Remote Working Legislation, Laws & Regulations in Bulgaria

Yes. The Bulgarian Labour Code regulates the specific conditions for remote work, including work from home.

Remote work can be implemented by mutual agreement between the company and the employee, through the individual employment contract or an annex to it.

The terms and procedures for remote work may be laid down in a collective agreement, or an individual employment contract, or the internal rules of the employer. An individual employment contract will lay down all specific conditions, rights and obligations of the parties with regard to remote work and its performance and will also determine the place and nature of the remote work.

As an exception, remote work can be implemented by unilateral decision of the employer only when a state of emergency or emergency epidemic situation has been declared.

In principle, the employer is not allowed to force employees to work from home or to return to the office if they have been working from home. The employer may force employees to work remotely only in the context of a declared state of emergency or emergency epidemic situation. In this case, the remote work is assigned without the consent of the employee by an order of the employer, only for the period for which the state of emergency or epidemic emergency has been declared. Regarding return to office work, the collective bargaining agreement or the individual employment contract may determine conditions for transitioning from remote work to working from the office.

Generally, no. The employee may propose to the employer that they work remotely, and vice versa, but neither party is obliged to accept such proposal. Under specific circumstances (e.g. where the proposal is made by an employee who is a parent or adopter of a child of up to 8 years of age), the employer could be required to justify in writing their rejection to such proposal.

Yes. The employer has an obligation to provide the employee with office equipment and supplies needed to perform the remote work. However, in the individual employment contract, it can be stipulated that the employee will use their own equipment. No such option is given regarding the supplies – these must be provided by the employer.

The employer has an obligation to provide at its own expense internet connectivity and supplies for the operation of the technical equipment necessary for remote work. This obligation is often fulfilled by reimbursing the employee for the expenses made for Internet or supplies.

The law does not require granting a specific allowance for working from home. However, the common practice is to pay such allowance instead of covering the expenses for internet connectivity and the supplies necessary for the performance of work.

Yes, the employer has general responsibility for the health and safety working conditions, including in the context of remote work. The employer is obliged to provide the employee with information on the minimum health-and-safety requirements for the workplace where remote work is performed and to ensure that at the date of the commencement of remote work, the remote workplace complies with the minimum requirements for safe and healthy working conditions. In connection to those obligations, the employer has the right to access the employee’s workplace, subject to advance notification given to the employee who is working remotely.

Yes. The employer is explicitly obligated to:

• provide at its own expense: the software needed for remote working; preventive maintenance and technical support; the devices intended for communication with the employee working remotely, including internet connectivity; data protection; a surveillance system, where it is necessary to install one at the workplace and when the employee's written consent to be surveilled has been obtained.
• provide the employee with: information and requirements regarding the operation and maintenance of equipment, as well as legal requirements and rules, including those of the company in the area of data protection, which will be applied during remote work; other technical or documentary means in accordance with the individual employment contract and/or the collective agreement; written information on the liability of the employee and sanctions in case of a failure to observe the rules and requirements established, including those on the protection of business data; written information on the type and volume of work-related data to be collected, processed and stored in the information system if such a system is used for remote assignments and the reporting of work; and written information on how decisions are made when an information system for algorithmic management of remote work is being used. 
• provide opportunities for: preventing the isolation of employees who are working remotely from the employees working on the employer’s premises (by creating conditions for periodic working or social meetings on the employer's premises and creating a corporate virtual space); access to corporate and professional information related to performing remote work; participation of the employees who are working remotely in the organisational and social life of the company’s trade union organisation.

There is no specific insurance that employees working from home must have or are entitled to. The employee is subject to the same social security laws and contributions due for employees working on company premises.

Yes. The obligation for declaring work-related injuries or illness applies, regardless of where the work is performed. These obligations are materially the same in the event of work injury at the remote workplace and on the company premises. Тhe employer is liable for the damages caused by work-related injuries.

No, there is no such possibility under the law.

The employee performing remote work is responsible for the proper storage and operation of the equipment provided by the employer. In the event of a breakdown in the equipment or in the communication systems used, the employee is obliged to immediately notify the employer.

With respect to health and safety conditions, the employee who performs remote work is obliged to provide the employer with written information on the characteristics of the remote workplace. The employee is also responsible for complying with the company's policy on work organisation and occupational safety and health, as well as the prescribed rules and regulations for health and safety at work.

In 2023 the Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act was amended and supplemented to provide the opportunity for remote work to holders of an EU Blue Card (i.e. highly qualified foreign employees). Apart from that, holders of other work permits in Bulgaria are not allowed to work remotely. 

Generally, remote work abroad refers to the practice of working for a company or organisation while physically located in a different country than where the company is based. Use of information technology to perform the job duties is required.

In Bulgaria, there is no specific legal recognition of remote working abroad, but still some employers provide such options. Remote working abroad raises certain concerns, particularly in terms of compliance with the health and safety regulations.

The determination of the labour law provisions applicable to remote work abroad is governed by Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 (Rome I). The general rule is that the employer and the employee are entitled to choose the legislation that will apply to the employment, but the protection granted by the law of the country where the employee works habitually will always apply. Therefore, depending on whether the remote work is habitually handled from abroad or from Bulgaria, the outcome would be different. Usually, remote working abroad would be temporary, and the Bulgarian law would continue to apply. However, if the employee works abroad on a permanent basis, it is likely that the legislation of the foreign country where the employee normally works will apply.

Where the employee performs remote work abroad within the EU, Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 will apply. The general rule is that the employee will be subject to the social security system of the EU Member State where the employee physically performs the work. However, where such employee is temporarily posted by their employer to work in another EU Member State, the employee may continue to be subject to the legislation of the country where they normally work, provided that (i) the anticipated duration of the work abroad does not exceed 24 months, (ii) the employee is not sent to replace another posted person, (iii) the employer carries on substantial activities in the sending Member State, and (iv) the direct employment relationship between the employee and the sending employer is maintained throughout the posting. 

Where remote work abroad is not performed from a EU/EEA country or Switzerland, then the applicable social security rules will depend on the provisions of the social security treaties in place between the relevant countries (if any).

Bulgarian tax residency will remain if (a) the employee has a permanent address in Bulgaria, or (b) the employee spends physically more than 183 days in Bulgaria in each 12-month period, or (c) the employee's centre of vital interests is situated in Bulgaria. A permanent address in Bulgaria alone does not establish Bulgarian tax residency if the employee's centre of vital interests is situated in another country. Based on the above, for the employee's income from work performed abroad to be subject to taxation solely under another jurisdiction, the employee must not qualify as a Bulgarian tax resident under the applicable criteria.

Regarding the avoidance of double taxation on employment income, most countries have concluded double tax treaties broadly following the OECD Model Tax Convention. Under the general rule set out in most double tax treaties, employment income is taxable in the state where the work is physically performed, even if the stay is brief. However, the state where the work is performed must exempt the employment income from taxation if all three of the following conditions are cumulatively met: (i) the employee is present in that state for no more than 183 days during the relevant 12-month period, (ii) the remuneration is paid by, or on behalf of, an employer that is not resident in that state, and (iii) the remuneration is not borne by a permanent establishment of the employer in that state. In the case of short-term remote work from another country, particularly after or before a holiday, all three conditions will typically be satisfied, meaning that the employee's income would generally not be subject to taxation in the country where the work is temporarily performed.

An employee who is a national of an EU/EEA Member State or Switzerland is entitled to live and work in Bulgaria, and vice versa, without a residence and work permit, in accordance with the principle of free movement of workers. However, stays exceeding 90 days typically require registration with the competent authorities of the host Member State. Where an EU/EEA national wishes to work in a country outside the EU, EEA, and Switzerland, or where a third-country national wishes to work in Bulgaria, the individual will generally be required to obtain the appropriate residence and work permits.

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