WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EMPLOYMENT RECORD?

On 26 September 2023, the National Assembly adopted amendments to the Labour Code that finally made the transition from the paper employment record to its digital version, namely the electronic employment record.

Almost 10 years ago, in 2014, taking into account the increasingly digitalized world, the BIA for the first time in Bulgarian society insisted on regulating the possibility of exchanging documents between employer and employee electronically, as well as replacing the paper employment book, the employee's employment record and the diary of issued employment books with electronic ones.

Today, when BIA's idea is already a fact, the advantages of the electronic employment record are as follows:

• minimising the negative consequences for workers if their employment record is lost or destroyed;
• lack of stamps and signatures;
• reducing the administrative burden for employers;
• increasing the level of control over compliance with labour legislation, increasing the number of electronic services provided, reducing the proportion of labour insurance fraud, etc.

The electronic employment record will contain the following data:

1. the names of the employee;
2. the employee's personal identifier;
3. the identifier and name of the employer;
4. the reason for the employment contract;
5. the date of conclusion of the employment contract and the beginning of its performance;
6. the duration of the contract, where agreed;
7. the date of conclusion of supplementary agreements;
8. the date and reason for termination of the employment relationship;
9. the amount of the basic salary;
10. the code of the position held according to the National Classification of Occupations and Positions;
11. the code of the main economic activity in which the person is employed, according to the Classification of Economic Activities approved by the National Statistical Institute;
12. the locality code of the employee's place of work according to the Unified Classification of Administrative and Territorial Units;
13. the duration of working time;
14. the length of time recognised as length of service and the length of time not recognised as length of service;
15. compensation paid on termination of employment on the basis of Article 222(2) and (3);
16. attachment notices provided for in Article 512(5) of the Code of Civil Procedure;
17. agreed paid annual leave;
18. the days of paid annual leave taken in the year of termination.

The electronic employment record will be part of the new employment register and will be maintained by the National Revenue Agency (NRA). Each person will be able to consult the data in their own single employment record.

Importantly for employers, they will be entitled to information about their employees entered by previous employers. There is a restriction on information about wages and benefits received at previous employers. Parents, guardians and custodians of employees under the age of 18 are also entitled to access the relevant single electronic employment record until the child turns 18.

The deadlines introduced by the changes are important and should be given special attention:

• The law takes effect on June 1, 2025, with some exceptions.
• By June 1, 2026, or upon termination of employment between June 1, 2025 and June 1, 2026, employers must execute employment records by recording in numbers and words the length of employment as of June 1, 2025, signed by the chief accountant and the employer.
• If after 1 June 2025 the employment record book is lost or destroyed, the relevant Labour Inspectorate Directorate shall issue a new one and enter the details of the length of service acquired before 1 June 2025 on the basis of a written application-declaration by the employee, accompanied by certificates from the employers with whom he or she has worked and other original documents containing such details.

The changes to the Labour Code also cover civil servants and the service book.

It is important to note that anyone in possession of a paper employment or service record should retain it after the final transition to an electronic employment record, as it retains its status as an official certification document.

For further information: Jasmina Sarivanova - j.saraivanova@bia-bg.com