Bulgaria: Industrial relations

Original and updating authors: Kalina Tchakarova and Youliana Naoumova, DGKV

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Summary

• Employees have a right to form trade unions, and unions have a range of entitlements at the level of individual employers, including collective bargaining, information and consultation. (See Trade unions)
• Employers must engage in collective bargaining at the request of a trade union, and the bargaining process, and resulting collective agreements, are subject to various statutory rules. (See Collective bargaining and agreements)
• Statute provides for two types of elected employee representative with information and consultation rights. (See Elected employee representatives)
• Employers must inform and consult employee representatives and/or trade unions on a range of issues. (See Informing and consulting employees - general)
• Employers must inform and consult trade unions and/or employee representatives about planned collective redundancies. (See Informing and consulting prior to redundancies)
• In the event of the transfer of an undertaking, the transferor and transferee must inform, and in some cases consult, trade unions and/or employee representatives. (See Informing and consulting prior to transfers)
• "Community-scale" undertakings (known as "Societas Europaea") or groups of undertakings with headquarters in Bulgaria must, at the request of employees or their representatives, establish a special negotiating body to negotiate over the establishment of a European Works Council. (See European Works Councils)
• Strikes are permitted as part of certain "collective labour disputes" over labour and social security issues and living standards, notably disputes over the negotiation of collective agreements. (See Industrial action)