30.05.2022
DANUBE REGION PROGRAM: € 266 MILLION FOR BULGARIA
Bulgaria will have access to more than 266m euros to finance joint projects under the Danube Region 2021-2027 program, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works said. The fourteen countries participating in it adopted the final version at a meeting in Budapest.
The managing authority, the Hungarian Ministry of Finance, will formally submit the program to the European Commission. It is expected to be approved in early September this year, after which its actual implementation will begin.
During the meeting, the program partner countries unanimously expressed support and sympathy for Ukraine for the military actions on its territory. In order to support and promote transnational cooperation, it was decided that Ukraine should participate in the program with its entire territory.
Regions from Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany (Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg), Croatia, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Moldova and Ukraine will also take part in the Danube Region.
Beneficiaries will be able to submit project proposals under four priorities: "A more competitive and innovative Danube region", "A greener and lower-carbon Danube region", "A more social Danube region" and "Better governance of cooperation in the Danube region".
At the suggestion of the European Commission, the savings of the European Neighborhood Instrument under the Danube Program 2014-2020 in the amount of EUR 5 million, provided for Ukraine and Moldova, will be redirected to other European programs with the participation of both countries to finance activities for humanitarian aid and refugee support.
The meeting discussed the opportunities to support the Danube Strategy that the future program will provide, as well as the mechanisms to facilitate the implementation of joint projects and initiatives.
30.05.2022
THE EMPLOYER IS SPECIALLY RESPONSIBLE IN CASE OF ACCIDENT
What is the procedure if damage to health occurs at work? Is there any compensation from the employer?
The Labor Code (LC) provides for special property liability of the employer in case of damage to the health of the employee, as well as in case of death. "For damages from an accident at work or occupational disease which have caused temporary incapacity for work, permanently reduced working capacity of 50 and over 50 per cent or death of the employee, the employer shall be liable regardless of whether his body or another employee has guilt for their occurrence", specified in the provision of art. 200 of the LC.
Injuries must be caused by an accident at work - such as an injury while working with a machine or by an occupational disease - such as the lungs from working in a mine.
The Code stipulates that the employer is liable even when the accident at work is caused by force majeure during or in connection with the performance of the assigned work. Liability is also involved in work performed without an order, but in the interest of the employer, as well as during a vacation spent in the company.
Otherwise, the employer owes compensation for the difference between the damage caused - non-pecuniary and pecuniary, including the lost benefit, and the compensation and/or the social security pension. Everything that is like a difference is paid by the employer. And this difference is often very large - including treatment, medication, suffering, missed pay, etc.
The due compensation is reduced by the amount of the amounts received under the concluded insurance contracts for the employees.
The Labor Code also stipulates that the receipt of the benefit in question by the heirs of a deceased person due to an accident at work or an occupational disease is not considered to be an inheritance. It is due to them outside the hereditary mass.
The law excludes the liability of the employer if it turns out and proves that the injured employee has caused the damage intentionally. This liability is only reduced if the victim has contributed to the accident by gross negligence. The employer has the right to the so-called recourse action against the guilty workers - to seek through the court from them what he paid to the victim.
Under the Labor Code, the employer is obliged to provide the employee with normal conditions for the performance of the work under the employment contract for which he has agreed. This certainly includes healthy and safe working conditions. He is obliged to give instructions on the order and manner of performance of labor duties and exercise of labor rights, including acquaintance with the rules of internal labor order and the rules of health and safety at work.
There are also special rules for night work related to safe working conditions and non-compliance with them also entails liability. In these cases, employees are hired only after a preliminary medical examination, which is at the expense of the employer. They are subject to periodic medical examinations.
When a health authority finds that the health of an employee has deteriorated due to night work, it is transferred to a suitable day job or employed. The employer with whom the employees work night work is obliged to provide information on their number, the hours worked at night, as well as on the measures taken to ensure safe and healthy working conditions at the request of the Executive Agency "General Labor Inspectorate".
27.05.2022
AMENDMENTS TO THE LABOR CODE HAVE BEEN APPROVED
The government has approved a bill to amend the Labor Code, which better guarantees the rights and interests of workers and employers by increasing employment security and creating better conditions for reconciling work and private life.
The changes create obligations for the employer to acquaint the employee with the internal rules for the salary, to provide information on the terms and conditions for termination of the employment contract, as well as on the organized trainings for maintaining and improving the professional qualification and improving the professional skills. staff. This guarantees the right of the employee to receive comprehensive information about their employment relationship, which is a prerequisite for greater job satisfaction, as well as to avoid labor disputes with the employer.
The individual right to leave for raising a child up to 8 years of age by the father (adoptive parent) with the right to monetary compensation from the state social insurance is regulated. The leave is up to 2 months and can be used by the father (adoptive parent) all at once or in parts until the child reaches the age of 8. When using it, the father (adoptive parent) will be entitled to compensation in the amount of BGN 710 per month from the state social insurance. This leave can be used when the father (adoptive parent) has not used transferred leave for pregnancy and childbirth, raising a child up to 2 years of age or when adopting a child up to 5 years of age from the mother (adoptive mother).
The use of this type of leave is a prerequisite for building a fuller relationship between the father (adoptive parent) and the child, as well as for increasing the opportunities for active participation in his upbringing. Its introduction will not lead to the withdrawal or reduction of the existing rights of mothers (adoptive mothers) related to maternity, adoption and childcare leave.
The amendments to the Labor Code also determine the cases in which the employee has the right to propose to the employer a change for a certain period of time and the distribution of working time, to switch to teleworking and other changes in the employment relationship to facilitate reconciling work and family responsibilities and / or providing more predictable working conditions. This right belongs to an employee who is a parent (adoptive parent) of a child under 8 years of age, as well as an employee who takes care of a parent, child, spouse, brother, sister and parent of the other spouse or other relatives line for medical or other valid reasons. The employer is obliged to give a motivated written answer whether he accepts the offer.
26.05.2022
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO REVIEW OUR BANK STATEMENT?
Banking services are already so diverse that the use of credit or debit cards to withdraw money from ATMs, payment of utilities through Internet systems, Internet payments are now part of our daily lives. For each of these bank transactions, you must have an account from which to send or to which you can deposit funds.
The movement of your money and the available balance is important information not only for the bank, but also for yourself. By reviewing your bank statements regularly, you will be able to see if everything is OK and find out in time if a problem arises. If your bank statement seems like an unnecessary waste of paper or a waste of time, now is the time to learn about its benefits.
The bank statement is a comprehensive list of your transactions made in the last month, which shows every movement of your money. This monthly financial document provides a summary of the activities of the account holder and is prepared by the bank at the end of each month.
Your bank may send you a statement at the end of each month if you have agreed to do so (free of charge or for a fee). Another method is to go in person to a bank office, where you can always get the document from a bank employee - on paper or by email. You can also withdraw the statement from an ATM.
Bank statements can also be found through online banking. For people who do not want to bank freely through electronic devices, there is an option for inactive online banking, where they can not make online transactions, but have access to account movements. Due to their easy accessibility and storage, electronic statements are now even more commonly used than printed ones.
When a bank statement is required by regulatory authorities for supervision and fiscal control, your document will have weight before the authorities only if it is signed and stamped by the issuing bank. In all other cases, there is no need for such evidence on the document to be valid.
What does the bank statement contain?
At the top of the bank statement is usually the name of the account holder, along with confidential information such as the account number. It also contains summary information showing time period, opening balance, transfers, withdrawals and closing balance. Each transaction is displayed in chronological order together with the respective payees / recipients, dates and amounts.
When the cash flows on the user's account, the bank automatically posts the new balance and so you can receive a new bank statement every day. Convenience is the ability to check what were the movements on your account for a certain period of time. If you have online banking, you can easily set the dates for checking the balance and cash flow in your account.
The statement also contains information about the bank, which may include customer service number, BIC of the beneficiary, guidelines for reporting errors and fraud and more. You can see the type of transaction, the account number of the other participant in the transaction, all deposits in the account, including various payment methods, interest, etc.
You can clearly see a list of all withdrawals from your account, which include: purchases on the Internet and at a POS terminal, ATM withdrawals, bank fees, automatic payments, utilities and more. You can check the reference numbers corresponding to your transactions.
The code from the bank statement is used by users when registering their card on the website of an electronic payment system. The merchant's website requires such a code, and in order to receive it, you must have a registered SMS notification service for transactions on your bank account or visit a branch of the bank where you will receive a statement with the code. Card registration in the system can also be done through an ATM, and some ATMs can register debit and credit cards.
Why are bank statements important?
This document is an excellent helper when doing budgeting and financial planning. Just as a profit and loss statement is important to any business, so a personal income statement is important for analyzing and planning your household budget. If you are looking to save money, monitoring the flow of your finances is extremely important.
In addition to improving your financial habits and plans for the future, you can also check the exact dates of all transactions through the statement. This will help you monitor the correctness of the people from whom you expect payments, as well as avoid mistakes such as missed payments or double payments.
After the bank prepares the statement at the end of the month, the account holder can analyze all movements on its cash balance. The bank statement contains information on the type of each operation, together with the relevant dates, ordering parties and recipients. With this information, you can instantly identify any fraudulent activity.
If you notice suspicious costs and cannot determine what happened, you should immediately notify the bank to make an internal check of the transaction numbers. Only with the help of a bank statement can you prevent someone else's malice towards your money.
There is no way to keep accurate company records without timely statements from the merchant's account. The information in them enables the accountant to prepare accurate financial statements. This way, the owner will avoid the worries of a sudden inspection by tax inspectors and an audit.
Bank statements can also be useful for analyzing the creditworthiness of the account holder. Most banks and financial institutions require checking bank statements for the past few years before lending to their customers. This practice also applies when applying for a mortgage.
26.05.2022
DO I NEED MEDICAL TREATMENT WHEN CHANGING JOBS?
According to Art. 2, para. 1 of Ordinance № 3 of 28.02.1987, the following are subject to mandatory preliminary medical examination: persons entering work for the first time; persons who transfer to another job in the same or in another enterprise, which is related to harmful factors and risk of occupational disabilities; persons who have terminated their employment for more than three months. In these cases, the person starting work must present a card for a preliminary medical examination.
Pursuant to Art. 287, para. 1 of the Labor Code, all employees are subject to mandatory preliminary and periodic medical examinations. The conditions for performing preliminary and periodic examinations according to the nature of work, working conditions and age of employees are defined in Ordinance № 3 of 28.02.1987 on mandatory preliminary and periodic medical examinations of employees.
The official requirement and submission of the files between the services is regulated in Art. 17, para. 1 of Ordinance № 3 of 25.01.2008 on the conditions and procedure for carrying out the activity of the occupational medicine services (promulgated, SG No. 14 of 12.02.2008).
According to item 1 of the cited provision, the health files of the employees are transmitted and accepted between the occupational medicine services on paper and electronic media ex officio in case of change of the employee's place of work and a request made by the service of the enterprise. Given the specificities of national legislation and practices in the EU Member States, it may be necessary to establish a different procedure for occupational health care and health surveillance of workers in the Member State where the worker's previous work experience took place. In any case, the commitment of the occupational medicine service is to seek ex officio information about his medical supervision, which to include in the personal health file within the meaning of Art. 11, para. 10 of Ordinance № 3 of 25.01.2008.
26.05.2022
UNLIKE BULGARIA, ROMANIA IS IN NO HURRY TO ADOPT THE EURO
Romania has once again postponed its target date for joining the eurozone. The convergence program for the period 2022-2025 lacks a specific date for the adoption of the euro. Instead, the priorities are the socio-economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and reducing the effects of the war in Ukraine.
Unlike Romania, Bulgaria sets January 1, 2024 as the final date for the introduction of the euro, and Croatia, which last joined the EU in 2013, will replace the kuna on January 1, 2023. From July 10, 2020, the Bulgarian lev and the Croatian kuna are included in the exchange rate mechanism (ERM II) or the so-called eurozone waiting room.
Bulgaria is approaching the eurozone, and Romania - the zone of financial turmoil, writes in an article on the topic political analyst of the newspaper Adevarul Ion Ionica.
In principle, all EU countries are obliged to join the euro area at some point, with some exceptions. The exception was the United Kingdom, which negotiated the preservation of the British pound and eventually left the EU. Denmark remains the only exception in the EU from the changeover to the euro, as it has a "opt-out clause" that it has negotiated. The last country to adopt the single European currency was Lithuania - on 1 January 2015, Sweden and Poland are the other two major economies not yet in the eurozone, along with the Czech Republic and Hungary.
After missing a deadline after the deadline for the changeover to the euro, Romania has completely given up on setting a target date, Romanian media reported. In the 2022-2025 convergence program sent to Brussels, the government of Nicolae Chuka evasively noted that it was pursuing the euro, but that its efforts were focused on economic and social recovery from the pandemic and mitigating the negative effects of the war in Ukraine.
Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Finance Minister Adrian Kachu said 2029 was a realistic goal for joining the euro. The previous deadlines officially adopted by the government were 2024 and 2019. Romania's likely future prime minister in May 2023, Marcel Cholacu, who now heads the Chamber of Deputies, recently said the country's priority is Schengen and OECD membership.
The economy is not in good shape
In order for Romania to give up the leu, the budget deficit must not exceed 3 percent of gross domestic product, public debt must be limited to less than 60 percent of GDP, and inflation must not be more than 1.5 percent higher than the average for the best performing euro area countries.
In addition, the country must have a stable exchange rate - it must participate in the exchange rate mechanism (ERM II) for at least two years without significant deviation from the central rate of ERM II, and the long-term interest rate must not exceed more than two percent the interest rate of the three Member States with the best indicators of price stability.
Marcel Cholacu claims that when his Social Democratic Party was overthrown in 2019, there was only one benchmark left for adopting the euro. "Right now, after a right-wing government, I'm not afraid to say it - we lost two or three criteria," he said in early May.
"Like the pandemic, the war in Ukraine found Romania unprepared or at least incapable of adapting quickly to a new reality," said analyst Ionica. "Romania entered the pandemic with large deficits and came out with even bigger ones," he said, noting that the state was committed to paying more and more and was borrowing more than 8 per cent.
At the same time, economic growth forecasts are steadily deteriorating. The European Commission expects the Romanian economy to slow to 2.6 per cent in 2022 as inflation cuts disposable income and the war in neighboring Ukraine affects confidence in the economy, supply chains and investment. The International Monetary Fund recently lowered its expectations for the Romanian economy - instead of the expected 4.8% growth in the autumn, it is now projected at 2.2%. The EBRD has lowered expectations to 2.5 per cent, and the World Bank expects even more modest Romanian GDP growth of 1.9 per cent this year.
In the coming months, inflation will rise more sharply than expected and is likely to fall below 10% only after mid-2023, according to the Central Bank. In April, inflation in the country reached 13.76% on an annual basis compared to 10.55% in March, according to official data.
The cost of postponing the euro
Romania's macroeconomic indicators "look very bad", says economics professor Christian Paun. He believes the country is not giving a good signal by delaying entry into the eurozone, as it shows its reluctance to integrate so strongly.
Paun also does not accept the excuse of "external crises". "External crises come and go all the time. If it's not a war, there will be a tsunami on an island tomorrow, and then another disaster will happen," the economist said. "After all, a financially stable country is much more resilient to any external crisis," added Professor Paun.
"The non-adoption of the single currency is costing each of us, especially the private sector, the business sector, of everything that means the healthy development of Romania", warns Christian Paun, quoted by Free Europe.
Another professor of economics, Mircea Kosha, believes that the main advantage of eurozone membership is the possible negative situation. "If you are close to a difficult situation, as Greece was more than 10 years ago, if you are close to bankruptcy, the European Union will not let you fall. The European Bank intervenes immediately, as it cannot accept a difficulty in one of the links in the chain If you are not in the euro and you are in a desperate situation, it is difficult to ask for help from elsewhere," Kosha said.
He acknowledged that Romania could not boast a secure horizon for joining the euro, and said focusing on membership of the Schengen area and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) were more realistic goals. "The OECD greatly enhances the image of the country that is part of this club. From this point of view, we hope to have greater market access when borrowing. An OECD country is more reliable and has lower interest rates." he notes.
The professor of economics assesses Bulgaria's ambitions to join the eurozone on January 1, 2024 as a "political statement". "I reviewed Bulgaria's data and saw no successes that could lead to the fulfillment of the conditions by 2024, especially since Bulgaria, as well as Romania and the whole of Europe, are entering a period of crisis, which ultimately will not exist. to meet the criteria. For now, it seems to me that this is more of a political statement," Mircea Kosha told RFI.
25.05.2022
HOW TO PREPARE FOR CLICHE QUESTIONS DURING AN INTERVIEW?
„Tell us a little more about yourself","What are your biggest weaknesses and your biggest strengths"- you have heard these questions dozens of times during each of your job interviews, you have also heard „How you found out about us","Why you want this job","Why we choose you".
These are the so-called cliché questions. They are asked during each interview. You are certainly tired of them, no matter how many times you have to answer, but there is no way they can be avoided. That is why it is much easier to put effort and diligence and prepare in advance. Ok, but how?
There are a few simple but effective ways to do this. Train every day, at least a week before the interview. Stand in front of the mirror - ask yourself and answer the questions. You need to be calm and relaxed - there is no unnecessary tension, because it always plays a bad joke. The idea of these "dry" workouts is to get used to the questions and the answers you will give - to build a sense of security. Of course, you don't have to memorize what you will say during the meeting. This way you will definitely not help yourself, because it will be obvious.
Watch yourself carefully and pay attention to your non-verbal behavior, because it is very important and speaks more about you than you think. Interviewers take it into account.
To be absolutely sure that you are prepared and the cliché questions will not help you, you can visit some websites where you will find tips and suggestions on how to answer the interviewers. Make sure the information on the site you are logged in is accurate. Don't trust forums for opinions and comments.
25.05.2022
THE MONEY FOR A SECOND PENSION BURNS
The money for a second pension is melting. The reason for this is not only high inflation, but also the decline in stock market indices around the world. As a result, most Bulgarian pension funds have a negative return on managing the money of those insured for a second pension, writes the newspaper "Trud", referring to its calculations based on data from the Financial Supervision Commission.
The negative results of the funds have been particularly pronounced since the beginning of the year. For the period from the end of last year to May 20, the losses from the investment of the money for the second pension range between 1% and 10% in the various pension funds. For a period of one year, from May 20, 2021 to May 20, 2022, most pension funds also have a negative return, with losses of up to 7.5% of old-age money. But there are some funds that during this period still have a positive result from their activities.
The reason for this collapse is the decline in stock market indices around the world. Bulgarian pension funds invest a significant part of the money of the insured for a second pension in shares of companies traded on stock exchanges. When the prices of these shares fall, people's money for antiques decreases. In one year, the US stock index Dow Jones fell 9.1%, and from the beginning of the year to May 20 the decline was nearly 14%. The S&P 500 index has fallen by 7% for the year and by 18% since the beginning of the year. The main DAX index on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange for the year fell by about 8.9%, and since the beginning of the year by 11.5%.
All this directly affects the return on investment of antique money managed by Bulgarian pension funds. The funds that the funds hold on deposits in banks are small, as interest rates are around zero. Pension funds also have little investment in real estate, but they are only 1.53% of their total investment, according to FSC data at the end of March. The fact that Bulgarian pension funds have better results than the decline in stock market indices around the world is due to the fact that they invest some of the money in bonds - municipal, corporate and government.
The contributions of the insured for the second pension have been decreasing since the beginning of the year, and in the last 12 months, even without taking into account inflation. At the same time, the annual inflation by the end of April was 14.4%, and only for the first 4 months of the year it was 7.8%, according to official NSI data. Thus, from January to May 20, the money for a second pension in the various funds actually decreased by at least between 8.8% and 18%.
Assets are declining
As of the end of March 2022, the net assets of the pension funds in the country are worth BGN 19.23 billion, the FSC announced. Compared to the end of last year, the assets of the funds decreased by BGN 327 million, provided that the funds continue to receive funds from people's social security contributions. The total number of insured in all private pension funds is over 4.8 million people.
As pension funds collect fees from all social security contributions they receive, they make a profit despite the negative profitability of people's money management. For the first quarter of the year the net profit of the funds is nearly BGN 24 million.
We take a second pension for only one year
Many people will receive a second pension for only about a year. Working Bulgarians have an average of BGN 4,212 for a second pension, accumulated in private universal pension funds, according to FSC data at the end of March.
However, many people who have long since emigrated are also considered insured. They have a small amount in the Bulgarian pension funds, but for years they have not received money from their individual accounts and do not rely on a second pension from Bulgaria. If these people are removed from the calculations, it turns out that the average amount of accumulated funds for the second pension of people for whom at least one social security contribution has been received in the last 12 months is BGN 5,672, according to FSC data.
This number is also not entirely correct, because there are many long-term unemployed people in the country who have not been able to find a job for more than a year and therefore do not receive insurance in their pension funds. But even if we take the larger number for the average amount of funds in a universal pension fund per person, it turns out that the money is enough to receive the minimum pension of BGN 370 for only a year and 3 months.
The payment of the first second pensions to people who have reached retirement age after September 1, 2021 has already begun. By the end of March, 3,908 people had started receiving their second pensions. Of these, 463 people will receive lifelong pensions, and 3,445 people will receive deferred payments for a certain period of time. These are people who have insured in private pension funds and have reached retirement age.
In the first quarter, the funds paid BGN 196,000 for pensions, which makes an average of BGN 140 per person per month, and a little over BGN 2 million for deferred payments to the insured, which is an average of nearly BGN 200 per person. per month. Most people want to get their money quickly through larger installments in a short period of time.
25.05.2022
THE DAMAGE IS UNDERESTIMATED: COVID-19 IS ALREADY THE MOST COMMON DISEASE AMONG WORKERS
Nearly 5 million working days have been lost to the Bulgarian economy as a result of COVID - crisis last year alone. Every tenth sick leave issued during the year is due to this disease, and together with the increased quarantine by more than 50% and the cases not confirmed by clinical trials, their share is probably even higher.
Thus, COVID-19 last year became the most common disease (fourth position a year earlier) and hospitalized for it are 50% more than the second most common disease.
This follows from the statistics of the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) for the sick leaves paid in 2021. The figures released by the institute outline another aspect of the pandemic, which closed some businesses, disrupted supply chains and showed a lack of willingness on the part of the authorities to set emergency rules.
The National Social Security Institute does not break down the amount of funds paid for patients with different diagnoses, but the amounts paid under this item can be judged by the average compensation, which amounts to BGN 42 per day.
Employers commented that the high morbidity during the pandemic was linked to the disbursement of significant funds that had worsened the "fragile financial health" of companies, and the damage suffered by businesses would remain underestimated. They also noted a number of side effects from the spread of the coronavirus, such as mental trauma to the workforce. And they insist that the state has a pre-prepared plan of action in the conditions of a pandemic, which is coordinated and lost with the competent departments, organizations and businesses, so that wrong organizational decisions are not reached, as at the beginning of the pandemic.
Every tenth sick leave is because of COVID-19
In 2021, 797,813 people (26.22% of those insured in the General Sickness and Maternity Fund) were paid benefits for nearly BGN 600 million for common disease. Their sick leaves are 1.68 million in 14.4 million working days. In 2020, the National Social Security Institute paid BGN 535.6 million for nearly 14 million working days. For 2019, the amount paid is BGN 489.2 million for 14.3 million working days.
Identified COVID-19 has the highest share last year, ahead of acute infections of the upper respiratory tract and bronchitis. For the period, 283,484 such hospitals were issued with an average duration of 17.6 days, which makes 10.05% of the total number and 50% more than the second most important diagnosis.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the World Health Organization has introduced new codes for medical reporting of COVID-19. The virus was identified when COVID-19 was confirmed by laboratory testing, regardless of the severity of clinical signs or symptoms.
When the virus is unidentified, medical professionals issue a medical certificate with a different code. In these cases, the disease is diagnosed clinically or epidemiologically, but laboratory tests are inconclusive or not available, according to information from the Ministry of Health. Such are another 72,409 cases last year. Their average duration is again relatively high - 10.9 days.
In 2020, in the first year of the epidemic, hospitals for identified COVID-19 were fourth in number - 113,914 with a share of 4.29%. There were 32,198 people with unidentified COVID-19 during this period.
Thus, last year both types of COVID hospitals have more than doubled compared to 2020.
According to the ordinance of the health authorities, which was in force in 2021, people with an official positive result (from a test done in a certified laboratory) were subject to 14-day isolation, and their contact - to 10-day quarantine. Earlier this year, this rule was changed and the deadlines are now 10 and 7 days, respectively.
According to the Social Security Code, the benefit for the first 3 working days of temporary incapacity for work is paid by the employer and represents 70% of the average daily gross remuneration. The remaining days are paid by the NSSI (80% of the salary).
And quarantine benefits are increasing
During the year, over BGN 109 million were paid to 367,122 people (12.07%) for caring for a sick person or quarantine. Again, no breakdown by type of disease is made, but available data show a significant increase in hospitalizations for this reason.
For 2020, the total number of people with paid benefits for caring for a sick person or quarantine is 239,315, and 318,650 sick leaves have been issued to them. Thus, the increase in this group is more than 50%. It is even higher than in 2019, when less than 105,000 people received such benefits.
From 2022, parents of students under 12 who do not attend school due to quarantine will be entitled to sick leave - read here.
The reaction of the business
"Most companies have certainly taken stock, but hospital losses are far from the only ones," said Dobrin Ivanov, executive director of Bulgaria's Industrial Capital Association.
"The biggest losses are probably from lost profits. A separate issue is that the COVID wave has also caused some mental trauma to various segments of the workforce. There are in-depth studies on this issue in different countries. They may to some extent "They are also extrapolated to the Bulgarian reality, but the truth is that a large part of the losses are difficult to estimate. In practice, the damage suffered by the business will remain underestimated," he said.
According to him, the pandemic has aggravated the problem with the payment of the first three days of sick leave at the expense of the business, but does not expect this to lead to a rethinking of this rule.
Asked whether the state and business should be better prepared for possible future similar situations, Ivanov said that in many countries such scenarios related to any possible disasters are being developed by national security specialists and mathematicians.
Prof. Grigor Dimitrov, director general at the Employers' Interests Center at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce, said the high incidence during the pandemic was linked to the disbursement of significant funds that had worsened the "fragile financial health" of companies.
According to him, it is imperative that the state has a pre-prepared action plan in the event of a pandemic, which is coordinated and lost with the competent agencies and organizations.
"The lack of such a plan, as was the case in our situation, led to many contradictory and often ill-considered decisions and actions of the government, which hindered the business in its activities and were associated with significant losses for him," said Dimitrov. points around the settlements at the first "lockdown". "Along with this, it is necessary to create practice and targeted training to help businesses prepare their own action plans in such situations," he added.
COVID-19 becomes an occupational disease
The European Union will recognize coronavirus infection as an occupational disease according to an agreement reached between European countries and representatives of trade unions and employers, the European Commission announced on Thursday (May 19th).
The Commission will recommend that COVID-19 be included in the lists of occupational diseases in European countries by the end of the year in the health, social care and home care sectors and, in the event of a pandemic, in outbreak sectors. of the disease in activities with a proven risk of infection.
The change will allow workers who became infected while working with COVID-19 to receive rights, including compensation, if provided for by national law.
According to the Bulgarian legislation and according to the terms and conditions set by the Social Security Code, in case of an accident at work and occupational disease the insured or their heirs are entitled to cash benefits for temporary incapacity for work, cash benefits for employment, personal or survivor's disability pension, cash benefits for prevention and rehabilitation and one-time assistance in case of death.
25.05.2022
FROM TOMORROW WE WORK FOR OURSELVES
We have been working for the state for exactly 146 days in 2022, according to the Institute for Market Economics.
The state budget, adopted this year at the end of February, envisages public revenues of over BGN 57 billion in 2022. Assuming that we produce an average of BGN 392 million per day - calculated on the basis of GDP projected at the time of budget adoption. 143 billion levs - we need at least 146 days to replenish the state treasury.
The duration of this period corresponds to revenues under the consolidated fiscal program amounting to 40% of the country's GDP. In the last two years, as a result of higher levels of redistribution through the budget, the date of tax freedom in our country has shifted from mid to late May.
While immediately before the pandemic the levels of redistribution are in the range of 36-37% of the country's GDP, and the budget balance is around zero, after the impact of the pandemic in 2020 we see a growing role of the state and relatively high levels of budget deficit. more from IME.
The country's medium-term budget forecast predicts that consolidated revenues will remain at around 40 percent and that the budget deficit will remain around or even above 3% of GDP until at least 2024. This means that the day of tax freedom will remain at the end. in May and in the following years.
In 2022, the budget has a deficit of BGN 5.9 billion or 4.1% of the country's GDP. The BGN 5.9 billion in question is equal to more than 15 working days. These are the extra days during which the economy would work only for the budget, if it had to cover the planned deficit. We call them working days, because the deficit ultimately weighs on taxpayers - albeit postponed to the future. At the same time, Bulgaria receives grants from European citizens, as the planned revenues from the EU budget are over BGN 5.1 billion. Transfers from the EU actually save us nearly 13 days of work for the state. The official date of tax freedom - May 26 - takes into account all revenues, including the "contribution" of European taxpayers.
And this year we will mainly work to pay two main groups of taxes. In total, we need nearly 58 days for direct taxes and social and health insurance - 24 days for direct taxes and 34 days for insurance funds. We need 54 days for indirect taxes, and nearly 38 days are only for VAT revenues.
Property taxes, which are a key source of revenue for municipalities, take us a little over 3 days. We need 18 days for non-tax revenues, and here the revenues from the various fees for citizens and businesses have the greatest weight.
