 October 2020.
During the additional period of implementation of the measure, the amount of support from the state will amount to 60 percent of the insurance income and the insurance contributions due by the employer for October 2020.
Employers who have proven a decrease in sales revenues in the month preceding the month of application by not less than 20 percent compared to the average revenues for 2019 will also be able to apply for payment of funds.
Until April 15, 2021 employers will be able to submit applications for payment of funds for the period from January 1 to March 31, 2021. The applications will be considered and financed according to the current procedure.
The measure for compensation of workers in closed businesses is also extended. They will receive 75% of their insurance income by the end of June 2021. Compensation will be paid for no more than 60 days within 2020 and for no more than 90 days within 2021, in which employees have used unpaid leave due to imposed restrictions for carrying out the activity for which they are employed, by an act of a state body.
The term for payment of compensations for the purpose of maintaining the employment in the amount of BGN 290 per month to the employees and the self-insured persons from the sectors “Transport”, “Hotel and restaurant” and “Tourism” is extended until May 31, 2021.
Compensation will be paid upon receipt of a positive decision from the European Commission on the compatibility of the aid with the internal market.
17.03.2021
EUR 85 MILLION FOR SOFT LOANS TO SMES WITH A GUARANTEE FROM THE EUROPEAN GUARANTEE FUND
Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria will finance small, medium and slightly larger companies (with up to 500 employees) with a new EUR 85 million on facilitated terms. The funds will be provided with a guarantee from the European Investment Fund (EIF) under the European Guarantee Fund (EGF) mechanism.
The guarantee agreement signed between Raiffeisenbank and the EIF is the first of its kind for the country. Under it, within this year the bank will lend to local businesses with 85 million euros, and for each loan will be provided a 70% guarantee from the EIF – i.e. in case of inability of the borrower to repay its obligations, the fund covers 70% of losses for the bank. This type of guarantee reduces the risks for financial institutions and allows them to apply lighter collateral requirements to the lending companies than are usually required.
The parameters
Under the new guarantee agreement, companies will be able to receive up to EUR 7.5 million, with no minimum amount of funding. The funds will be provided in the form of investment or working capital loans with maturities of three months to 10 years, depending on the specific product. When asked if there are grace periods, what are the interest conditions and collateral requirements from the bank, they indicate that the approach to lending to companies is individual. The deadline for applying for funding under the program is December 31, 2021.
The new mechanism
The European Guarantee Fund is a new guarantee mechanism set up by EU member states in 2020 in response to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its total amount is EUR 25 billion, raised through proportional contributions from the member states to their share in the capital of the European Investment Bank, of which the EIF is a part. The aim is to allocate the funds in 2021, the main part of which will be provided in the form of guarantee instruments aimed at supporting the affected business in the EU, with a main focus on small and medium-sized enterprises. About 20% of the amount will go to direct and indirect equity instruments, EIF CEO Alan Godard said in an interview.
Specifically for Bulgaria for 2021, the EIF envisages investments of around EUR 250 million in the form of equity financing and loan guarantee instruments. Part of the funds is from a recycled resource under the JEREMIE initiative, which has so far financed about 10,000 companies in the country with a total of nearly 900 million euros, and the returned principal and interest are reinvested in new instruments.
16.03.2021
HOW LONG WILL COMPENSATION BE RECEIVED UNDER THE "KEEP ME" MEASURE
The Minister of Labor and Social Policy Denitsa Sacheva updated the order for the temporarily limited economic activities, the workers of which can receive compensation under the project "Keep me" from the state because they are on unpaid leave.
The new version of the document also includes temporarily closed businesses in the districts of Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Dobrich, Kyustendil, Pazardzhik, Pleven, Ruse, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Haskovo, Shumen and Yambol, whose employees can receive financial support in the amount of at 75% of their insurance income.
The full text of the order can be seen here: https://www.mlsp.government.bg/uploads/26/zaetost/zapoved-rd-06-6-ot-15032021.pdf.
According to the order at the national level until February 28, compensation will be available to employees of drinking establishments (excluding discos and bars), language and education centers, other training centers and vocational training schools, as well as employees in the economic activities of catering, organizing congresses and trade fairs, gambling halls and casinos.
Until March 31, employees of companies for group tourist trips with organized transport abroad, companies for travel agency and operator activities, discos, bars and other nightclubs will be able to receive compensation.
Employees of children's educational and sports centers and clubs that provide organized activities for children, as well as those employed in the performing arts (excluding theaters) and related ancillary activities, may receive compensation until April 30.
15.03.2021
HOW MANY UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE FOUND WORK DURING THE PANDEMIC
The administrative statistics of the Employment Agency show that the total number of people who went from unemployment to employment during the 12 months of the epidemic was 255,031 people, which means that on average more than 21,250 registered unemployed have found their new jobs per month.
In February 2021, the number of unemployed who started work increased by 3,925 compared to January, reaching 18,230. 281 people from the group of pensioners, students and employees have also found their new position through employment offices.
80.5% of those who started working in February are employed in the real economy, most of them employed in the manufacturing sector - 24.0%, followed by trade - 16.0%, government - 6.5%, humane healthcare and social work - 5.0%, construction - 4.9%, etc.
3,560 unemployed persons from the risk groups were employed in subsidized jobs during the month - 101 under employment programs and measures and 3,459 - under schemes of the Operational Program "Human Resources Development". The Employment for You scheme under OPHRD, which started in July 2020 as an anti-crisis measure, has provided employment to a total of 10,080 people, and only in February employment contracts were concluded with 2,273 new unemployed.
6.9% is the level of registered unemployment in the country in February. The administrative statistics of the Employment Agency reported a decrease of 0.1% compared to the previous month, and the growth on an annual basis was by 0.7 percentage points. At the end of the month, the registered unemployed in the labor offices were 225,281, which is 4,469 fewer than in January. On an annual basis, there is an increase of 22,781 people.
During the month, 24,897 new unemployed persons registered with the labor offices, which is 10,129 less than in January and 2,156 more than the number of newly registered in February 2020. Another 495 people from the groups of job seekers employed , students and pensioners also registered with the Employment Agency during the month.
The monitoring of the inflow of registered unemployed in the past year, marked by the Kovid crisis, shows that the most affected by it are those working in the hotel and restaurant sectors - 26.5%, trade - 16.4%, transport - 15.5% of the total number of newly registered.
The anti-crisis measures for short-term employment support, popularly known as “60/40” and “80/20” (project “Short-term employment support in response to the COPID-19 pandemic” under OPHRD), continue to work to preserve employment, as in February, more than 75,000 employees were compensated under these measures.
The Keep Me measure, funded by the OPHRD and the React-EU financial mechanism, to support employees in forced unpaid leave imposed by the suspension of a number of economic activities in order to control the COVID-19 pandemic, provided funds for nearly 48 500 employees. In the one-year period of a complicated epidemic situation, these anti-crisis measures helped to keep the employment of more than 400 thousand employees.
Demand for labor is growing, with 13,469 jobs advertised on the primary labor market in February, or 2,118 (18.7%) more than in the previous month. The largest share of vacancies in the real economy is in manufacturing (27.9%), followed by general government (12.2%), trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (9.9%), hotels and restaurants (9.8%), administrative and ancillary activities (7.9%) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (5.5%).
The most sought-after professions during the month are: staff caring for people; personnel employed in the field of personal services; machine operators of stationary machines and equipment; workers in the mining and processing industry, construction and transport; skilled workers in the production of food, clothing, wood products; sellers; waste collection and related workers; drivers of motor vehicles and mobile equipment; security and protection personnel; metallurgists, machine builders and related workers; craftsmen, etc.
12.03.2021
THE EMPLOYER HAS NO RIGHT TO OBLIGE WORKERS TO BE VACCINATED
Following the opening of the Green Corridors and the start of free vaccination, the question arose as to whether an employer could oblige its workers to be vaccinated. Consulting Center - Berkovitsa provides an article by Dr. Todor Kapitanov, a leading expert in labor law in Bulgaria, who unequivocally clarifies the issue.
It is not uncommon for workers to be subjected to, to put it mildly, misconduct by both their managers and other colleagues in the workplace regarding the individual decision to vaccinate or not. It is not only about pressure through threats of non-admission to work, reduction of income, deprivation of benefits at work, but even about insinuations, various hints, etc. to act in one direction or another.
What are our rights in such situations?
As everyone knows, vaccination against coronavirus (or against any other disease) is voluntary and it is everyone's right to make a personal choice. Personal choice can be dictated by any reasons - health, religious, family, professional and any other reasons that are objective or subjective and no one has the right to influence by putting pressure on them.
The right to work is regulated by a number of international, European and national laws, and this right is absolutely nowhere bound by the decision of the citizens and the actions taken by them for vaccination or not.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. It also states that everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. The issue is also settled that every person who works has the right to a fair and satisfactory remuneration to ensure his and his family's existence in accordance with human dignity and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
(Reference: Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
According to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, every worker has the right to working conditions that protect his or her health and safety and respect for his or her dignity. Citizens have the right to work, and the state takes care to create conditions for the exercise of this right. The state also creates conditions for the exercise of the right to work of persons with physical and mental disabilities and every citizen freely chooses his profession and place of work.
(Reference: Article 15 and Article 31 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union)
According to the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, citizens have the right to work, and the state takes care of creating conditions for the exercise of this right and creates conditions for the exercise of the right to work of persons with physical and mental disabilities. Every citizen freely chooses his profession and place of work and the employees have the right to healthy and safe working conditions, to a minimum wage and to a salary corresponding to the work performed, as well as to rest and leave under conditions and in the order determined by by law.
(Reference: Article 48 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria)
It should be noted that Bulgarian law prohibits any direct or indirect discrimination based on sex, race, nationality, ethnicity, human genome, citizenship, origin, religion or belief, education, beliefs, political affiliation, personal or social status, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status, property status or any other grounds established by law or in an international treaty to which the Republic of Bulgaria is a party.
(Reference: Art. 4, para 1, Art. 5 and Art. 17 of the Law on Protection against Discrimination).
According to the Law on Protection against Discrimination, harassment on the basis of the above-mentioned features is considered discrimination. "Harassment" is any undesirable behavior based on discriminatory features, expressed physically, verbally or otherwise, which has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of the person and creating a hostile, offensive or threatening environment.
(Reference: §1, items 1 and 2 of the additional provisions of the Law on Protection against Discrimination).
An employer who has received a complaint from an employee who is considered to have been harassed is obliged to immediately carry out an inspection, take measures to stop the harassment, as well as to impose disciplinary liability if the harassment was committed by another employee. In case of non-fulfillment of this obligation, the employer shall be liable under the Protection against Discrimination Act for acts of discrimination committed at the workplace by his employee.
In such situations, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Commission for Protection against Discrimination if the higher authority does not investigate your case. The body responsible for preventing discrimination, protecting against discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities is the Commission for Protection against Discrimination. It is a specialized state body that monitors the implementation and compliance with the Law on Protection against Discrimination or other laws governing equality of treatment.
In any case, you could also submit a signal to the territorial directorate "Labor Inspection", accompanied by detailed information on the case.
12.03.2021
How many people received help under the measure "Keep me"
BGN 40 million per 48,000 people have been paid under the "Keep me" measure for closed businesses.
This was announced by the Minister of Social Affairs Denitsa Sacheva during a meeting in the Council of Ministers.
"We have provided another BGN 13 million for compensation by the end of April for these businesses, which continue to be closed due to the pandemic. There is a possibility for their employees and workers to receive 75% of their insurance income," Sacheva added.
She specified that a meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation will be held on Monday, at which the extension of the 60/40 and 80/20 measures until the end of May will be discussed.
Minister Sacheva also reported that the payment of compensation to parents whose children are studying in a distance form of education due to the pandemic will continue.
"So far, we have paid about BGN 39 million to parents who look after their children online for 42,000 families. We have another BGN 30 million that we could spend on this measure. By the end of the school year, the parents of these students will be supported with funds in the amount of one minimum wage for one child and BGN 900 for two or more children", added Mrs. Sacheva.
11.03.2021
THE MEASURE 60/40 IS EXTENDED
The measure 60/40 for maintaining employment will be extended from April 1 to May 31 - this provides for a draft government decree.
It will be discussed with business and unions at a meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation on Monday. The effect of the measure "Keep me" for employees in closed sites on unpaid leave will also be extended, the deadline for which is June 30, 2021.
The changes stipulate that employers who have proven a decline in sales revenues in the month preceding the month of application by at least 20 percent compared to the average income for 2019 will be able to apply for payment of funds.
Until April 15, 2021, employers can submit applications for payment of funds under this measure for the period from January 1 to March 31, 2021. Applications will be considered and funded in the order before the change in the measure.
As of mid-February 2021, a total of over BGN 854 million has been paid under the measure to maintain the employment of over 265,000 workers.
Regarding the "Keep me" measure, it is envisaged that people will be entitled to compensation under it for no more than 60 days within 2020 and for no more than 90 days within 2021.
