The benefits of the changes are indisputable.
There is a consensus to replace the paper employment record with a single electronic employment record and to make it part of the National Revenue Agency's (NRA) employment register. This was stated to BTA by MP Bozhidar Bojanov, proposer of the amendments to the Labor Code (LC). By centralizing this information, we actually achieve more guarantee for the rights of employees, he said. The idea is also welcomed by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Bulgarian Industrial Association, said CITUB Vice President Todor Kapitanov and Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) Vice President Maria Mincheva.
The first step towards the change was made at the end of May, when the deputies of the 49th National Assembly voted on the first reading of the bill. Its final adoption is expected in the autumn parliamentary session, as the time before the summer break was not enough to pass a second reading in the leading Committee on Labour, Social and Demographic Policy. The texts have been discussed in detail with the working group.
The one-month delay is not a problem because the institutions are already aware of what will be expected of them and the deadlines will not be changed, Bojanov said in a Facebook post in July. He clarified that as a result of one month of productive work an agreement was reached on all cases.
The working group drew up more detailed texts for the abolition of the labour book so as to cover all cases so that people do not lose their rights just because we have decided to abolish this document, Bozhanov confirmed to BTA.
Digitization needed
Bulgaria is one of the last countries to have a paper employment record, stressed Bojanov, according to whom the time has finally come and the idea of its abolition has been accepted. In his words, one of the arguments to take such a step is the loss of this paper document, which creates problems in retirement.
The labour book will be used to prove the length of service before 1997 because the data from that period is not available anywhere else, Bojanov said.
We have long believed that everything that can should be digitized. Since 2014, we have been trying to introduce electronicisation in the employer-employee relationship, Mincheva said. Everything will be verifiable online, she stressed.
Mincheva welcomed Bojanov's commitment, first as minister of e-government in the Petkov cabinet and now as an MP, to defend this idea. The BIA vice president believes that the benefits of the changes are clear.
According to BIA’s statement released in May of this year, one of the positives is that it minimizes the negatives of losing and destroying employment records or missing stamps and signatures. The issuance for a certificate of social security (work) experience, will also be abolished.
Until now, only employees were covered, employment books were not submitted as data to the NRA, and the information will now be consolidated for both workers and civil servants, Mincheva added.
If the employment record book is not filled in correctly, it creates a difficulty in administrative processing. This makes it extremely difficult for both employers and the administration in the face of the National Social Security Institute to calculate pensions, said Todor Kapitanov.
It was important for trade unions that there was no restriction of people's labour rights with the introduction of the proposed changes, he said, also expressing the view that this was a step towards digitalisation. It would make it easier for workers and employers to fill in or check data on employment and social security records, the CITUB vice president said.
The Economic and Social Council welcomes everything that is related to the digitalization of documents, because it meets the goals of sustainable development, and also makes it easier for people, said the council's president Zornitsa Rusinova. This gives greater transparency and serves to prevent abuse, she stressed and reminded about the other change - the abolition of the blue card to the driver’s license.
The change is expected in 2026.
The report of the Committee on Labour, Social and Demographic Policy for the second reading of the draft law notes that "a single electronic employment record is an electronic document that is a collection of electronic documents and is the official source of data and circumstances relating to the employment of the employee and is the official certifying document for these data and circumstances". It is envisaged that every employee will have the right to access his or her single electronic employment record. Parents and guardians shall have access to the relevant single employment record until a minor employee reaches the age of 18.
A deadline of 1 September 2026 has been set for employers or appointing authorities to send the NRA electronic copies of all employment records of all employees whose employment records are not entered in the employment register.
