Тhe local programme aimed at the preservation of jobs in companies affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in Bulgaria (known as the “60/40” measure) was once again officially prolonged last Friday (16 October 2020) and is fixed for another 3-month period – from 1 October 2020 to 31 December 2020. The state aid could cover the whole or part of this period. We updated you on this measure (that already underwent a few changes) for the first time at the end of March – please see that here. But for ease of reference, please refer to the summary below:

As per the effective rules of this support measure, the state shall pay to employers 60% (i) of the social security income for August 2020 and (ii) of the social contributions due by the employers with respect to the affected employees.

Payments shall be made to employers if they have:

• terminated the work of the whole company or of part of the company as a result of an internal order or a specific order from the public authorities on the closure of certain businesses due to the state of emergency or the declared emergency epidemic situation;
• reduced the working hours of employees who used to work full-time due to the state of emergency or the declared emergency epidemic situation;
• granted paid annual leave to employees (even without their consent) because of termination of the work of the whole company, of part of the company or particular employees by an internal order or an order from the public authorities due to the state of emergency or the declared emergency epidemic situation;
• retained employees which have been subject to notification of collective dismissal filed in the period from 13 March 2020 to 30 June 2020;
• retained who do not fall within the above groups and work in the hotel, restaurant and passenger land-transportation businesses. 

These conditions apply to companies that are able to evidence a drop in revenues of 20% or more compared to a reference period. For companies incorporated before 1 September 2019, the reference is made between the month preceding the month of filing the application and the same month of the previous year, while for companies incorporated after 1 September 2019, the month preceding the month of filing the application is compared to an average of the revenues for January and February 2020.

Employers should not only retain the subsidized employees during the period of receipt of the state support, but also should not dismiss other employees on certain grounds. In addition, subsidized employees (excluding the last group above) must be retained also after the expiry of the period of support for an additional period equivalent to the period of receipt of the state aid.

Further conditions apply. For example, certain employees are explicitly excluded from the scope of this support measure (e.g., employees not employed by the employer prior to 13 March 2020). Applications and accompanying documentation should be filed to the Employment Agency. The deadline for applications is yet to be defined.

For further information and assistance with respect to the above, and any other Covid-19 related legal matters, please do not hesitate to contact us at covidhelpdesk@peterkapartners.com. 

This document reflects the status as of  22 October, 2020. This document is for informational purposes only and may not be considered a legal opinion or advice.